My Weekly Menu Plan after spending $55 for the week on groceries

Menu planning. Such a simple thing but yet it can be dreaded by many. What holds you back from meal planning?

Meal Planning will save your sanity and money in your back account. If you just take a few minutes at the beginning of every week to plan your meals and what you need to buy at the store you will be saving your family lots of cash and probably providing a healthier lifestyle!

I am in the season of younger kids. What works for me is simple dinners. Think of the season you are currently in and try to make realistic dinners.

If you know it’s a busy week with kids activities or you husband working late- use the crockpot.

If you know you will be tempted to grab fast food after your son/daughter’s practice bring along fruits and veggies or a sandwich after.

Take the time to really think about how you can be prepared this week in your food choices. Why not save money when you can. We all work hard for our money. Let’s spend it wisely.

If you want to get the best deals for food this week check out the weekly coupon matchup lists. These lists are sale items paired with a manufacturer coupons and other app savings.

Build Confidence and Relationships

Meal planning will also build a family bond. Your kids will see you in the kitchen and they may want to help. I encourage you to let them help you even if you are just starting out cooking and feel uncomfortable, let them hand you your utensils.

Start Small

If you grew up with not much of a cooking background start small. Don’t whip out the recipes that call for 10+ ingredients and knife skills.

You do not want to get discouraged, you want to feed your family for less.

My favorite recipes I started cooking with was from the classic Betty Crocker Cookbook. I suggest this to anyone wanting to start cooking and has no idea where to begin. It gives you the basics on everything from the cuts of meat, to basic spices, and how to shape your own loaves of bread.

Once you get a feel for how food blends together you will gain confidence and feel proud.

Too Busy is NO Excuse!

If you are crunched on time you can still menu plan. There are hundreds of those freezer meal plans you can purchase or find your own on Pinterest that I know several of my friends love.

It is a personal preference if freezer cooking is for you. I really enjoy blending the ingredients together and if I am so crunched on time where I can’t prep a meal that’s when I turn to my emergency plan- frozen fish sticks or the crock pot.

If there is a meal that sounds so delicious you can not pass it up- use my price comparison search bar to find the best deal on it. That way you won’t feel bad about making a dinner that is calling you but you may not have any of the items in your pantry.

So this week I spent $55 on groceries. I didn't buy any meat except for lunchmeat! Crazy huh! You will see that simple meals can be healthy and super affordable!

Below is what I am serving for dinners. Breakfast is always cereal, eggs, pancakes, or oatmeal. Lunch is really whatever is on hand. I try to keep ingredients for smoothies, sandwiches, pasta, or chicken nuggets.

See ya next Monday!

Monday: Beef Stroganoff with homemade rolls

Tuesday: Tacos with homemade tortilla shells( My kids are loving tacos right now so I’m sticking with Taco Tuesday!)

Wednesday: Bacon Egg Avocado sandwiches with pasta salad

Thursday: Hamburgers with Grilled Asparagus

Friday: Homemade Cheese/Mushroom Pizza

Saturday: Tuna Casserole

Sunday: Leftovers/Cereal ( I didn't buy any extra meat this week so guess what?! Sunday is an easy day! Nothing wrong with that they can have leftovers or cereal!)