Good luck with putting a system together.

Thanks, I’m going to work on putting something like that together.

I’m glad that the idea of a meal plan sounds useful.

I’ll add some extra details. In Australia there are three food magazines that are sold in the supermarkets. These magazines are the main recipe source. The recipes are designed to be tasty, easy to cook and budget conscious.

I created a printable meal plan in word that takes up one page per fortnight. The plan lists the days of the week, the meals, and the magazine issue that will supply the recipe. Some recipes my wife and I cook come from coobooks or other recipes gathered over the years.

I usually print up 20 sheets at a time and put them in a folder. My wife and I have been following this system for just under a year and a half and it has saved quite a bit of time.

It’s a matter of making it a habit to use a system like this. One of my hobbies is taking regular tasks and refining them to be easy to complete so I can spend more time with my children.

Hope this extra information is useful.

I have talked about doing a meal plan and sometimes I do one in my head, but maybe I need to take the next step and actually write it down.

I started looking at my local stores ads the weekend before I go shopping and making a general plan of what to eat/buy that week, but just like budgeting my money I think I need to put something in writing to really make progress here.

Thanks all!

Stops the pop into the local store for the bits and pieces that turns into an expensive full blown impulse buying experience.

Love your comment about throwing away the dollar bills, just wouldn’t happen would it.

Jo

1) We plan a fortnight’s worth of meals and write up a shopping list. We also inventory what we have in the pantry and the freezer and incorporate some of it into the fortnightly meal planner. When we freeze meat/chicken we write the quanitity and freeze date on some stickers and adhere the stickers to the bags. This saves wondering about mystery meat packages.

2) Eat leftovers for lunch. I’m fortunate that I have a fridge in my workspace and able to store leftovers until I use them.

3) Don’t be afraid to try cooking different styles of cuisine. Develop some confidence and you’ll be able to do some off the cuff meals from bits and pieces.

Hope these suggestions are useful.

I gathered a lot of things together and made some pasta tonight using a lot of stuff that would have been thrown out soon. It’s a start, but I still have some work to do.

Thanks for stopping by!

When it comes to perishables, besides basic condiments and accountrements, I only buy enough groceries to last me the week. If even that.