So please forgive me if I toot my own horn for a minute here. I just feel so happy. You see I have always been a big fan of meal planning. I spend about 2 hours twice a month planning my meals for the following two weeks. I then write out a menu (that I mostly stick to) and then comes the fun part. . . I write out a grocery list that is divided into categories according to the layout of my favorite (and the cheapest) grocery store. Beside each item on my list I estimate how much it is going to cost me and then I add up all of the items in a category and I write the total for the category beside its title. After that I add up the sum of all of the categories and I have the total of what my grocery bill will be.
Now the store that I love to shop at carries just about everything from clothes, to baby supplies and cleaning supplies to automobile parts and toys. So my grocery bill always includes just about any item I may need to buy over the two weeks including birthday presents and cleaning supplies and clothes.
Ok, so yesterday I decided to do a little experiment and divide my total by the number of days (14) that I need the groceries for and then divide that by the number of people in my household (7). (Lahni are you proud yet?) By doing this I was able to come up with the fact that it cost me $6/person per day to run my household for the next two weeks.
I am THRILLED!!! It just gives me such a feeling of accomplishment when I realize that by planning everything out I am able to save so much money. I feel great about that! I LOVE to save money and this has always been something that I have done. . . not because I knew how much money that it would save me, but because I love to feel organized and I hate to not know what I am going to be making for dinner. It always feels great to know that I don't have to go back to the grocery store for 2 weeks. . . . I mean how awesome is that????
So, thanks for letting me toot my own horn today. . . I think that I am just about all parrumphed out now!
skillet baked macaroni and cheese
1 day ago
4 comments:
Holy Smokes....Way to be prepared. This is definitely one way I am not as organized as I'd like to be. The main reason is that I can't ever think of what to make for dinner. Any help?
Sweet - do you want to come over and do it at my house???
Seriously though - what do you cook on those days that you don't get to sit down to dinner til about 8:00..... It's those really-busy-I-want-to-pull-my-hair-out-so-I-just-do-take-out days that get to me.....
Megan - that seriously is incredible. I attempt meal planning every few days, but as my 4 trips per week to the store show, it is never really materialized.
My questions:
- What do menus in your house look like? (I need ideas).
- How do you store the food? And keep it from going bad for 14 days?
I usually do the grocery shopping for one week at a time, I can't plan that far in advance. (And actually I don't do the shopping, I just make the list. I HATE grocery shopping, John is kind enough to do it for me!)
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