How far in advance do you plan your...

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
How far in advance do you plan your...
14
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 12:58pm

meals? The recent thread asking for advice on stretching the grocery budget got me thinking. Do you really save money this way?

I bring home groceries twice a week. Generally, I shop at two different stores. i do not plan out a menu, but know what I have on hand and cook whatever strikes me that day.

Nobody in my household has a real problem with eating breakfast for dinner. in fact, we like it.

What tends to kill me is when I do full blown grocery shopping, and food gets wasted. It always does, too. This could be directly corrolated to the fact that if I don't get any sleep during the day, I am not cooking!!

Which brings me to the next question: Aside from things like baking supplies, what kinds of things do you have to have to have in the house at all times?

for us, it is milk, pepsi, and cereal. If we are out of any of these, it means a definite trip to the store in that day!

It is interesting to see how everybody does things a little differently. i have never been able to fathom the idea of shopping for an entire week. (But then, my mom went to the store almost every single day, sometimes twice!) : )

Heather

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Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 1:26pm

Hello Heather,


I use Menu Mailer (www.menumailer.net) to plan my menus. I subscribe to the menu service for 3 months at a time (because we don't cook everything on the menus every week) and print them out. The menus come with a grocery list that includes all the ingredients for 5 dinners, many of which may share an ingredient or two. Shopping this way does save me money, because I'm buying just the right amount of food needed for the whole week. For instance, there might be a soup that requires half a can of chicken broth. Another recipe in the same week might use the rest of the can the next day.


I alternate between making recipes I'm very familiar with (like Menu Mailer favorites) and using one of the 12

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 1:59pm

I think this is an item of personal preference based on how much the individual likes to cook or shop. I, personally, LOVE to cook but LOATHE to grocery shop. I also have very little time to shop, or cook for that matter.

I don't plan very specifically, our evening schedule is so hectic. I tend to always keep on hand the ingredients for a few simple family favorites. But I'm like you, if I do a big shop, some of the perishables invariably get spoiled before use. I'm always throwing out lettuce. I really don't have the freezer or pantry space to stock up much.

But one thing I do that helps me is to do what I call a "cook in advance" session. I'll make a large quantity of a couple of dishes we all like and freeze it. Casseroles, twice baked potatoes, taco meat, rice pilaf, etc. I'll also make double batches of cookies and muffins. About once a month, I schedule an all day Saturday cooking session and it helps on busy work nights. I like those aluminum 8x8 pans--they stack in the freezer well and don't tie up my good pyrex dishes. I wash and re-use them--pop the frozen dish out, put it in my pyrex, defrost in microwave and bake. They're just the right size for my family. Some things I put in freezer bags.

I always buy from the sale ads. Usually my neighborhood Kroger's where I know where everything is. We eat what happens to be on sale that week. I find I spend more $$ and forget things if I take my kids, so I usually go late after my YDD is in bed and ODD can babysit. Store's fairly empty so I take my time and go up and down each aisle looking for the sale items/bargains. I buy alot of store brands and like them well. For toiletries, paper goods, cleaners, staples, pet food, etc., I think Wal-Mart has the best prices. But that place is so huge, it makes me crazy. I schedule a monthly stock-up trip there--with a list.

Avatar for 2locachicas
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 2:12pm

I do make a menu for every pay period. But it is not hard and fast. I make a list for 12 specific meals that we will eat during the payperiod. Then when it comes to cooking I pick out the one that is most interesting to me and I make that one.

If you do a big shop without a plan things go to waste. But if you do a big shop with specific meals in mind than nothing should go to waste. Maybe try doing it a week at a time and see if it is something that works for you.

I also save about $40 for the next week so I can pick up veggies(we love grilled veggies during the summer) and any milk or fruit we need. Plus I don't buy ANY junk food so if DH gets to wanting some really bad(he has a sweet tooth) I have a little extra so he can run and get something...he loves the little debbie chocolate donuts.

It saves me ALOT of money but I am an impulse shopper and know I would come home with so much extra we would go broke;-)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 2:29pm

I plan each week and then at the end of the week try to see if I can do just

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 3:39pm

I *try* to go once a week.

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 3:43pm

For instance, there might be a soup that requires half a can of chicken broth. Another recipe in the same week might use the rest of the can the next day.


Oh, I forgot about that!

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Wed, 06-21-2006 - 12:01am
Hi, Cupcake. Your 8x8 aluminum pans intrigued me. That sounds like a good idea (I dont have them yet). Are they for mini loaves? What kinds of things do you make in them? Mini casseroles, etc.? WHere did you get them and are they dishwasher safe (i.e., do they rust). Thanks. WHiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2005
Wed, 06-21-2006 - 2:28am

Hi Heather,


I like to plan at least a week if not two.

lvhunnie2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Wed, 06-21-2006 - 3:11am

Hmm. I guess I do *sort of* plan. I don't go so far as to plan which day we are having what, but I do get enough to cook for awhile. It is mostly stuff like milk, pop, and occasionally, bread that I end up picking up after I get off from work. I would have to buy four gallons of milk to last a week. i really hate carrying that much stuff in the house! I don't do full blown grocery shopping at Wal-Mart (even when I worked at a supercenter, I bought most of my meat and produce elsewhere). Milk at Wal-Mart is a full dollar cheaper than the grocery store! I tend to buy what is on sale, also, so this affects my grocery shopping habits.

This has been an interesting thread. I realize I am very funny about food. I can't generally plan what I will have for dinner three days from now. I eat what I am in the mood for. We rarely all even eat the same thing for dinner, because we have such different tastes. My youngest, for example, does not eat meat. Just about the only vegetable everybody likes is corn. We do well when we cook out, though. Everybody eats hamburgers, everyone except the little one will eat steak or chicken. My dh and daughters would just about eat pasta every day of the week. When I make pasta, half the time, I just eat a sandwich! (My dh is half italian, what can i say?)

This is actually an area I need to work on, I admit : )
Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Wed, 06-21-2006 - 3:59am

Whiz, I use my 8x8 pan for brownies, popover pizza (serves ~4), and boxed dinners (Homestyle Bakes, for example).


 

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