Menu Planning

Good Afternoon!

It's time for Tuesday's Thrifty Task!  Today's task, if done regularly, will save both time and money. Advance menu-planning is this week's thrifty Tuesday task. Many homemakers have found that an afternoon/evening spent planning either a week or month's menus in advance saves them in a number of ways. 
 Monthly menu sheets are available on many different websites for printing out free of charge.  Some of the forms can be typed in and printed out; while others are designed to be printed out and filled in by hand.  Sheets with scripture, plain, fancy, cutsie, elegant, those with all three meals, some with breakfast and dinner, and still others with space for the dinner meal only are out there to view.  Some of the forms even have spaces for the user to list the cooking and shopping tasks needed to make the meals planned happen.  Google Free menu planning template in search and just see the abundance of choices offered online. 
After finding the menu-planning method of your choice, it will be time to fill in the blanks.  I would recommend using your most tried and true recipes for the first month's planning.  Adapting something new into the monthly routine can be enough of an adjustment.  Attempting to add new recipes as well may turn a potentially time saving treasure into an overwhelming disaster.  So, at least for the first month, stick to the basics.  
Some homemakers find having a nightly theme works best for their meal planning.  Mexican on Monday, Soup and sandwiches on Tuesday,  Pasta Wednesday, etc.  Still others use an even simpler approach with each night of the week being the same, each week.  For example, Monday night would be spaghetti, Tuesday evening beans and rice, Wednesday might be grilled cheese and tomato soup, Thursday pizza, Friday hamburgers, and so on.  If you are wanting to save some money in the grocery dept. of your budget, the last approach would work wonderfully.  Especially if you use the next menu planning tip... 
Plan your menus from the stores' sale fliers and coupons. Remember to use coupons not only from the newspaper, sale fliers, and online, but also look around the store for in-store offers as you shop.  (We'll have more coupon shopping tips in Thursday's post)  Using the fliers and coupons, you will be able to see what ingredients are on sale.  By taking advantage of your grocery's sales, all of the ingredients used in that month's menus can be purchased for the best available price.  Receiving the best price for ingredients will take a few weeks or months of careful observation, but the savings will most definitely be worth the extra effort. 
I would like to also quickly mention the savings in the area of time.  As homemakers our days are filled to overflowing with tasks and responsibilities.  One after the other these "jobs" flood our days often tumbling on top of each other.  Having a month's worth of menus planned in advance has the potential to free up literally hours each month.  Who couldn't use a few extra hours?  Advance planning does require a commitment of a few hours, possibly an afternoon.  However, this thrifty task requires less time each month.  Even though I am still in the "implementation" process myself, the savings of both time and money have been significant.  I eagerly anticiplate the time when not only is every meal for the month planned, but most of the month's meals are already prepared and in the freezer waiting for me to pull them out and pop them in the oven or crockpot.  However that is a thrifty task for another Tuesday.  Advance menu planning, try it, you will like it.

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