How do you plan groceries/meal plan for the week?

maybe1pe

I keep a spreadsheet/list of the meals that we like and the last time we made them and the recipes we want to try. This helps me with variety, I don't like eating the same dinners all the time but I don't mind eating the same thing at work everyday. I found without the list I was always making the same 6 things just because I wasn't remembering all of the other items we enjoyed. So the list has helped tremendously and we are always adding to it as we try to dishes and recipes.

I tend to sit down and decide the meals we will eat for 2 weeks at a time. A lot of times I'll already have everything we need and just need to grab some chicken or pork or something. Usually we will eat 2-3 different meals and then leftovers the other days.

I stock up on frozen veg when they go on sale because I'm on a tight budget.

I eat the same things for lunch every day because I like them so I buy them in bulk for a month at a time (it's cheaper because I've done a cost analysis on it... nerdy, I know) and I let my SO tell me what she would like for lunch all week and then I'll make that for her to take each day.

The hardest part for me is always planning lunches on the weekends for some reason, but I'm getting better at those.

MikePfirrman

I promise I'm not spamming, but I like to plan my meals weekly as well. While I do the cooking, my wife doesn't do dairy or gluten (so neither do I). I like two sites. My original site I liked is Yummly. Fantastic for getting ideas on new recipes and also looking up recipes with specific food requirements. My new favorite site is copymethat. It's amazing. It's finally a place that I can copy recipes that I like on the internet and integrate them with my own recipe creations. If it's a recipe you like on the internet, with one click (the copymethat button you put on Chrome), it puts the entire recipe (formatted and all) into your database. You can modify as you like.

In addition, one feature I absolutely love about copymethat is that certain people eat like I (or you) do. I create my private and public list and others can "follow" me (or me follow them). We're Flexitarian (it's basically Vegan light). We eat mostly WFPB. I find other WFPB (whole food, plant based) people and follow them, giving me more recipe ideas. I searched for something like Copymethat for years. Something that you could copy recipes of others (and store them in your favorites) along with creating your own recipes in one easy site. The way they do it they give credit to the original recipe author. By doing that, there's no copyright infringement issues.

Yummly is great for an "aggregator" site -- accumulating everything out there, even on blogs, onto one convenient site. Copymethat is fantastic for creating your own recipe book, including custom recipes that you write and following others that eat the same way.

svel713

I mainly go to Kroger. I downloaded their app and went under shopping list to make a full grocery list of everything I buy often, and stuff I buy if on sale.

The prices and weekly ad change on Wednesday. I look at it the night before and make a small list.

On Wed., I check my digital app shopping list. Prices higlighted in yellow are on sale, and some may not be in the add. I may add these to my list.

I go to the coupons tab, sort by Recent, and scroll. I add any remotely interesting coupon to my account.

With my list, I go to the store. I know their yellow markdown stickers are placed on items from 12p-2p at my store daily. Room temp items are in the discount area. Cold are in the meat and deli areas. I check those areas.

There are also closeout stickers posted on Wed. And occasional store specials. These work with coupons. I check them for 50% off cheap stuff.

I also have a weird meat rule. I have to get 30g+ protein per dollar. If a meat or protein powder is dicounted, I do the protein equation. Multiply the amt protein per serving times the amount of servings. Say 14g x 8 servings. That's 112g. Now divide by 30g. This is $3.73. The product must be priced under this to be an "affordable" protein source.

A good example are the 99c 18ct eggs. They are 108g/pack, making them affordable at $3.60 or less. Or 1lb brown lentils which are $1.29 with 114g. They are affordable below $3.80 so they are also super cheap.

I also always keep white rice on hand. Cheap and easy in the rice cooker.

After all this, I double check I have a carb and protein source. I add in any fruit and veg to fill in blanks. Then I see what I can mix from my shopping trip. I've made some weird but amazing recipes from mixing sale + discount stuff.

I also have an excel sheet for all household expenses. I check it vs receipts every 2 days to see how much I've spent. I spent $210 in groceries and $41 in fast food amd Starbucks for 2 people last month. So $125.50/person.

Sorry for the book. I've just put in a lot of work to reduce my grocery bill. I have it down to a science now. I got more tips but I just posted my favorites.

girlinthebox18

I use Mealime. It's not a delivery service, just a meal-planning app. You choose all the individual ingredients you like, list dietary preferences, and it creates a huge list of meals to choose from. Choose the meals you want for the week, and it automatically creates a shopping list for you.

Snowdusk

Make sure I have lots of cheese.
Not sure else what to add here.

mariluny

I look up flyers during the week to see what is in special and think about recipes. I look up new recipes online and recipes I made before that I liked. I make sure to note what I have going on that week to have meals that will go accordingly. If I have something one night and I know I have a limited time to prepare dinner I find something quick to make, if I have a big week at work I won’t try out new recipes because I know i’ll be too tired to cook, etc. Also if I know I have 5 home dinner that week, I’ll prepare only for 4. Plans change and more often than not we end up going out, eating leftovers, etc.
By friday night I make sure to have my list of groceries ready for when I go grocery shopping on Saturday morning.

I like trying new recipes so I find that buying whatever is in season and/or in special is the best both for my wallet and for my taste buds