Menu planning

Ugh........kill me now!  OK..... its not that bad, but it is definately not on of my favorite things to do.  There are several ways and varying degrees of menu planning.

1. You make a list of meals you are going to cook for the next however many days (depends on how often you shop).  Then you make a list of ingrediants you need for those dishes and then go shop. 
    This method is better than the "fly by the seat of your pants" method.  You won't be as likely to eat out, because you will know that you have the ingrediants for the meals on your list and if you check the list before going to work or the night before, then you can prep for the meal (like defrosting the meat).

2.  You can first check the sales circulars for the current week and plan your meals by what is on sale.  Then make your list and shop.
    This method will save you even more than the previous method.  This way you can still have that steak dinner, but it will just wait until the steak goes on sale.

3.  In this method, you need to inventory what is in your pantry and freezer.  What meals can you make out of what you have?  What meals do you only need an ingrediant or two?  After that is exhausted, then move to the sales circular and round out the list.
   This method is good when your a little short on cash until next paycheck or if you are type of person that keeps a stocked pantry and freezer, only buying or stocking up when an item is on sale.

As you can see, the more effort you put into menu planning, the more benefits/savings you will get.   It takes some effort to get the bigger savings.  Dont let the news article about the lady that bought $200 worth of groceries for $10 fool you.  It can be done, but that lady put in some work for that savings.  It wasn't only sunday paper coupons, it was rebates (sought out and mailed in and recieved), research to find the best sales price combined the coupon savings and then all that "stuff" you just bought, is only worth it if you can use it.  So then she has to work it into her menu. 

That said, dont run off!   This isn't all or nothing.  You get to pick the level at which you want to work at it.  I recommend that you start off small.....make a menu before you go shopping.  Develop the habit and then add another small habit, once developed.....add another.  Baby steps.