10 Tips for Meal Planning

Yesterday, I shared our meal plan for the week, but I've had a lot of people reaching out recently, asking about meal planning and budgeting! So, I wanted to share some tips that have helped us keep our grocery bill (for our family of 4) to $100 a week. 

Planning

1. Make a master list of 10-20 meals that you love. When you sit down to do your weekly plan, you can use this list to help figure out what will work for your week. Keep the recipes together in a convenient place - we have a family cookbook that we write our favourite recipes in!
2.  Plan your WHOLE day! When I first started meal planning, I thought breakfast and lunch would be easy and I just decided our dinners ahead of time. However, you'll save yourself time, stress, and trips to the drive-thru if you figure out all 3 meals (and snacks!) for each day.
3. Plan your menu around what you already have on hand. Keep inventory on what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer and build meals around the things you have.
4. When you plan to cook your favourite meals, make DOUBLE! You can either freeze the extras for an easy dinner next month or have the leftovers as your lunch for the week, making life easier for future you! 
5. Overlap your ingredients. If you need half a head of cauliflower for your dinner on Monday, look for other recipes that require cauliflower for later in the week. 

Grocery Shopping

1. Always go to the store with a plan and a list! Figuring out your meals for the week and making a grocery list from your meal plan will save you from making random purchases.
2. Know what you have at home. In the past, I would buy a can of chickpeas, only to find I had 3 cans at home already. Check your cupboards and fridge before you head out. 
3.  Don't be afraid of the no-name brands.
4.  Frozen fruits and vegetables are cheaper and possibly more nutritious! This article from Livestrong says that produce selected for freezing is harvested when it's at its most ripe stage, rather than harvested early and allowed to ripen during transport to the market. When ripe, vegetables and fruits provide the most nutrition... So, frozen fruits and veggies could get you MORE nutrients than the fresh stuff.
5. Look for sales. The small bags of flour were $5.97 but the big bags (twice the size!) were only a dollar more. This will save us a lot more in the long run.