Frugal GAB

Taking the time to sit down and make a weekly (or monthly) menu plan can really help out your budget (and your sanity!). When you have a plan you can be sure you have the ingredients on hand, take things out to defrost on time, and avoid the money sucking lure of take out!
You can do it simply, or get really detailed…whatever works for you!

Here a a few basic steps to get you started:

• Think about what your family favorites are, what do you make often? If you are not sure then record a couple weeks of dinners on your calendar and see if you have a pattern. Use that as your base.

• Check your calendar to see if  you will be home, or if anyone has activities to keep you away at dinner time. That way you can plan a quick meal, or factor in a take out meal if it works better with your schedule . We have “Diner’s choice” on the nights my DH is not home so the boys choose their faves that night.

• Review your grocery store fliers at Sunday Saver or get your shopping lists from The Grocery Game, Coupon Mom, My Grocery Deals, or similar sites.  Plan some meals around what is on sale.

• Pull out your favorite recipes, or use a site where you can save them in a recipe box for quick reference.  Try All Recipes,  Kraft Foods, or just use the tags on Delicious to keep track of those you find on the web.  If you need more inspiration try Woman’s Day’s Month of Menus for a printable menu calendar and also a shopping list!

• Check your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to see what you have on hand before you make your shopping list so you do not waste money buying duplicates.

• Record your menu plan on your calendar, in your planner, or on Google Calendar (which is great because you can link to recipes in your entry!

Now if you are a blogger, be sure to join up with I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday and post your weekly menu!

Check out my weekly plan over at our sister site Simple GAB!