Part 1: Meal Planning and the Grocery Budget
Why it Works
Meal planning and budgeting help you avoid impulsive spending, reduce food waste, and ensure you have the essentials. All of this starts with a good grocery budget and a little meal planning.
Put Your Grocery Budget Into Action
Plan Ahead
Sit down at the start of your week to plan out what you want to eat each meal. Make sure to include breakfast, lunch and snacks. You know what your schedule will look like and where you might need a quicker meal or on the go snacks.
Shop Your Pantry
You know you have food already, why not start by shopping what you’ve already purchased and start your meal plan with what you have. This is especially helpful on those extra short income weeks.
Set a Strict Grocery Budget
You have an amount you can work with. Stick to it! If you need to carry a calculator, pen & paper, whatever! Do it and stick to it! This will ensure that as the month progresses, your finances stay on target – at least when it comes to your grocery budget.
Stick to Your List and Avoid Buying Items Not on It
This may also be a new challenge for you, but oh so worth it! If you find you keep grabbing just this one extra thing each time you shop, you may want to look at services like InstaCart to keep you on budget, even while paying the extra fees (but account for them).
Cook With What You Have
You have an amount you can work with. Stick to it! If you need to carry a calculator, pen & paper, whatever! Do it and stick to it! This will ensure that as the month progresses, your finances stay on target – at least when it comes to your grocery budget.
Have you done this before? Actually planned out your meals and stuck to a grocery budget? Let me know how it worked! If you haven’t done this before, share below why you haven’t or what’s holding you back.
For some simple recipe ideas that will help with planning, check out these:
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Til Next Time,
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