Figuring it Out: Meals

One of the biggest challenges in this whole "grown-up" thing has been figuring out meals. Breakfast (some days). Lunch (most days). Dinner (always...duh).

For a while, we went by the "fly by the seat of our pants" method. We would buy whatever looked good at the grocery store, and I would whip things together when I felt like it. If it was a busy night, or there weren't the right pieces to make an actual meal in the fridge, we would just get fast food, or hit up the pizza parlor across the street.

When the grocery bills seemed WAY too high for just the two of us, and we realized how much we were eating out, I started going to the grocery store with a list. I would have a few meals in mind, and a general idea of a budget. We also started trying to limit what we spent on meals away from home, and things got a little bit better.

Eventually though, the budget got tighter and we HAD to reduce our food bill even more. After reading America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money, I was inspired to take our grocery bill by the horns. Here are some things I've been doing to reduce our grocery bill.

1) Limits- I make sure we put limits on eating out. Max of 1 sit-down meal per paycheck, and we generally plan for one meal a week that's under $10. Hubby meets with his small group at Jitters after work, so he'll get dinner there. If I know he's not going to be home, I'll pick up a $5 footlong so I don't cook a whole meal for just myself.

2) Plan a Menu- This is probably the hardest part. It takes a little bit of time, but since I've built up more and more recipes, I'm able to look at the local grocery store ads and plan meals around what's on sale. If chicken is on sale, I'll make Easy Chicken Enchiladas. If there's pork loins on sale, I can make Crispy Pork Cutlets with Asian Slaw.

3) Stock Up- There are certain items that I will always use in my meals, like "cream of ____" soups and chicken broth. When these things are REALLY cheap (like, 50% off or less), I stock up. Instead of buying the one can of broth I'll get 4. Maybe I'll buy the 5 pound bag of rice instead of the 1 pounder. One thing that's important though, I try to account for about $10 extra for "stocking up" beyond what my normal groceries should cost. Depending on what you make regularly, these are things you may want to stock up on:

• butter
• cheese
• broths and soups
• cream cheese
• drinks (like juice or tea)
• canned tomatoes, beans, corn, mandarin oranges, etc.
• TOILET PAPER and paper towels, because really, you'll always need them
• Meat (buy then freeze, we'll talk about that in a minute)
• breadcrumbs
• flour
• sugar
• salt
• rice
• mac n' cheese
• frozen pizza

Notice that the things on this list don't spoil quickly. If you stock up on things that do spoil, then you may end up wasting more than you save. Another thing to notice is that these items tend to be bases or sides in a lot of different recipes.

4) Use your Freezer- Some things freeze well. Some things don't. Meat is expensive (it accounts for most of our grocery budget), but at least it freezes and thaws well. If ground beef is on sale, I buy as much as I can. It's very versatile, and you know you're going to use it before it'll go bad in a freezer (anywhere from 6 months to a year or more). You can also freeze some fruits and vegetables. I freeze blueberries and use them in smoothies for breakfast, or in pancakes. I only used half of a pack of green onions I bought, so I chopped up all of them and froze them. Now they're ready to garnish whatever I please!

5) Eat Your Leftovers- Seriously. Most recipes are waaaay too much for 1-2 people, and it makes easy lunch the next day. Just make sure whatever you cook is something that re-heats well!

So it's time to grocery shop again, eh?

Here's a step-by-step of my weekly routine:

1. Look at the ads. What looks good, and what's on sale?
2. Plan the meals. Don't forget breakfast, lunch, and snack foods! It can be as simple as buying meat, bread and cheese for lunches for the week, or just granola bars for breakfast. You know what you like to eat :)
3. Make your grocery list! Here are some of the things that I make sure I always have on hand, since they're used in almost everything I make.
   -Milk
   -Butter
   -Cheese
   -Bread
   -Onion
   -Tomato
   -Eggs
   -Potatoes
4. This is the hardest one- buy only what is on your list! We all get sucked into it... that feeling when you go to the grocery store (especially when you're hungry), and everything just looks so good. You want to put it in your cart, but don't. That's how a $50 grocery trip turns into $100 trip. Each "little thing" that gets thrown into the cart adds up!
5. Keep a running tally of what you're spending as you check off your list. Sometimes this will help me decide if it's in the budget to stock up on an item, or get a gourmet treat for Hubby and I (like homemade spinach dip). 

That's it! Hopefully you found this post helpful, and if you have strategies you use, please share them in the comments below so we can all benefit :) Thanks!!!