Weekly Meal Planning

For many years, my trips to the grocery store were driven by what coupons I had. I gave little thought to doing any serious meal planning. Consequently, we would end up eating out many times as I wouldn't know what I was making ahead of time or I didn't have everything I needed when I tried to cook! I was wasting lots of food too! Now, I do a meal plan on Sunday as it is the quietest day of the week for us. I spend about an hour planning our meals based on our activities, how many days the boys will pack their lunches and if we plan any meals out. Once my meal plan is in place, I take stock of what I have on hand and make my grocery list from the missing ingredients. I spend about $175 each week and that also includes non-food items. This mode of operation has cut down not only on the waste of money, food, and time!