Monthly menus and food budgets

schparks

Has anyone successfully planned a monthly menu and stuck to it? My husband and I (no kids) really want to rein in our spending and get to around a $190-200 monthly food budget per person. Does anyone know of any useful tips, apps, websites, or other resources that you have used to streamline menus, grocery lists, and ultimately your budget? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

amhwh

http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/MenuPlannerResources.aspx

There's some useful forms and articles here. I don't plan much since I currently live with my in-laws but I'll certainly be doing more of it when I move into my house in the spring. It certainly is beneficial when you're on a budget or trying not to waste food.

pannpatten

My husband & I have the same problem. All hints would be great. We try not to eat processed foods and I think buying fresh or frozen makes it a bit harder. Any help out there?

WinnerVictorious

Has anyone successfully planned a monthly menu and stuck to it? My husband and I (no kids) really want to rein in our spending and get to around a $190-200 monthly food budget per person. Does anyone know of any useful tips, apps, websites, or other resources that you have used to streamline menus, grocery lists, and ultimately your budget? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

i do this. you don't have to stick to it 100%, but since you already know what's on the menu for the month you can make changes one day and account for those changes by adjusting future days. i use a spreadsheet to keep track of it all.

pannpatten

I tried that web address and it would not go through on my browser.

nmtGurl

I do (we have no kids either). We sit down and plan our dinner menu for about a month. I can't remember where I got my menu template or grocery list template from, but I googled it to find layouts I liked. With my grocery list, I just check off the item I need for that recipe. Print it and go shopping. (helps keep me from buying other stuff I don't need)

I print out my dinner menu and put it on the fridge. I make recipes that feed us for dinner and lunch. Some recipes we can get an extra dinner out of, so I try to include a "leftovers" meal. It's also flexible if I want to move meals around too. I also include where the recipe came from (page #, etc) to make it quick to find.
Ex:
• Savory Cauliflower Rice
(pg 131, Everyday Paleo)

Since doing this our food budget had been drastically reduced!! And we eat WELL! Lamb, rib eye, grass-fed beef, fresh veg, etc. Last time we went food shopping it was around $300, for both of us, for 3 weeks. We esimated about $7-$10/day per person. Or about $2-$3 per person/per meal! I'm sure I could get that even lower if I only bought food that was on sale and collected coupons too.

Hope some of this helps :-)


edit to say, we don't eat any processed food. Most stuff I freeze, if I can, and what I can't, I vacuum seal.

cubsgirlinny

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Topsking2010

Bump

alaskaang

We have recently had to adjust our spending habits, including the grocery budget. We eat mostly lean meat, fresh veggies, nuts, potatoes and rice. We rarely eat anything processed and junk food is expensive! The most notable changes in our budget came from two things - no more alcohol and making sure nothing is wasted.

Other things that work for us:

Only purchase the amount of produce usable in a few days time.

Leftovers must be eaten - this is tough as neither of us like leftovers much, so I try to make only what we will actually eat at one setting.

Use the meat that is in the freezer - we have lots of game and fish in our freezer, we just needed to remind ourselves to pull it out the night before so it's thawed in time.

Stock up on chicken and pork when it's on sale

Eat rice or potatoes with dinner - they are cheap

Eat more cabbage - it's also cheap

Purchase eggs in the 5 dozen box - works out to about half the price or less