Food: Making a Weekly Meal Plan

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Making a Weekly Meal Plan
Sunday, April 09, 2006

An important part of sticking to your grocery budget each month is by making a weekly meal plan. Many people choose to do their grocery shopping once a week or more often, while still others are able to go less often, perhaps once every two weeks. Once a week is perhaps the best choice because most people can fit a time into their weekly schedule to do their shopping the same time each week; plus, fresh produce and bakery items often do not stay fresh after more than a week. It helps to have a weekly grocery list in a helpful, prominent place, such as the front of the refrigerator or on a kitchen bulletin board or cabinet door. This way, you can add to the list as items are used up, and you can encourage family members to do the same.

Once you decide which day and time you will do your grocery shopping, you can begin making your weekly meal plan. A meal plan consists of every single meal that will be eaten by you and your family, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, whether the meals will be eaten at home or taken to school or work. Remember this also includes snacks, picnics, cookouts, or any other special events, holidays, or parties. If you will be having company one week, be sure to factor in the extra food you will need to buy. It might help to have a day timer or calendar specifically for your meal plan; then each night before you go to bed, you can simply look at your meal plan and see what's on the menu for tomorrow. Then take any meat out of the freezer that needs to be thawed, or gather up items for the next morning's breakfast so it will be ready when you get up.

When you have written down every meal that will be consumed, you then need to decide what you will eat at those meals. Some people have no problem eating the same thing for breakfast each day, while other prefer a variety of options. Think about what you and your family like to eat for breakfast and fill in breakfast foods for each day of the week. Don't leave anything out. If you eat cereal for breakfast, don't forget the milk; and if you drink coffee, remember to check to see if you need to buy filters. Do the same thing for lunch and dinner. If your family primarily eats sandwiches for lunch, plan to buy enough bread and sandwich materials for each lunch; this may include a jar of peanut butter and jelly, or a variety of lunch meats and cheeses. Depending on how many people are in your family, and how many lunches will be consumed, count up how many slices of bread you will need over the course of the week. This may take a bit of time, but once you've done it a few times, you will know how many sandwiches can be made from one loaf of your favorite sliced bread. Buy enough bread to make all the sandwiches you will need for the week, and don't forget the condiments!

When you make your list for dinner time, the recipes may become a bit more involved than cereal and coffee or making sandwiches. Make it a point to go through every recipe you are going to make that week and check to see if you have all the ingredients on hand. If you don't, put them on your grocery list. When you finish making your entire list, arrange it in order of the aisles at your favorite grocery store, to save time, and then go and buy everything on your list, paying attention to sale items, any coupons offered, and less expensive store-brand items. If you carefully planned for each and every meal, you will be able to shop confidently and purposefully, and you won't find yourself hesitating or becoming tempted to buy things you don't really need.

Once you get home from the grocery store, see if you have room to store the food in the order that it will be used; for instance, store frozen meat and vegetable items in the freezer with the first items to be used in the front or on top, and the others in order underneath. Stock your cupboards and refrigerator the same way. Be sure to check your meal plan each day before you go to bed, and the next day you will surprised at all the time you've saved!

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