The average American family spends hundreds of dollars on food each month. Many times it is difficult to come up with good food to feed your family with the amount of money you have available.
Learning meal planning on a budget is essential if you want to eat well and have money left over at the end of the month.
Continue reading this article to learn how to plan dinner on a budget.
Check What You Currently Have
Most of us go to the store and shop without even knowing what is in our cabinets and cupboards.
How many times have we gone through our cabinets looking for something and we’ve found things that have been pushed all the way to the back and left to be forgotten?
Doing an inventory of what you have before you go shopping will help you find and use those things that were left behind.
If you use meal delivery services, keep this in mind when you’re taking inventory because you won’t need to shop for those meals.
Determine What You Need
Once you know what you have at your house, you need to figure out what you need to make a meal. Think of it as a fill in the blanks game.
If there are meals popular with your family, you likely have a list of ideas already. See if you already have any of the ingredients and put those meals at the top of the list.
Look for Loss Leaders
Another way to save money when you’re meal planning and shopping is to look at what this week’s loss leaders are. Loss leaders are deals the store makes and probably lose money on but they deem it worth the loss to get you in the door.
Look at sales papers for your favorite stores since this is probably where you will find most of the good deals.
Determine Your Priorities
When you create your meal plan, you need to set your priorities. Figure out what your must-haves are and make sure they fit into your budget.
You can also create a wishlist of things that you’d like to have for the week but you can’t get them unless there is money left over from your must-have list.
Build a Stockpile
If you have money left over you might consider buying some things that you use regularly and stockpiling them if there is a good deal on them that week.
This is an especially good idea if some of your staples are a loss leader that week.
Meal Planning on a Budget for the Win
Now you know how to do meal planning on a budget. Now that you understand how to make your dollar last longer without sacrificing the quality of your food, it’s time to go shopping.
After you’re done shopping, why not check out some of our other articles for more ideas? Our site is full of articles that can help you in everyday life. Bookmark your favorites and come back again soon.
