Making a list...

Have you ever taken a look at your finances and realized, "oh, there's just not as much there as I thought (and it's still a week and a half until payday)!" Well, this was my experience last week, and was probably due to eating out twice in one day...or going shopping...or the stack of bills I recently paid. In any case, I knew that, if I wanted to make it to next payday without starving, I was going to have to do some serious planning. Luckily, I have a tactic I like to employ when this situation arises. It does require a little effort, but can result in quite a bit of savings due to wasteful spending at the grocery store. So here it is...my "thrifty food plan."
The first thing I do is make a list of my assets. Foodwise, that is. I went through my refrigerator and pantry and listed all of the useful food items available, especially those which could be used as main dishes or need to be used up soon before they spoil. Sadly, there wasn't much...my only protein sources were one frozen chicken breast, a can of tuna, eggs, peanut butter, a few slices of deli turkey, and 3 pieces of precooked turkey breakfast sausage. Still, it was a start.
Next, I drew up a grid of all the days I needed to plan for. In this case, I went Saturday to Friday-one whole week. Below each day, I began to fill in as many meals as possible using my list of assets. I didn't go as far as to list the amount I would be using up, but this is certainly a possibility if you have the time. I did, however, cross the items off my list if I knew for sure I would be using the entire remainder of the product for a meal-for example, all three turkey sausage pieces would be used as a topping on pizza. It really helps me to have the list of foods right there while planning meals, because it helps me to "visualize" potential meals-things I could make if only I bought one or two additional items. It also forces you to be creative. One chicken breast is not much of a meal for two, but it can be chopped up and put into a pasta with pesto sauce and fresh vegetables. I also find myself becoming more open to new ways of eating some of my staple foods, such as oatmeal. I get so stuck on eating it my favorite way-with bananas or raisins. However, in lacking these foods, I realized that it would probably also be good with dried cranberries, apricots, and walnuts (and it was-I tried it this morning!).
As I came across ingredients I would need to buy in order to complete meals, I made a grocery list. Being as conservative as possible and choosing the least expensive item when faced with a choice, I managed to plan meals (roughly) for the next week. I say "roughly" because you can never expect to follow your meal plan exactly as its written. It's only Sunday, and I've already made a few changes to mine.
In the end of the process, I had comprised a very organized grocery list containing only the items I would need for the upcoming week. I had also managed to make a plan to utilize many of the things that have been sitting in my pantry/refrigerator for way too long. It's a great way to clear up space and eliminate waste before things go bad. Armed with a good list and a solid plan (plus the idea of a limited budget), I was also less likely to engage in "impulse buys" at the grocery store.
The meal plan itself is even a helpful way to be sure that you get in all of your servings of important (and often overlooked) foods like fruits and vegetables. When you have the whole day's meals laid out in front of you, it becomes clear where you might be lacking and gives you a chance to increase the nutritional value of your daily diet. (by the way, if you want to know how many servings of each food group you need, you can go to MyPyramid) Plus, for me, having something down on paper makes it kind of "set in stone" so I'm more likely to follow it. It definitely deters me from switching things up too dramatically, and of course, the ultimate defeat: going out and picking something up.
I will admit, I do not do this type of extensive planning every week, but there are many benefits to doing it as often as possible.
Happy meal planning!