Grocery Shopping 101 Menu Plans Menus by the month

This topic contains 4 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by 14e77f16ae8867bb1cbe06d6d407c3ce?s=14&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grocerybudget101.com%2Fimages%2Fuser4 GB101 10 years, 10 months ago.

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  • #9069
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    Anonymous

    This is the first month that I planned out the whole month of menus. So for (its the 7th) it has worked out great! I find it much easier to make dinner when I know what to make. I hate the 3:30 question, “What is for dinner?”

    and you start rummaging around to see what you have. I decided to make an excell worksheet and put it on my phone so I can see what the plan is whenever I need to. My plan is to keep track of what we eat as the month progresses to get a clear picture of how we really eat vs. how I think we eat.

    Haha!!! How do you menu plan??

    #14517

    @kerimarie 113752 wrote:

    This is the first month that I planned out the whole month of menus. So for (its the 7th) it has worked out great! I find it much easier to make dinner when I know what to make. I hate the 3:30 question, “What is for dinner?”

    and you start rummaging around to see what you have. I decided to make an excell worksheet and put it on my phone so I can see what the plan is whenever I need to. My plan is to keep track of what we eat as the month progresses to get a clear picture of how we really eat vs. how I think we eat.

    Haha!!! How do you menu plan??

    That’s fantastic! That’s how we used to Menu plan when the kids were little and also when we lived in area where it just wasn’t feasible to grocery shop on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. When you’re spending $65 or more to drive back and forth to a grocery store, you learn how to plan a menu really well, lol.

    How is your worksheet working out for you? I think it helps when you post the menu plan on your pantry or fridge as well, because then the members of your family eye it when they’re digging around for munchies and know not to eat certain things (that might be meant as a main ingredient later in the week!).

    We even have a basket in our pantry where we place the items for tomorrow nights dinner in the basket so that they’re all ready at dinner time. Like tonight, if we were having spaghetti, I’d toss the italian seasoning, the pasta, an onion and the italian bread into the basket so tomorrow if I get home late, someone else can see what’s for dinner and start cooking it. It’s actually worked out fairly well and doesn’t really take up any extra space.

    #14534
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    Anonymous

    I’m working on coming up with a month long menu plan at the moment myself. Usually I plan by the week and keep it on a small white board on the fridge, but I just finished doing a complete inventory of my big freezer and I need to use some stuff up, so I’m thinking a month would be a good thing! I’m trying to make a list based on what meat I have (we’re a pretty meat-centric household – I can get away with meatless about once a month but that’s all my hubby will tolerate).

    A month’s list is too long for my white board, so I’m keeping the list on the computer and each week I’ll transfer it to the white board so I can see it when I’m in the kitchen.

    #14536
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    Anonymous

    Wow, I think this is great! I am a newbie to this meal planning strategy. I am starting out slow with a week at a time and would like to work up to two weeks at a time. Today is actually my first day of using a weekly meal plan.

    I am very excited because it was to stress free this evening. I always found the “What’s for supper” question so irritating. Now I just say look at the fridge. That is where it is posted.

    Now I am not trying to decide what to fix every evening. We are a family of four with a lot of extra activities. My husband is a head football and track coach so he is home late a lot and my son plays football and my daughter takes gymnastics lessons so I have found this to be very helpful. I like the basket strategy for the ingredients for supper.

    I do not have a pantry or a lot of counter space, but would like to try something similar. Any suggestions would be welcome.

    #14549

    @reider98 118094 wrote:

    Wow, I think this is great! I am a newbie to this meal planning strategy. I am starting out slow with a week at a time and would like to work up to two weeks at a time. Today is actually my first day of using a weekly meal plan.

    I am very excited because it was to stress free this evening. I always found the “What’s for supper” question so irritating. Now I just say look at the fridge. That is where it is posted.

    Now I am not trying to decide what to fix every evening. We are a family of four with a lot of extra activities. My husband is a head football and track coach so he is home late a lot and my son plays football and my daughter takes gymnastics lessons so I have found this to be very helpful. I like the basket strategy for the ingredients for supper.

    I do not have a pantry or a lot of counter space, but would like to try something similar. Any suggestions would be welcome.

    Welcome to the site! One suggestion I would make right off the bat is for you to get an inexpensive card table (the kind that folds away and can be hidden behind the couch or alongside the wall in the laundry room or back of a closet, etc. It’s really helpful when throwing together make ahead meals or casserole style dishes that can be frozen for later for those nights when you just don’t have time to cook.
    The basket method- can actually be lined up on top of your refrigerator, just 2 small little baskets so you have 2 days meals ahead of time ready to go. When our kids were little we literally had NO space for food and bought a rubbermaid tote, filled it with pantry basics, flour, sugar, etc, put a pretty cloth over the top and used it as a coffee table- so I completely understand lack of space.

    You just have to find creative ways to use what you have.

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