One of the easiest ways to save money on groceries is to create a meal plan for the week. Of course you can vary on this plan depending on what you find on sale, but for the most part try focusing on only what you need for specific meals.
When making your meal plans, always leave room for leftover nights so you aren’t wasting food. This is especially useful if you’ve made the same meal several times and know there’s going to be enough leftover for at least most of your household. Leftover night should be scheduled on nights with limited time, and after at least 2 or 3 nights of actual cooking.
You can also plan to make extra meals based off of your leftovers. Pork, for example, can be put into new dishes like fried rice or casseroles. We love fried rice, so whenever we buy pork chops we pick up an extra along with a box of rice knowing it will make two meals.
The basic idea is to make a plan so there’s no wasted food or money spent on food you really don’t need. Plus you’ll be more motivated to make inexpensive meals instead of running down to the local fast food joint.
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May 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
This is very true and we plan leftover night for Sat. and then I clean out the rest of the fridge and then go shopping on Sunday afternoon.