Trimming Your Budget

Lately it seems like every time I turn on the TV there is a depressing news story about our country’s economy. It seems like everyone is looking for ways to trim their budgets, slashing your grocery budget is one way to do that.

Last year I was introduced to a world of couponing. It literally has been such a blessing to our family. We have a $50/week grocery budget that is made possible due to clipping coupons, watching for store sales (advertised and unadvertised), and utilizing the web for coupons I can load to my Dillon’s card or print out at home.

But the single most important aspect of trimming our family’s grocery budget is planning. By nature I am not a planner, it’s something I’ve had to learn, but since it saves our family money I have grown to love it. I get a great thrill out of trying to make great meals at low cost.

If you haven’t already started planning your menu each week I encourage you to sit down right now and make a list of meals you can make. There are a variety of different ways to plan your meals. (You’ll find my system in the post below)
1. Weekly Meal planning
2. Monthly Meal planning.
3. Meals Montage planning (making a list of all the meals you have ingredients for and plan as you go, every few days reevaluate what will work for the next few meals.)

By no means is meal planning restrictive. In fact by the end of the month my monthly menu has arrows in all sorts of crazy direction. It is only meant to be a guide to help you focus and being a little more prepared. It’s amazing how freeing meal planning can be. So go ahead I dare you, start saving today.