Why meal plan? Before I disciplined myself to meal plan, I often found myself trying to come up with a last minute idea for dinner for the family. That usually lead to impromptu stops at the local grocery store, hungrily roaming around, and ultimately making poor meal choices for my family, financially and nutritionally.

How do I begin? First, you need to determine your schedule. I chose to go with a two week meal plan which flowed conveniently with our income and time. The greatest reasons to meal plan are the enhancement of your financial and time freedom, so evaluate your schedule and pick a span of time you feel comfortable planning toward.

Where can I shop? The next step in the meal planning training process is to discover the wealth of shopping options in your viscinity. You might be surprised what kind of grocery deals you can score at the "big box stores," corner pharmacy, or dollar store. It really helps to familiarize yourself with what they have to offer and a general price point for the items you regularly purchase for your home, personal care, meals, etc. If you usually spend $x.xx on a 32 ounce box of chicken stock at the grocery store, then find Walmart carries it for $1.89 (savings!), you might be shocked that you could get it at a Dollar Tree for $1 (HUGE SAVINGS!).

Grab the circulars! Most store circulars come in the mail, so you don't have to drive all over the place. Grocery stores, pharmacies, Walmart, Target, KMart, and even dollar stores will send out circulars that feature items they have available, and, more importantly, SALES! If you can keep a mental (or even basic written) list of your general price points, as suggested above, you can easily scan the circulars and determine what stores have what you want and at the best price. I can spend an hour with a group of circulars and a notepad and just make a list of deals I find interesting so I can use the sales to pick the best recipes. Sales on meat/poultry, deli meat, bread/buns, condiments, meal sides, vegetables, snacks, drinks.. Do you wash your body, use deoderant, or style your hair? Want to save a ton of money on laundry, cleaning supplies, and dish detergent? Know your general prices and study the sales!

Make a list of HOW MANY meals? So, what are you going to feed your family? While I did have quite a few cookbooks and food related magazines, it also helped to search online as well as discuss my meal plans with friends. You might be surprised where you can find culinary inspiration and a wealth of options to keep your family healthy and happy. Once you've gathered your resources, refer back to your list of sales. Chicken breasts are on sale? Maybe I'll make Chicken Marsala, Chicken Parm, or Homemade Chicken Fingers. Low fat ground beef in a value pack for $1.99/lbs is an incredible price! I could split a 3 lbs package across several meals, such as tacos, Hamburger Helper, and Sheppard's Pie. When you focus your meals, and subsequent grocery trips, around ideal prices, it quickly adds up.

Normal Prices Will Fluctuate "Big box stores," especially Walmart and Target, will often have great prices on grocery and household items without a sale. It really pays to know the difference between a good "normal price" at a "big box store" versus a good "sale price" at the grocery store. Quite often, I've learned, a grocery store will advertise their "BE ALL, END ALL, AWESOME SALES EVENT!!" and you can still get the item at Walmart for half the price any day of the year. That said, "big box stores" will fluctuate their good "normal price" throughout the year. I know their are shopping/couponing sites out there that have a general trend map of price fluctuation seasons if you want to Google it and take it to an extreme. Some items, for example, butter, bread, frozen pizzas, frozens nuggets, etc. will fluctuate maybe 2-3 times a year. I see my typical butter brand(s) change by a few cents up or down. Chicken nuggets might be $3.47 for most of the year, then change to $4.00 for a few months, and go back to my originally noted price point.. It is not really advertised and can shake up a grocery shopping trip on a super tight budget. It doesn't happen often, items usually don't all "Change at once," prices do change seasonally and REGIONALLY, and it normally won't throw my typical shopping trip more than a few cents to a couple of dollars if/when it does occur. beware price fluctuations

Price Match Programs If you have a Super Walmart in your area and utilize their Price Match Guarantee, you can save yourself money and time in the form of a shorter shopping trip for the same deals. I, personally, am not a fan of the concept because of 1) the occasional, ill informed cashier, 2) the line that starts to form behind you while you and the cashier try to organize and process your price matched items and a handful of store ads. If you do want to use the Price Match policy, just be sure to read it in advance and never forget to bring your other store ads (otherwise, they're not obligated to honor it). So, yes, I'm the psycho who ignores this gem of wisdom and drives to all 3-6 stores on my sales/shopping list!

Grocery Lists - GET AN APP! Most people carry a modern cell phone, or even a tablet, with them these days. If you're running an Android or iOS platform, the grocery shopping app options available could be seriously overwhelming. I started with one that allowed me to use most of the app's full functions for my grocery shopping and budgeting purposes for free. Once I was happy with the main processes, I "splurged" on the full version for my favorite program. I went with "Out of Milk," which allows me to keep a history of my purchases and associated prices, build my biweekly shopping lists easily on the web and sync to my phone, and easily check off each item as I walk through the store. It keeps me on budget because it tracks all my prices as I build my shopping list from my meal plan and how much I've spent as I meander through my grocery shopping trip. If I follow my meal plan and shopping list to a T, I'm usually within cents or dollars of my budget plan (because I norally don't account for taxes as the app allows, or because a price might fluctuate unexpectedly from time to time).

Typical 14 Day Meal Plan

08/30/2013 - 09/13/2013

  1. Beef Stew (recipe)
  2. Sausage & Peppers w/ Rolls, Corn
  3. Beef Dip Sandwiches w/ Rolls, Knorr Pasta Side (recipe)
  4. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Seasoned Fries
  5. Spaghetti w/ Half-Homemade Meat Sauce
  6. Chicken Marsala (recipe)
  7. Chicken Enchilladas (recipe)
  8. Tacos, Soft Tortillas, Refried Beans, Shredded Cheddar, Veggies
  9. Breakfast for Dinner: Eggs, Diced Potato, Toast, Sausage
  10. Rigatoni w/ Half-Homemade Meat Sauce
  11. Smoked Sausage, Corn
  12. Quesadillas, Knorr Pasta Side
  13. Ham Sandwiches, Chips
  14. Pasta Fagioli (recipe)