Tips For Meal Planning to Help You Save Money On Food:
- A few pointers will help you quickly become a master food planner:
- Examine your pantry and refrigerator.
- Make a list of “go-to” meals
- Plan around your schedule
- Use grocery store fliers as a guide
- Prepare ahead of time
- Make enough lunches for a week
- Don’t be afraid of leftovers
Knowing what you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch, and supper each day of the week can help you plan your grocery shopping list and, in turn, help you save money on food. Meal preparation has the extra benefit of removing dinner indecision and preventing you from ordering takeout since you don’t know what to cook.
It takes time and effort to get into the habit of meal planning and maximizing your meal planning, so you spend less money at the store and less time in the kitchen. Here are some pointers to help you become a master meal planner as soon as possible:
Examine your pantry and refrigerator
Check to see what ingredients you already have on hand before you start thinking about what you need to cook and buy for the coming week. You may have enough ingredients on hand or enough to plan a week’s worth of dinners without having to go to the supermarket. A great way to start saving money with Meal Planning.
Make a list of “go-to” meals.
You don’t have to look for and try new recipes every week as part of your meal plan. Make meals that your family enjoys and that are simple to prepare on hectic weeknights. You could discover that meal planning becomes a breeze if you have a list of “go-to’s.”
Plan around your schedule.
Some nights are busier than others, and you probably don’t want to plan elaborate, multi-step meals for those nights. Make your meal plan fit your life — don’t try to fit your life to your meal plan.
Use the grocery store fliers as guidance.
The fliers you get from the grocery store can be a source of inspiration for your weekly meals. Look at what types of meats are on sale and what vegetables are marked down, and plan a few meals that center around this week’s sale items.
Prep in advance.
Preparing as much of your food in advance as possible will also help you avoid food waste and will help you stick to your plan. Make food prep part of your weekly grocery shopping. Once you get home from the store, set about chopping up vegetables, browning meat, and cooking grains or beans.
Make a week’s worth of lunches.
If you and your family members bring lunches to work or school, make a full week’s worth of lunches all in one fell swoop. You’ll save time in the long run and will be less likely to rush out and buy lunch because you didn’t have one ready to go.
Don’t be afraid of leftovers.
When it comes to saving money on food, leftovers can be your best friend. When you’re preparing meals for the week ahead, you can double a recipe and freeze the extra for another meal later in the month. Another option is to have whatever is leftover from dinner for lunch the next day.
Meal subscription boxes, which deliver the recipes and ingredients needed for two or more meals directly to your door, might look like an excellent way to get in the habit of making dinner at home. The boxes usually feature only the amounts needed to prepare a particular recipe, so you don’t have to worry about buying a full jar or bottle of an esoteric ingredient only to have the rest go to waste.
How to create a family budget (family budget, budget for family)
What Is the Definition of a Family Budget?
Let’s define budgeting before we show you how to do it. A budget is simply a plan for your money—everything that comes in (revenue) and everything that goes out (expenditure) (expenses).
A family budget is a plan for your household’s incoming and outgoing funds over a certain time period, such as a month or year. For example, you might set a goal of allocating a certain cash amount or % of your combined monthly income to various expenses such as food, as well as saving, investing, and debt repayment.
Angela Moore, a certified financial planner in Orlando, says, “Your budget is simply a tool for empowering yourself.”
She claims that many people spend their money without thinking about it, but you have the power to decide how to use that money so that it works for you.
“We all have a wonderful potential to build wealth and financial freedom for ourselves, but we must plan ahead.”
Moore, who is also the CEO of Modern Money Advisor, a financial planning and education organization, adds, “We all have a great chance to create wealth for ourselves and to create financial freedom, but we have to have a strategy around that.” “We can’t just go with the flow.”
So let’s build a strategy for your strategy.
When you create a family budget, you are planning for your entire home. Family budgets that work best include everyone in the family (at least to some degree).
Estimates are a good place to start when creating a family budget.
Make a day on your calendar for you and the other adults in your household to begin planning your budget, according to Moore. (This may be you and your partner, your grown children, or your in-laws.) Scheduling holds you accountable and ensures that everyone is calm and focused on the task at hand.
“Creating transparency about where you are currently is the first step,” Moore explains. She advises that everyone’s money be audited first.
Start with a rough estimate. Make a list of how much money you think you have in the bank. Then go over your debts: What is the total amount owed on each of your loans, including the monthly payments and interest? Repeat the process for regular monthly expenses, such as your water bill.
Finally, make a budget for the rest of your expenses. Break down your monthly spending into how much you spend on groceries, gas, clothing, and other items. You can record these charges individually or as a group, according to Moore.
Keep in mind that you’re only making educated estimates at this point. “All you want is a high-level overview,” Moore says, adding that the exercise should take approximately 15 minutes.
Then make a list of your expenses as a starting point.
To avoid becoming overwhelmed, take a little pause. After that, log in to each of your financial accounts and make a list of the real amounts you had estimated.
Moore has walked a lot of clients through this. She claims that figuring out the exact amounts is often an “awakening experience,” as many people grossly underestimate their spending.
You and your family can definitely come up with a few methods to improve your money from here. Perhaps you weren’t aware of how much interest you were paying on a certain loan, so you set aside time to call and bargain. Alternatively, you may discover that you are still paying for a membership that you should cancel. You might realize that you’re spending twice as much on groceries as you expected, so you look into using coupons.
“Find out where you can cut or eliminate specific expenses, and then figure out how to reallocate those dollars to better align with your objectives,” Moore advises.
