Meal Planning and Budget Tips

You asked for it, so here it is! This is how my family budgets and plans our meals. At first there is a lot of trial and error (and habit breaking). I never ate leftovers. When I didn’t feel like cooking takeout was our go-to! Busy day out? We’d hit the drive-thru. But when we started paying off debt and putting money into savings we realized how much money we had been wasting. Go look at your bank statement. You’ll see how much money you waste. I hope these tips and tricks give you a better idea on how to cut back on food costs!

1. Cut out sodas!
This is a hard one for me. I’m a soda drinker. But we were spending $25 a week on canned drinks.
We do buy a pack of soda a week, but I don’t drink them 24/7. Instead, we keep water and tea available! This has helped me start losing weight (and that bloat) too, so it’s a win win!

2. Cut out processed snacks!
I know, I know. We all love our chips. And cookies, and ice cream. But the amount of money you’re spending is ridiculous. Now, a bag of chips is one thing. But you need to learn how to not fill your buggy up with junk. With a four year old is wasn’t easy. But we found things for her to eat that didn’t cost us a arm and a leg. And let’s be real, kids (just like adults) don’t need snacks all day.
Instead, make sure you and your kiddos are eating more filling foods.

3. Meal Plan. And stick to it.
I highly recommend doing it a week at a time. I used to make a two week plan, and it was very difficult to stick to. We may not want spaghetti two weeks from now.
Write down breakfast foods that you have, lunch, and dinner. That way you have a picture of what is in there and you can make sure you are using what it is your kitchen and not just throwing things together (and using ingredients for meals you planned for)

4. Mix cheap meals with more expensive meals
Have you ever heard of meatless Monday? This is how you can save on meat costs.
Here’s a few meal ideas that don’t include meat:

Broccoli soup 🍲
Beans (any kind) corn bread, boiled cabbage 😛
Ravioli/ tortellini
Salad, bread, Ziti and pasta sauce
Potato soup 🥣

Most soups are low cost as well. We try to have two a week.

5. Portion control/Leftovers
I have found that with meal planning and budgeting it has helped our household with overeating.
I used to make waaaaaaay too much food. With some trial and error I know (pretty much) how much our family eats at a time. You can’t do this everytime. That’s when you can either freeze, or use as leftovers. We like to eat the next day for lunch usually. Whatever you do, make sure it’s eaten.

6. Find alternatives
Remember when I talked about snacks? One way we have saved on sweets is baking. Instead of buying cakes we will buy a box cake and icing ($2)Muffins? They’re usually a dollar a pack to make yourself. And if you ask me, they taste much better.

7, fruits and veggies
The cool thing about fruit and vegetables is you can add these to any meal.
They are a much healthier solution and to me, cost less. We buy spinach and lettuce weekly and eat several salads with our dinners. If you break the cost down it comes out to be pennies!

Weekly produce:
Oranges
Strawberry’s
Lettuce
Spinach
Cucumbers
(We will splurge on others if they look good too 😻)

12. Cut down on paper products. I’m not talking toilet paper. I mean paper towels. Flour sacks and hand towels have a special spot in my kitchen. I was spending $10 every two weeks before I started using washable rags. Now I just throw them in the wash 🧼  and never have to worry about running out.

13. Play with your budget. My budget may not work for your family just like yours may not work for mine.

14. Cheap items that can be used in (almost) every meal
Rice
Potatoes
Eggs
Bread
Pasta
Beans

I hope this helps you in some way! Talk to you soon.