Somewhere along the line I recognized that I have enough stressors in my life and realized that meal planning doesn’t have to be one of them.
Meal planning on a budget can sometimes be a pain, but if you do it right it can take all the stress out of the dreaded daily question of, “What’s for dinner?”
Making a meal plan has lots of benefits:
- save money
- eat out less (save money + health)
- learn cooking skills
- try new foods
- cut down on waste
- takes “guess work” out of meals
- control over what you eat
- plan ahead
Even though we know the benefits of meal planning, it still seems like a lot of work. If you are new to meal planning, here’s a great place to start.
Check out my video about meal planning on a budget:
Where to Begin
Pinterest
If you start with Pinterest, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Well maybe not wrong, but maybe not budget friendly either.
1. Start with what you have
The first thing you need to do is get out a pen and paper. Now, go through your pantry, fridge, and freezer and make a list of all the items you need to use up.
2. Shop the sales
The next thing you need to do is get out the grocery ads. If you don’t have access to a newspaper, most grocery stores list them online. Here are some weekly ads:
Add the items that are on sale (and that look appetizing) to your list.
3. Look for recipes
Now it’s time to look at Pinterest or other recipe sites like Allrecipes where you can browse by ingredient search.
When looking for recipes, look for ones that use the ingredients on hand and the ones on sale. Allrecipes lets you type in the ingredients and it shows recipes based on them.
Check out other recipes that look interesting, too. Pin them to a Pinterest Meal Plan board or bookmark the recipe.
4. Create the list
Grab another sheet of paper. I like to divide my paper in half (hot dog fold style) and write Meal Plan on the left side. On the right side I write Grocery List.
On the left side under Meal Plan, I write breakfast, lunch, and supper for each day of the week. There you will make a list of all the recipes you found and want to cook for the week. On the right side, write down whatever ingredients you need to get.
4. Go Shopping
Finally, go shopping for what is on your list or get it delivered through a grocery delivery app like Instacart. Instacart is a great way to save money because you only get what you need – no impulse purchases!
Now, enjoy the fruits of your labor without needing to wonder “what’s for dinner?”
[record scratch]
I’ve been meal planning like this for a long time and it works well! But over the years I’ve come to tweak it to my family’s needs. In our current season of life, our focus with regards to food is: quick, easy, and budget friendly.
So if you don’t like meal planning, try this instead.
Now I must admit: I don’t always have time to write a meal plan every. single. week. I have a few different go-to meals that I can whip up on a moments notice. So when I go grocery shopping, I make sure I always buy certain things.
Things I always have on hand:
Head over to my Etsy shop and grab your checklist to print out and take with you to the grocery store! As a thank you to my readers, I’m offering a 10% discount when you use the code: READER or use this link!
- Grains
- brown rice
- quinoa
- wheat bread
- bagels
- english muffins
- noodles
- oatmeal
- granola
- tortillas
- Beans
- black
- kidney
- garbanzo
- white
- green
- Vegetables
- broccoli
- green onions
- peppers
- onions
- sweet potatoes
- Dairy
- butter
- eggs
- milk
- cheese
- cream cheese
- Meat
- chicken
- ground beef
- angus burgers
- ground pork
- pork loin
- ground turkey
- lunch meat
- ground sausage
- Canned Goods
- diced tomatoes
- tomato sauce
- coconut milk
- corn
- various veggies
- Fruit
- avocado
- mandarins
- limes
- lemons
- Misc
- seaweed
- snacks
- baking goods
- peanut butter
- condiments
- alfredo sauce
- pesto
- seasonings (current favorite: tajin chili lime seasoning)
- ramen
- oil: olive, sesame, vegetable
- broth
- cream of soup
At any given moment, I should be able to open my fridge or pantry and find these items.
When I use any item from this list, I immediately write it down on the grocery list that is on the fridge. That way I can be sure we always have it on hand.
Because of that, we are able to keep our grocery runs few and far between.
…and because grocery shopping with a toddler isn’t in my top 5 favorite things to do…
Or top 10.
We have 2 major grocery shopping days a month (once every 2 weeks) where we stock up on these items. On the off weeks, we my husband may make a quick run to the store to get more dairy and fresh produce.
*Shout out to my hubby for doing the majority of the grocery shopping this past year!*
By doing it this way we are able to keep our grocery bill low each month – much lower than the USDA average food bill for our family size.
