Different take on meal plans.

Meal plans are frivolous to some people.    Without a plan, when things are hectic, it is a real temptation to go threw the drive through or order pizza.    It's a sure way to bust a budget.   If you are on snap, those expenses aren't covered with your money.

There are many ways to meal plan, I read somewhere of a lady that was selling a fifty page meal plan form.   That would take to long for me.  My object to a months meal plan is that :(;(: happens and it isn't flexible enough,    My meals in the summer are a lot different than my meals on the winter.

For a while, my mother would cook the same thing on the same day every week.   She had a schedule for wash too.    We knew that Thursday she would bake bread and we would have pizza.    That was short lived, she must have thought it was too boring,

I usually meal plan by using a form with two columns in the left, one for what we have with the things that need to be used up soon highlighted and one for anything I need to buy to complete a meal.    That's usually a fresh thing like green beans for fish bundles.   *
The right side consists of seven boxes and a box for my matrix.   I mad a matrix as a guide.   2 beef, 2 pork or chicken, 2 vegetarian, and  a fish.    Is is based on my family's preferences to try to make everyone happy.   Yours might be different   After I survey the fridge, I write  down What I have to be used up about mid week.   Then I make the next weeks meal plans on pencil and adjust the rest of the week if necessary to accommodate what we need to use.   Waste not, want not.   It's a natural way to cut food costs.   There is an estimate that we waste thirty percent of our food in this country,   I don't think that is the case with us, however finicky eaters waste food.   I have taken to giving a child a small amount of everything so that of they don't eat it, a lot isn't wasted.  They can always have more.  

This takes about ten minutes, then minutes well spent.   About that time, the ads are here and I can analyze them and check stock and do some planning.   Last weeks planning was a an aboration - hauls like that don't happen often.   But, I can consistently get stock items for half price or more.
I always buy protein at the RBP and buy bulk.   And I buy dairy and fresh produce at the cheapest price and the produce in season,   If something is not on season, it is more money for a fruit or vegetable that is probably not as high a quality as if it was in season.  

If there is a week where I don't need anything, I don't shop.   We might pick up milk when we are out and about.    Preferably where it is the cheapest.  

Lately, I have taken inventory and rotated stock per sell by date and bought a lot of pizza because I got 6.77 pizza for as low as 2.44.  I also got eggs for 2/3.   So, I temporarily changed my matrix to a theme based, rather than protein based plan.


We are having

1. Pizza 
2. Breakfast for dinner 
3. Fish - salmon or clams 
4. Pasta 
5. Sunday dinner 
6. Leftovers 
7. Soup

This is based on things I need to use up and have a large stock on.    

Whatever works.    You don't have to stick hard fast to a plan, just have a plan.   

Jane