Menu planning and grocery shopping are probably two of the most important tasks in your household. The most obvious reason is that we all HAVE to eat every day. And if you’re the one responsible for this task in your house, it’s up to you to plan meals that are healthy, within your budget, and easy to fix. That’s a lot to cover, so we need a PLAN! I’m going to tell you my system for menu planning and grocery shopping. Of course, your circumstances and number of family members are probably a little different from mine so you’ll need to make a few adjustments. Sometimes my schedule gets busy, but I try to stick to this routine as much as possible. So, here we go.
PLAN YOUR MONTHLY MENUS
- Write a month of menus. These are dinners that are your family’s favorites. So, looking at the printable Lifetime Month Of Menus, fill in each day with your family’s favorites, but only five days each week. For the other two days, you could fix a dinner according to sale items at your store or try a new recipe.
- Plan quick, easy meals for busy nights. Try to keep each dinner to a reasonable amount of time to fix, especially on weekdays. Save new recipes for the weekend.
- Make menus balanced and healthy. You might want to plan on having chicken entrees two or three times a week, seafood once or twice a week, red meat once or twice a week, and maybe even a meatless dinner once a week.
- Plan menus that are inexpensive. Always keep your weekly food budget in mind. Try to determine how much should be spent on dinners and divide that amount up for the entire week. There are several ways to save on your groceries, such as planning your meals according to sale items or using coupons.
So, now you should have a month of menus that are:
- Healthy
- Easy and quick
- Inexpensive
PLAN YOUR WEEKLY MENUS
- Look at your month of menus and plan a week of dinners. This makes weekly menu planning easy. Just pick the week of the month that you’re in and use that week’s menus.
- Plan five dinners, plus one new recipe night, and then leave one night blank. That night’s dinner will be either something that is on sale, or a night to eat out.
- Write your grocery list. Use this free printable, Lifetime Grocery List . If you have coupons or know that something is on sale, write the brand name beside that item. I like to save time by doing other errands while I’m out before going to the grocery, so I write those on the back of the grocery list. Now you’ve got your organized list of errands and groceries and you’re ready to go!
- Limit your trips to the grocery store to no more that twice a week. One trip is for your regular weekly grocery shopping, and the second trip would be for fresh produce and staples you run out of, such as bread or milk. Keep a running list in your kitchen for things you run out of, and use this for your second trip.
- Try to limit your time in the store to 45 minutes. If you stick to the list, it should be easy.
- At the store, try to follow the same route every time. I start with produce, then the middle aisles, then frozen section, and dairy and meat are last.
- When putting groceries away, start with refrigerated and frozen items. Then put everything else away. Try to keep things grouped together in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry. That will save time when fixing meals. It also helps your family find snacks without your kids saying “There’s nothing here to eat!”
DAILY MENU PLANNING
- Within your weekly menu plan, feel free to move dinners around. Plan on fixing quick dinners on busy nights and more complicated dinners on nights when you have more time to cook.
- Use fresh produce early in the week. Also, use up meals in the early part of the week that include more perishable items.
- Each night after dinner and cleaning up, plan your next night’s dinner. Then get the meat out of freezer to thaw. If you need someone else in the family to start dinner, leave them instructions for what to start and when.
EASY DINNERTIME ROUTINE – Two hours or less
- ONE HOUR – Fix dinner.
- 30 MINUTES – Eat dinner
- 15 MINUTES – Clean up, including putting away food, washing dishes, sweeping floor, and emptying trash.
- 15 MINUTES – Plan next day’s dinner, get meat out to thaw, get coffeepot ready, fix lunches for the next day. Lights out and you’re done!
Remember, your menu planning and grocery shopping system is probably THE MOST important system to keep your family’s week going smoothly. The more you use a system, the easier it will become. Follow it up with an easy dinnertime routine, and the whole process will soon become second nature.
Please try out my system and let me know how it works for you. Also, check out my post, 10 Ways To Save Money On Groceries, for grocery shopping on a budget.
Have a wonderful day!