One of these days I will get a handle on the blog thing and have these posts in categories and tags and all sorts of fancy navigation systems. But for now this is how you get it. ;) And it just so happens that I had an epiphany last night and now after a whole morning of research and planning, feel the need to write about my discovery. And it turns out that I wasn't as bad off as I had thought. Well, at least not in this particular subject.
We desperately need a budget. Not that I'm going to bore you with lectures and statistics on how I've learned how to save and live comfortably. Because honestly I am FAR from that. lol But as I was researching and checking on budgeting my grocery bill as one of my starts, I realized that I was already half way there. With the grocery bill that is.
A few of the starting tips I had gathered were that you need to figure what you are already spending in a months time. You don't know what you need to cut back on until you know where it is going in the first place. I already have a pretty good average on what I spend (these days. we always spend more in the summer.) at the grocery store in the course of a month. The other tip was to plan your meals. And as I looked through some of the topics on how to go about this, I realized I had been doing this subconsciously already. So apparently it is easier than I had imagined and had made it out to be with every other attempt I over complicated.
About 6 month ago I finally got fed up with the constant daily struggle of deciding what to make for dinner. The Hubby was NEVER any help with that daunting question and The Kid would inevitably say, "Chicken and fries, please". (even if I was asking about breakfast. lol) And with out a plan there was usually no meat pulled from the freezer with anticipation. Adding to the fact that we do not own a microwave. I know, you probably just gasped right then. Most people do. We just don't have the room for one and when we moved in, the rental we came from had a built in over the stove, hood style. So we just opted to do with out since I'm sure the process, nor the products made for microwaves (that are so easy to have on hand for just in case.) are not good for you in any way. So some of my preparation takes a little longer, but I justify by telling myself it's a healthier route.
How I came up with my starter plan was fairly easy. It was inspired by my brother who has spaghetti every Wednesday. (Actually I think a lot of people have this weird tradition.) So I figured that's all I needed to do is have a specific meal each night and every week do that same thing. ... Well not exactly that. That would get really boring. But I did have a theme for each night. It has evolved a bit since I started, but this is sort of how it went. Monday night was a surprise night. I would get something out to thaw for the weekend and then get caught up in activities and not make what I had intended. So Monday was my do over day for dinner. Tuesday nights (at the time) I was doing a Zumba class, so I made those night 'Find it your self' night. :) Easy enough. Wednesday was, of course, spaghetti night. Thursday was breakfast night inspired by my husband who normally only gets a home cooked hot breakfast maybe once a week. Now he looks forward to every Thursday night. Friday was Mexican night. We love Mexican food as much as (maybe more than) Italian food so this was an easy one too. Saturday and Sunday ended up being another surprise night and BBQ. The only thing that has changed much is that I no longer do the Zumba class on Tuesday nights. I've recently found lots of supper easy crock pot recipes so now I dedicate Tuesday nights to them. And Wednesdays are now Italian night to give me a little more options.
I have now gone as far as creating a menu board on my cupboard in order to have a place for the weeks recipe cards. Since I have been doing the weekly planning, shopping for groceries has become a little easier as well. So that's when I decided to take on this menu thing full force. I bought a pack of cork sheets from Wal-Mart and some of the sticky puddy you use for mounting glow stars (that stuff is awesome and I use it for every thing now). I cut the cork to fit on the inside of my cupboard and added cute days of the week tags. Under each one I can pin my recipe card so it's easy to see and use when remembering what needs to be taken out to thaw. At the beginning of the week or the end of the previous I sit and look through my recipes or find a new one or two. Then I compare the ingredients to my pantry and fridge and add what's needed to the shopping list. Then tack the appropriate dinner to the right themed night and I don't have to worry about dinner until it's time to make dinner. This last time I even prepped the chicken while separating them (I bought a large bulk package.) with anticipation of my menu this week. It's basically lead to a LOT less waist. I buy what I need to cook (with the exceptions of the staples that are just plane handy to have on hand) and there is nothing left going to waist because I have bought hastily unsure of what I will even use it for or when. I can tell already that this will teach me to look at our spending much differently.
My next step is to go back to grocery shopping with cash. Since we have started having our checks direct deposited, I use my card mostly and it's lots easier to loose track of the bill. I used to count every piece that went into the cart and I need to go back to that. It's unfortunate that eating better (no more frozen dinners and less processed foods) doesn't save a ton on the grocery bill (just yet, I'm still new), yet I have not been spending any more. What could be better to be healthier, more frugal and have more time and less thought about dinner every day?
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