Meal Planning Archives - Page 6 of 10 - I Heart Frugal

Meal Planning

Meal planning at it’s finest and the recipes to boot!

Best Meal Planning Tips Series to Make You a Pro – Day 4 Shop & Prep

Budget Meal Planning Tips - Food Prep
Budget Meal Planning Tips – Food Prep

In today’s Meal Planning Tip we will discuss shopping and food prep for your meal plan. This may sound like an easy tip, but when you are planning meals you must consider the shelf-life of the food or you may end up wasting it…And of course, wasted food equals wasted money.

By now, you have an idea about why you should meal plan! It saves you time and money and you are WAY less stressed out when dinner time rolls around! If you are looking to save money, your food budget is always something you can cut! Through careful planning and shopping sales, your grocery budget will go down tremendously!

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Best Meal Planning Tips Series to Make You a Pro – Food Budget (Day 3)

Best Meal Planning Tips - Day 3 Budgeting
Best Meal Planning Tips – Day 3 Budgeting

What is your food budget? How much do you spend on food per month?

If you want to save money on groceries, the first thing you need to know is how much you spend on groceries regularly.

If you do not know this number, that is okay. You can start tracking your grocery spending or you can do a reverse grocery budget. (Use credit card bills or receipts to see how much you spent last month or you can always do a rough estimate.)

Most likely, if you are new to this whole budget thing, you probably haven’t been paying close attention to where your money is going.

Yet, if you are in debt, cutting food costs is an easy way to save. You can pay off your debt with your extra money and still have plenty of delicious meals.

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Best Meal Planning Tips Series to Make You a Pro – Frequency Day 2

Budget Meal Planning Tips Series - Day 2 Frequency
Budget Meal Planning Tips Series – Day 2 Frequency

One great meal planning tip is to plan your frequency. This means how often you will meal plan.  Your meal planning frequency will determine how much food you buy, how often you visit the store, and your food budget for the meal planning cycle. There are people who meal plan every week or bi-weekly and some plan up to an entire year of meal prep (even I’m not that organized!)  I recommend bi-weekly meal planning because it is easier to stay organized and you only have to go to the store twice per month.

Remember, the less you go to the store, the less chance you have to throw “impulse buy” items into your cart.

Keep in mind, you can double the bi-weekly meal plan to create a month’s worth of meals while only eating the same meal twice per month.

Day 1 –  Best Meal Planning Tips Series to Make You a Pro – Introduction Day One

Day 3 – Budgeting

Day 4 – Shopping and Food Prep

Day 5 – Stay Sane

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Best Meal Planning Tips Series to Make You a Pro – Intro (Day 1)

 

Meal Planning Tips Series - Introduction
Budget Meal Planning Tips Series – Introduction

There are many reasons I meal plan but my favorite is ALWAYS to save money! Here at I Heart Frugal it is my mission to help you pay down debt and live within your means. Yes, you can live that debt-free amazing life you have always wanted! Nonetheless, many do not realize one of the easiest ways to slash your budget is to cut your grocery spending. Meal planning is an easy way to do just that! So today I am offering you a five-day Meal Planning tips series to help you meal plan with the best of them.

However, meal planning may not be at the top of your list of “fun” things to do today, but if you LOVE to plan, like me, then this will be super simple and easy.

Yet, if you are more of spontaneous momma, no worries! You can still create a meal plan and day by day, decide what you would like to make for dinner. Then you still have all your ingredients on-hand but you can eat whatever you have a taste for. This keeps you happy and away from the take-out menus.

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7 Lies You’ve Heard About Meal Planning and How To Start

Learn how to start meal planning and save time and money!

7 Lies You’ve Heard About Meal Planning

Are you afraid to start meal planning because of certain assumptions you have? Do you think meal planning is boring and a waste of time? This post will walk you through the benefits of meal planning and give you a clear idea on how to save money on your food bill using meal planning.

I’ve been meal planning most of my adult life without even realizing it. You see, back at Central Michigan University times were tough. I was paying for my tuition with student loans and being the frugalista that I am, I took out the minimal amount to cover tuition only.

I then worked full-time to make ends meet at a daycare making around $4-5 an hour. Needless to say, that money did not go far when it came to buying needs like food and most wants were left as gifts from my parents and grandparents (thanks, guys)!

So after leaving the dorms where I had a cafeteria meal plan allowing me to eat whatever I wanted twice a day, I started meal planning on my own for two main reasons:

  1. I only went to the store once a week because I rode a bike (until it was stolen – hard times!).
  2. I was on a very fixed income. This meant I needed my food to last the entire week until I could pump those pedals to the store again.

So after this struggling college experience, I was conditioned to continue meal planning.

After I started living off a teacher’s salary and was making more money, I also had more bills – like paying back those yucky student loans! So with that, I continued my frugal meal planning ways.

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