Five Finger Discounts
Creating a Weekly Menu
One of the best ways, in my opinion, to save money is by having a weekly menu. If you know what you are going to cook, then you can shop ONCE and get all the items for that week, minimizing your trips to the grocery store. By limiting your trips, you will save more money.
One of my friends likes to go to Wal-mart 4-5 times per week. Although she only picks up a few items each day, she is spending about $20 each time she goes. If she had a menu and focused on shopping for the items on her menu one time for the entire week, perhaps she’d spend $50-$60 for her week instead of $80-$100.
Two things are important here- your budget and your menu. Create a menu and then look through the weekly grocery store ads to see where you can buy the items for the best price so that you can stick to your budget. Yes, it’s a bit of work, but everything good in life takes work. In the long run you will be saving TONS of money.
To help you get started with your menu planning & grocery list making, check out this blog entry by Mandi from “Organizing Your Way target=”_blank” rel=”external nofollow””. Thanks, Mandi!
Weekly Menu Plan
Weekly Menu Plan (Without Assigned Days)
Weekly Menu Plan & Shopping List
Weekly Menu Plan & Shopping List (Without Days)
Choose one of the above weekly menu plans to help get you started. This organization tool will help you in more ways than you can imagine.
Having a menu helps me focus when I’m grocery shopping as I enter the store with a list of the items that I need for that week. It also reduces stress. For so long I would ask my husband what he wanted for dinner night after night. Usually I would get the same response- “What do you want?”. Not knowing what to make for dinner gets frustrating. Trying to figure out what to make with the stuff in your fridge and pantry at 5:00pm every evening is not fun for anyone.
Be creative but practical. I try to make meals under 30minutes during the week. Anything that takes longer than that has to wait until the weekend. Also, remember to include at least 1-2 days for leftovers. We eat leftovers on Wednesday night because that is the night I clean out my fridge (Thursdays are garbage pickup days).
Tags: Budget, Getting Started, Grocery List, Menu