Menu Planning Monday
Today I want to share with you a couple of planning pages I use to keep organized.
Below is our weekly menu planner where I write down all the meals for the week. I also have a notes section for prep tips, like: take beef out of freezer, soak beans, put in crockpot at 10:00am. The grocery list section is where I write down things I need to get on my Thursday reload stop. This is great to post of the fridge so everyone knows what the meals for the week are, or if another family member wants to start making dinner!
Weekly Menu Planner
I have found that having an inventory also makes writing a grocery list much easier. Below is our personal pantry and refrigerator stapes inventory. If you have a deep freezer it would also be very helpful to keep a running inventory of what is in there so you don't always have to go and search through it.
We shop at several different stores based on quality, availability and price. This takes a lot more time and planning. This month we are trying something new: shop ONCE at the beginning of the month for freezer, pantry and (longer lasting) refrigerator items. This will leave me with quicker weekly trips for produce. I hope this will save time and money. (I will keep you posted)
Below is the shopping list I created for the month. With one big stop at Whole Foods and one at Trader Joe's and weekly stops at a market for produce.
*Note: When I first wrote out this list I put in about how many we were purchasing the last couple months. This was a huge eye opener to see exactly where our grocery money was going. Alex and I made some adjustments and we think we will be able to cut out $100 from our grocery bill by being more reasonable. (again I will keep you posted)
I hope this was helpful. To up load these pages I could only do it as a pdf. If you would like these pages in a form that you can edit I would be happy to email them to you. Just contact me at emilyandalex@hotmail.com or post a comment with your email address.
Love seeing your lists -- you truly helped me to get a jump-start on my own. I love the idea of listing actual prices at the stores you visit most. I always keep my receipts but have not made actual shopping lists w/ those prices. Thanks so much!
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