Knowing that we always have these items on hand, I create my meal plan around them.
My Go To Meals
Here are the meals that I can almost always whip up without needing to go to the store:
- White Bean Turkey Chili
- Broccoli, Quinoa, Chicken, Black Beans
- Burrito Bowl
- Homemade Pizza
- Panini
- Chicken Alfredo
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Lettuce Wraps with Soybean Paste
- Beef Stroganoff
- Tacos
- Gourmet Ramen
- Ramen Teriyaki
- Fajita Wraps
- Moroccan Turkey Stew
- Pork Tenderloin
- Chicken Curry
- Lo Mein
- Stuffed Peppers
- Chili
- Swedish Meatballs
- Chicken & Rice
- Beans & Rice
- Dirty Rice
- Green Bean Casserole
- Southwest Black Bean Salad
- & More!
My Recipe Criteria
Pinterest is a great resource for meal ideas. When I flip through recipe magazines, some just seem overly complicated and unrealistic. Am I the only one that thinks that? Here is my criteria for choosing recipes.
Healthy
First off, the recipe needs to be relatively healthy. I usually stay away from frozen dinners, things with lots of heavy cream, lots of sugar, and lots of butter.
Relatively quick
I need to be able to prep it in half hour or less. Or it can be something that I can “set and forget” like rice. The Instant Pot is amazing for this. Brown rice goes from shelf to done in 30 minutes with little effort on my part.
Not complex
I have a toddler that likes to help out in the kitchen. He says “elphf” whenever I’m in the kitchen and he wants me to get his stool for him.
When he’s in there with me, I can only devote half (ish) of my attention to whatever I’m cooking. So it can’t be too complex. I’m not going to double hot water bathe potatoes.
If that’s a thing.
Ingredients I have on hand
Like I said, grocery shopping with a toddler isn’t a favorite of mine. I try and do it as little as possible. So if a recipe calls for something I don’t have, I usually modify it to fit my ingredients.
Inexpensive
For our day to day meals we try to stick with what is inexpensive. We eat a lot of beans, rice, and chicken. And Ramen on occasion. But we spruce it up a lot to make it not feel so plain or boring.
Because we’re on a budget, we save the expensive meals like steak and shrimp for special occasions instead of day to day life.
Over the past 5 years I’ve built up a recipe repertoire of tried and true favorites.
Get access to my personal Menu Plan board on Pinterest for free! I only pin recipes I’ve tried that fit this criteria and want to make again. Have a look for some good ideas!
You’ll find almost all of the recipes for my go-to meals on there!
Less Than Average
The USDA average spent on groceries per month for a family of 3 is:
| Liberal Plan | $962 |
| Moderate-Cost Plan | $744 |
| Low-Cost Plan | $629 |
| Thrifty Plan | $490 |
And then there is my family plan where we spend less than all of those plans.
How We Save
Meat is probably the area that costs the most money in a grocery bill. Because we already have meat on hand at any given time, we can afford to wait until it goes on sale before we buy it. Then we stock up and wait for it to go on sale next.
Sometimes you can even catch it on super sale. When items are nearing their “freeze by” or “best by” date, stores will reduce the price to clear it out. This is when we swoop in. We make sure it still looks good of course and then stock up. As soon as we get home, we divide up the meat and freeze it that day.
We also don’t make meat our main focus in a meal. It is typical for me to use one 1lb chicken breast for a meal. Then I add beans, veggies, and some type of grain, either brown rice or quinoa.
More Saving Tips
Since we’re in a small apartment, we don’t actually have a pantry. But if you can buy in bulk, you save more money. So how can you stock up when you don’t have space?
Where there’s a will there’s a way.
We rearranged our laundry closet and put up shelves to hold our canned goods. We even put a deep freezer in the closet of my son’s bedroom. He’s little and his clothes are small so it worked out.
But now we really need the closet space so we’ve put the deep freezer in storage. We aren’t able to stock up on as much meat now but if you package the meat in meal sized portions, you can fit more in the freezer.
Check out my post for more ways to save on your grocery bill: 5 Ways to Save Money on Groceries.
More videos you may like:
Meal planning on a budget can sometimes be a pain, but if you do it right it can take all the stress out of it. What are your budget friendly meal planning tips? Let me know in the comments below!
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