Meal Planning – saviour or set-up?
Photo by Renáta-Adrienn on Unsplash
This is my final article on budgeting for now, and I am focusing on one area that I struggle with, and I suspect many others do as well.
Groceries.
I know we spend more on food than we do in any other area in our budget; even our mortgage payments are less than our food budget, which is very unusual these days (and probably won't stay this way once we have completed our extension).
Can I let you in on a secret? I wrote those budgeting articles back in 2018 for a different website that never turned into anything. I don't keep things quite so tight these days – but it has been on my mind for months, so after having rewritten and tidied up those stories, I have re-inspired myself, and from the beginning of May, I will be setting up a new budget and keeping a much closer eye on our finances.
With the banks tightening up and food and fuel prices soaring due to the 2-year worldwide pandemic and the current war between Russia and the Ukraine, now is the best time to take stock. If we don't re-evaluate and tighten our spending, I doubt we'd be able to borrow anything extra; and I know we're going to have to, in order to finish the build.
We have done it before to get on the housing ladder, and we can do it again; this time, I will keep you in the loop and hold myself accountable.
I hope you join me.
And as always, my pain point is the grocery budget, so what I am going to talk about with you is what I need to be doing as well.
So, what is meal planning, and why do it?
In a nutshell – meal planning is deciding ahead of time what you are going to eat and then buying accordingly. I have been meal planning for years, but I tend to do it the other way around (which doesn't save money, only sanity). I do my groceries online, and then I plan my week's meals around what I buy; however, inevitably, I have to do some small shops because I haven't got every single ingredient for some of the meals I pick.
The goal of meal planning is to save money AND save your sanity, so you know exactly what you're going to cook and eat all week, and thus you only buy the exact ingredients you need to fulfil this. Ultimately, this will save you money. It also saves food wastage (and the ongoing ripple effect is protecting the environment). It also saves your sanity as there is no more 5 pm "What's for dinner" thoughts scurrying around your tired mind. You will probably still have children or your partner asking, but if you have your meal plan up somewhere – they will eventually learn to refer to that. I have a whiteboard on my fridge, and it has the weekly meal plan and a shopping list on it, which saves a lot of stress when used effectively.
Ideally, when you meal plan, you plan every meal of the week and all your snacks. I don't do this, but it is something I aspire to, one day when there is more time in my life for planning. Currently, I only plan dinners; but we keep everything else relatively simple, especially breakfasts. I know there are those of you that will be shaking your heads because the rigidity of such a meal plan would not work for you or your family; this I understand. Even with dinners, there are days when I look at my meal plan, and I don't want to cook the meal for that night. Here is how I fix this – I plan Monday to Thursday, but as I have all the ingredients (theoretically), I can swap these around as it suits me. Friday night is a quick and easy meal or a fakeaway (e.g. toasted sandwiches, homemade pizza, waffles, etc.). Sunday is make your own, and Saturday, I generally preplan – however, I am a lot more relaxed if plans change. This still gives me enough planning to get through a week but enough movement not to feel tied down; it works for us. The weeks I don't plan are more stressful, and more takeaways are consumed (and more money spent).
So, in conclusion, here are some of the many reasons for meal planning:
- More variety in your diet
- Eat healthier
- Save money
- Save time
- Save your sanity
- Less food wastage
But how do you meal plan, and where do you even start?
The first thing you need to do is check your calendar for any evening appointments, invitations out, or activities that week. We have one central calendar where everything goes, making life much easier to keep track of. With this information, you can decide what types of meals you should make; for example, on the busy evenings, pick a crockpot meal or an Under 30 Minute Meal. Note when you are going out or if you have guests coming over and plan accordingly.
Then look through your cupboards/fridge/freezer and see what you have on hand (although I tend to skip this step and often buy things we already have, oops).
Using the above knowledge of your schedule and your pantry ingredients, go to your recipe books or online – wherever you find your inspiration for meals, and choose your meals for the week. Note down any ingredients you need to purchase from the meals you have chosen, and then put together the rest of your shopping list as you normally would.
I recommend making a list of favourite meals you know the whole family loves and will eat. Use these in rotation for two or three of your meals each week, and then fill the other meals with recipes that you have been meaning to try. You can make two lists – Family Favourites and Recipes to Try (remember to note down where you can find them again)! I now use an App called 'Copy Me That', which allows you to save recipes from the internet; they have a free version and a premium version. I have used the free version for years.
Pro-Tip - Shop online, it helps you keep a close eye on the total, and you're not wandering the aisles for hours buying things you don't need (especially when you're hungry). Set up a favourites list for your weekly essentials, then include anything you have on your meal planning list that you need and anything else you're running low on. We use Countdown, and for $1, they also pack your groceries for you – fantastic! I then pick a time that suits my schedule, generally after work the next day, and pick up the groceries on the way home. If you don't like others choosing your fruit and vegetables for you, then don't order them online – just go in and choose them yourself when you pick up the groceries.
So the quick steps are:
1) Check your schedule
2) Check your pantry
3) Get out a list of family favourites / Recipes to Try
4) With the above information, write up your meal plan for the week
5) Write up your shopping list based on your meal plan
6) Do your grocery shop armed with your list in hand to ensure minimal spending
Good luck, whanau (family); I hope this helps with the budget in these lean times.
Feel free to leave a comment with your favourite budgeting tips; we could all do with some extra tips and tricks!
留言