Meal Planning Tips to Save Some Dough!

How to make dinner time cost effective!

1) Plan your weekly menu on sales from the store or items you already have. I find that having a plan for dinner is much less stressful for me. I am not running around at the last minute wondering what is for dinner. Not to say that never happens, just, it is much less stressful.  I take the sales ad and see what “lost leaders” are advertised.  I plan my menu around those meat items.

2) Always stock up at rock bottom prices – especially on easy dinner items that your family loves – (my example is frozen pizza or chili dogs) We also really like to make our own pizzas. The kids really enjoy this fun dinner making activity and they will eat it all, because they helped make dinner.  I always buy frozen vegetable at $1.00 or less and have on hand.  They are great to stretch a meal and adding more vegetables makes my children complain… but makes me happy!

3) Always have the ingredients for that quick “go to” item for dinner. No matter how good of a planner you are, there are days that things do not go exactly as planned. Have that box of mac and cheese or can of soup in your pantry ready to serve, just in case.  Having a go to meal already in your house will make it much easier to go home and eat instead of heading to the drive-thru.

4) Short cuts – Take pre-made items and combine to make “homemade” items.

Example – Take a frozen pie crust, add a can of chicken pot pie soup, leftover chicken and bag of mixed vegetables and bake. Easy and fast Chicken Pot Pie!  This is the funnest part of making dinner around my house. I enjoy making new and exciting dishes.  Most of the time they come out spectacular!

5) Bottom line – make what your family will eat. There is no point to go through the trouble to buy and prepare food if you family will not touch it.  Use everything that you buy.  Don’t buy more until you use the products that you have in your house.

Most of all, Have fun at dinner time and enjoy spending time with the family!

Low Cost Menu Options:

(when I say low cost, I mean basically under a $10 to feed a family of 4)

(Two adults, Two children)
These are two options from my stockpile. (My cost to make at that specific time)

Beef Roast (5.24) with frozen vegetable (.95) and rice (.75) =  $6.94 for a family dinner

Penne Pasta (.75) and Meat Sauce (1.00) with fresh salad (bag was .75) Salad Dressing (.50) = $3.00