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Using a blank monthly calendar, write down dinner ideas for the entire month. Step #1: Create a Monthly Dinner Meal Plan 5 Steps for Meal Planning on a Budgetīudget meal planning doesn’t have to be hard! Read on for my best tips when it comes to slimming down your monthly food budget by using monthly and weekly meal plans to create a menu even the pickiest family member will still love. Remember: budget meal prepping becomes easier the more you do it.
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Just eating more meals at home, and planning out those meals around sales, is a huge way to save money.Ĭreating a meal plan on a budget can set you up for success for the entire month. Saving money on your food budget is one of the BIGGEST places that families can cut expenses. It’s just easier, right?īut those takeout orders add up, and can take a big dent out of your income quickly, especially if you’re ordering in multiple nights a week. The last thing you want to do is have to figure out what to make for dinner, so you pick up your phone and order delivery. Tell me if this sounds familiar to you: you’ve worked all day, the kids are completely out of control and you’re exhausted. This helps you stay on track on even the craziest of weeks! By creating a “big picture” monthly meal plan with our grocery budget in mind, it helps you craft a simple and easy weekly meal plan at the same time. It takes a little bit of work at first, but before you know it, it will feel like second nature.įirst, I recommend creating both a monthly meal plan and a weekly meal plan. One of the biggest questions I get is around how to even get started when it comes to meal planning. How to Get Started With Budget Meal Planning That means I may make a commission if you use my links to purchase, at no extra added cost to you! I only recommend products that I personally love and believe in. In fact, planning out your meals in advance can not only save you money, but a lot of the headache that’s associated with figuring out what your family is going to eat every day.īudget meal prep is a fantastic way to save some extra cash, whether you’re a family of four, college students, someone on a limited income or you’re just trying to cut expenses. Meal planning doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming, and it definitely doesn’t mean that you have to go without your favorite foods or only eat generic brands. How do we do it? By mindfully meal planning on a budget! Saving money on our grocery bill has allowed us to pay off thousands of dollars in debt and save a substantial amount towards our emergency fund, even when our income was reduced. I’m proud to share that we now feed our family of 4 for under $350 each month! For years we have managed to continue to trim this area, which became even more of a necessity when our now 3 year old was a newborn: I had left my full-time job to take a part-time role to spend more time with him, and unexpectedly we found my husband also out of work.Īll of a sudden, we were faced with a super tight budget, but it ended up being an incredible opportunity to learn how to make more happen with less. One of the biggest place I knew we could trim was our food budget.
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When we first found out we were pregnant with our oldest, we knew we needed to start trimming our expenses to save for his birth.