Meal Planning Saves Money

In these tough economic times meal planning can go a long way in saving money at the supermarket and avoiding waste at home. Here are a few timely tips from Tisha Kulak Tolar:

Your Meal Plan Really Matters
By Tisha Kulak Tolar

How many times a week do you ask your family what they want for dinner only to receive a few mumbled "I don't cares" in response? It can be difficult to come home after a long day of work and still have to make decisions and do the legwork when it comes to supper time. However, with a few tweaks of your daily living habits, you can not only cut out the stress of preparing a meal, you can actually save money on it too.

Meal planning is something you should already be doing if you are living on a strict budget. The more prepared you are to make meals, the less time you will spending making them and the more money you will save.

One of the major reasons families no longer make sitting down to dinner at home a priority is because everyone is so busy and have different schedules to deal with. This necessitates some tired families hit the drive-thru on their way home, wasting more money without good nutrition. Instead of relying on Ronald McDonald to feed your family, start planning your meals. Take some time out of your day, before you would normally go grocery shopping and prepare a list of dinners you can make for the week.

AND - here's an important tip....

When you sit down to make your meal list, make sure to have a copy of the flyer from your supermarket so you will know what is going to be on sale when you are shopping. Now, instead of pouring over recipe books, looking for something good to make, you can simply see that pork roast is on sale and find a recipe for making the roast. Whatever other ingredients you will need to go with the roast and the side dishes can be added to your grocery list for the week so you will be sure you have what you need and that you will only be spending a certain amount each week.

Using a grocery store flyer is also a great way to compare prices at each store in your area if you have the options to shop at various places. You can browse each flier and find out where the deals can be found for the other meals you plan to prepare throughout the week. Heading into the store with a complete list will help ensure you bypass the impulse buys and help you stick to your grocery budget each and every time.

Tisha Kulak Tolar is a writer for DebtFreeDestiny.com where she regularly writes about debt consolidation.

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