Meal planning on a budget?

WrestleWife

I am sure this has been asked a million times, but I this is the first time I have been to WC? and I don't want to weed through a ton of posts.

 

Can you point me towards your favorite meal planning blogs/websites that are focused towards shopping/cooking on a budget?  We just bought our first home (yay!) and reality has sunk in that it is time to budget our meals.

 

Thanks everyone!

philandclaire

If you go to google and type site:thenest.com (insert search term here) it will search the nest for you.  I would go to money matters for advice - many ladies here feel food is a priority so they may not cut corners like you want to.

TheMorrisseys

Here's my series on Money Matters. Each includes a recipe (total price and price per serving calculated), and usually some money saving tips. I hope that helps some. GL!

futurepivko

budgetbytes.com is a good one. She breaks down the costs as well.

mamie&cc

The things that help me the most are:

1. Plan my menu around what's on sale

2. Substitute eggs and beans (dried are cheapest) for meats a couple nights a week

3. Make use of everything, don't throw anything away. And I don't just mean, use the whole jar of salsa. For instance, when we have a whole chicken, I use the carcass to make chicken stock. I also save vegetable ends and peels for the stock.

MaineWifey

H and I make food budgeting a contest sometimes.  The game is to buy meals for the week for the least amount of money.  He'll buy one week, and I'll buy the next, and who ever wins gets something like a massage, a week with out dish duty, and of course bragging rights.  The rule is that there's no skimping out on meals - like it's not fair if he feeds me nothing but spaghetti and canned sauce for a week. 

We shop by the sale fliers and plan meals around that, we also typically shop two different stores. 

We rarely buy in bulk for food items. 

H usually kicks my butt at the game. 

 

 

spiritenergy

I wrote a blog post on saving money on healthy, local, organic food. I also have a frugal meals tag in my blog. This will vary from region to region. When we lived on a coast shrimp was economical, but now that we are land locked shrimp is really expensive and pork is cheap, so you will have to judge for yourself if a frugal meal really is frugal for you in your area.

laptopprancer

Meal planning alone is a good start. It cuts down on waste and forces you to shop from a list.  Plan things with like ingredients during the week so things get used up without going bad.

Buy meat on sale and portion and freeze it.

 

buckeyethor

I found that sticking to a meal plan around the weekly ad was the best way for me to save. Revolve meals around leftovers and ingredients. 

If we have tacos that week, I will plan baked potatoes or similar to use sour cream.

If we have ham, I will make bean soup.

Try not to overbuy. That can be a huge deterrent, as is buying stuff only bc it is a sale or coupon when it isn't in your plan. 

Brinner and meatless meals are good to stretch a budget.