meal planning/grocery budgeting (1)

Another area of disorganization for me is in the food area.....all of it.....the not planning out a menu, having an unorganized pantry, the lack of being prepared......I'm spending lots of money on groceries each week, and the freezer & pantry are always stocked (well, pretty much so), but since I don't have a plan, I don't use up the food on hand before buying more. Another thing I'm guilty of.....ex. I'll buy celery and use it for one recipe, then I end up tossing out the rest of it weeks later. I need to start planning more meals for the week that use similar ingredients to make sure I use everything up.

Menu planning and budgeting for groceries is something that I've gone back and forth with since we first got married. In the early years, I was an avid coupon user and refunder. I was very proud of how much money I saved on groceries and how much free stuff I got and how much  money I actually made from refunding/rebating (I mean ALOT)! I have always been a meal planner throughout the years, but somehow get too busy to stick with it. Since I've been working at the b&b, I have done much better at menu planning, but that is normally during the winter months when I'm home all the time. Summer.....not so much. I do like having a menu for the week, I need to get back to Menu Plan Monday.

With Nathan working away from home two weeks out of the month, it should be easier to plan meals and we should be spending less on food. Unfortunately, I'm not doing very good on either of these. So, that's my new goal.....plan more....spend less.....get organized!

I'm starting with breakfast. Nobody really eats breakfast at our house, except for me, and it is usually something light. Problem is, I still buy several boxes of cereal, waffles, scrapple, bacon, eggs, bagels/muffins......most of which get opened and half eaten.

I'm trying out an idea Mom gave me for cutting back. Instead of buying stuff for several different breakfasts for the week, plan on eating the same breakfast all week. Buy only the items you will use and enough for the entire week. Of course, if you are big on breakfast, you will probably want a variety, but I think this will work great for me!

I'll plan my breakfast around what's on sale each week, but this week I'm doing yogurt w/ granola (and a serving of fruit?) I've gotten on a yogurt kick, but like adding a spoonful of granola to it. I really love the Chobani Greek Yogurt Flips, but they are more expensive, so I'll do my own.

Week #1- Breakfast

*yogurt x 7

*box of granola (there will be lots left- can be put in the freezer until needed for another week....)

*fruit x 7 (if not eaten for breakfast, I'll use with lunch/as a snack/or freeze for smoothies later)

*One container of juice and one gallon of milk per week..... (until Nathan is home!

I measured out the granola in these little cups from Wal-Mart. I put the rest in a Ziploc bag to store in the fridge for later. I also had a half a bag of leftover almond pieces that I added to the granola. 

That's a much simpler grocery list! :0)


next.......LUNCH