A meal plan helps with budgeting, grocery shopping, cooking, and serving meals. Start by making a list of meals, then consider your grocery budget, plan grocery shopping, and store food in order of meal preparation. Review the plan each night to save time and money.
A meal plan is a regular, organized arrangement for budgeting, grocery shopping, cooking, and serving meals in a family or household. Many people find that having a designated meal plan helps them stick to their monthly grocery budget and saves time preparing meals at home. Designing a meal plan depends on several factors.
The first step in making a meal plan is for the person or people cooking to write down all the meals that can be prepared. Depending on the creativity or motivation of the cook, this can be a short or long list. When the list is complete, save it in a handy place, so new recipes and meal ideas can be added as the need arises.
The next step is to consider your grocery budget for the month. Divide the monthly total into weekly increments and plan the meals for your meal plan around this amount. The best way to stick to a grocery store budget is to go to the store with enough cash; leave the ATM and credit cards at home. This will prevent impulse buying that doesn’t fit into your meal plan.
Next, plan grocery shopping for your meal plan. If you go once a week, look at your list of meal plans and decide what meals the household will eat during the given week. Then do some kitchen inventory and make a shopping list to include everything you’ll need for each day. Be sure to include all meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and meals that will be packed up and taken to school or work. The meal plan will include all the foods the household eats that week, including guests or special occasions. Also consider keeping a running shopping list on the refrigerator door so that common household items can be added to the list as they are consumed.
After you finish grocery shopping for your meal plan, store the food in your cupboard and refrigerator or freezer in the order that you will prepare meals throughout the week. Although meals can be changed throughout the week based on household preferences, organizing will make food preparation easy. Lastly, the cook or cooks in the home might consider reviewing the weekly meal plan each night before bed; This way, the meat can be thawed in the refrigerator or other items made ahead of time. The household will be amazed at all the time and money saved thanks to a meal plan.
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