Planning a Month of Dinners on a Budget

My husband and I had a big reality check last week. We were spending way too much money on stuff we don't need when we could be saving a lot each month. I decided we needed to be on a tight budget instead of spending money left and right. I started by planning out our dinners for the whole month of June! That's right and after I did my shopping for 30 nights of dinners I only spent $239.54! Sounds too good to be true, right? Here is how I did it...

First let me start with telling you about my one of my favorite little things. My recipe box. My grandmother gave me this little recipe box years ago, well before I was married. At the time I couldn't see why I would ever need this little box but now I couldn't imagine life without it. I keep all of my prized recipes in this cute little box. It sits nicely next to my stove. Whenever I find a new recipe I like I scribble it down on a little card and put it in the box. I often steal recipes from friends or find new ones online. This may seem old school to many but for me it works great. It really helps in planning meals to have all my families favorite recipes at my finger tips. I only put the recipes we really like in the box. I don't bother with things I will probably never make again.

Second, I made a blank calendar on my computer. I then pulled out my recipe cards and plugged in each date of the calendar with a meal from my cards. Now since my husband is in the Coast Guard he has to stand duty every 4th day. Some of those days he has to stay the night at work. On those days, his "duty" days, I plan simple meals. I usually make soup or something easy on the chance my husband won't be home that night. I never feel like cooking a big meal if it's just going to be my 3 year old and myself for dinner. If my husband doesn't happen to have the overnight on his duty day then he just gets to enjoy a simple meal with us. Some days do not have meals that come from my recipe cards, such as tomato soup and pizza. Those things I obviously don't need a recipe for. After my calendar was all filled out I hung it on my refrigerator.

After I completed my calendar of meals for the month I made my shopping list. I wrote down everything I need for the whole month of meals. After I wrote my list I went through my kitchen pantry, refrigerator and freezer and crossed off anything I already had. This helped me save a LOT! I used to go to the store and just buy stuff randomly without thinking of what I may already have at home. I was actually surprised to find I had a lot of stuff I already needed for my meals. After I crossed off what I didn't need to buy I hit the store. I managed to get everything I needed for $239.54. Now these are also Alaska prices, which are much higher than the lower 48. However, they are also our Commissary prices and so the meat prices are usually pretty good.

This may seem like a LOT of work but once I figured out a system it was actually very easy and now I have my meals planned for the whole month! It saves me on multiple trips to the store, which is not easy with a baby and 3 year old. I also don't have to go through the "What's for dinner tonight?" conversation I usually have with myself every afternoon. This frees me up to spend more time with my babies and less time trying to figure out what to feed them. I also save a LOT of money because I'm not buying unnecessary items at the store. We waste less food because every meal is planned out ahead of time.

So far I love our new system. I hope to keep it up and save lots of money and time in the future! I'd love to hear how other people meal plan and save money at the same time. 


How Planning Ahead Saves Us Money:

1. With a plan and a shopping list I spend less money at the store. There are less impulse buys.
2. Everything I buy gets used so there is less waste.
3. By planning meals I have better portion control which equals less waste.
4. My husband hates eating the same meal two days in a row for dinner but he loves leftovers for lunch the next day. This also saves us money on lunch food and less waste again.
5. I use what I already have. Some meals can be planned around what I already have in my cupboards.
6. I also pack my husbands lunch for work every day. This saves us a LOT of money! I make his lunch the night before and put it in his lunch box in the refrigerator. If I pack him leftovers this makes my job that much easier. I just pack his lunch as I'm cleaning up after dinner.