How to start a meal plan to save money

Did you read this story while eating the lunch you packed at home?

good for you. You don’t need anyone to tell you how much money you can save by preparing meals at home and preparing lunch for work or school.

But there is a problem here:

How many sandwiches can you make with your current bread?

If you don’t know the answer, you might wake up one day and find that you only have enough bread for another sandwich.

Therefore, in the next few days, you will pay $12 on takeout or delivery—a money you don’t actually intend to spend.

In 2019, the average U.S. consumer spent Over 3,500 USD per year According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is about “food far from home”.Even in a year dominated by a pandemic, the cost of running away from home is still high 3.8% higher April 2021 compared with the same period last year.

Meal plans can save you from spending extra cash on emergency lunches or late-night takeaways. You will eat healthier, save money and enjoy more food when you plan!

How to start a meal plan to make it effective

The first thing you need to do is to figure out how many meals you are responsible for making each week.

If it’s just you, your answer might be 21: Seven breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Remember to subtract meals you don’t normally need-for example, if your manager buys bagels for everyone on Friday, or you head to your parents for Sunday dinner.

If you have a family, count the meals per person—a dinner for three people counts as three dinners, even if you all eat the same things.

Now start thinking about your most common meals: sandwiches, canned soups, salads, and taco nights, all of which are on average for a week.

How many meals can one loaf of bread eat? How many meals can I usually eat in a bag of salad? Or your family eats the whole bag overnight? And don’t forget to calculate how many meals your main dinner actually serves—is there usually enough chicken leftover for another meal?

Once you start to understand how long your food can last, you can start planning ahead. You can look at a pack of thinly sliced ​​ham and think, “That’s four lunches.”

Once you start converting food into “meal times”, you can start planning meals.

At this point, there are two ways to go.

Some people like to plan every meal in advance: you will have a ham sandwich on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then you will finish the ham on Thursday, eat a peanut butter sandwich, and eat pizza in your office on Friday.

Others prefer to think, “Well, I have ham and peanut butter. I know I can make it through the weekend.”

After all, this is the point of a meal plan: figure out how much food you need to buy to make it before your next grocery store trip. Once you can do this, you will find yourself ordering emergency takeaways much less frequently.

Try a meal plan app or calendar

No need to feel pressure to keep track of your meal plan-we have found an easy way to track your meals-and plan your shopping list.

There are several applications to consider here:

• $5 meal plan A meal menu is sent to you every week, which includes five main dinner courses with side dishes, as well as one lunch and one breakfast. It also includes a “good thing”, which can be a dessert, a drink or a snack. There is also an option for a gluten-free diet. cost: Try it free for 14 days and then $5 per month.
• Plan to eat With a recipe and drag-and-drop meal plan interface, it can automatically generate a shopping list. cost: Try it free for 30 days, then $4.95 per month or $39 per year.

Or stick to pen and paper or a simple wall calendar-the dry-erase type allows you to change your plan with old-fashioned sliding.

Bring your meal plan to the grocery store

Once you get to the grocery store, it’s time to put your diet plan into action.

Make a list through the meal plan app or use pen and paper-and only buy what is on the list.

Meal plans can actually make grocery shopping easier because you know exactly what to buy and where to find it.

When you start to buy the same product over and over again, you will find the sales cycle of a regular store. Then, you can buy your favorite products when they are on sale.

Hoarding special offers can also help you plan ahead and freeze meals for the future.If you can Buy in bulk Prepare the foods you eat the most and you will save more.

Where’s the coupon? If you see a lot of things that you buy repeatedly, then buy them.

However, when you see a coupon for a product that is not suitable for your meal plan at all, if you never use it, your “savings” will be wasted.

Eat what you bought (this is the key)

Americans throw away a lot of food.

American family Wasted nearly 32% of the food they bought, According to a study released in 2020. This is equivalent to wasting about 240 billion U.S. dollars in food.

You don’t want to waste money throwing your groceries in the trash can.This means that the last step of the meal plan is to make sure you Eat what you bought.

How do you do this? This boils down to not only making a meal plan, but also sticking to it.

Here are some tips:

• Packed lunch the night before, So you will not be “too tired” or “too rushed” in the morning.
• Make sure you always eat different things at lunch and dinner. If you make lasagna, don’t eat it at dinner, then lunch, then dinner. Break the lasagna dinner and increase the variety of sandwiches or soup lunches.
• Give yourself a choice. When you prepare your meal plan, tell yourself, “This week, I have a sandwich or homemade frozen burrito for lunch.” Then, you won’t feel locked into any particular main course.
• Preparing the same favorite main dish over and over again Help you stick to your plan. You know that everyone likes them, how to make them quickly and how long they can last.
• There are special snacks, Such as almond and cheese skewers, so you don’t get hungry and don’t eat one of the main dishes you save later this week.
• Use a slow cooker strategically. If you start cooking in the morning, you will not be “too tired” to cook at night. Add all the ingredients when you are ready to go to work and school, then turn it down and go home to enjoy a hot meal.
• Save emergency frozen meals. On a busy night, knowing that you have a ready-to-eat meal in the refrigerator may be enough to help you avoid the speed of fast food restaurants.

And be sure to promise to eat food before it spoils.

This means that if you say, “I will eat salad or orange slices for dinner” and the lettuce is starting to look a little wilted, eat it first. When the lettuce is gone, the oranges are still there.

You can take Pantry Challenge.

Finding a meal plan that is right for you may require some trial and error. Therefore, if you think that a casserole that can last a week is eaten in two days, but you have trouble ordering takeaway, please don’t be discouraged… once again!

The more you know about your family’s eating habits, the better you can plan your meal plans and prepare a refrigerator full of what you need.

Nicole Dieker is a writer for The Penny Hoarder.

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