Making a Menu and Prepping a List

After you make a list of ALL the foods you and your family like to eat (as I did in the previous post) then pick out as many of those meals as you would like to eat this month.  Here is an example of a few days of mine.


                                        September/October Menu
1. Baked Tacos
2. Baked Spaghetti
3. Crock-Pot Roast
4. Grilled Steaks
5. Asian Chicken
6. Club Sandwiches
7. Hotdog Night
8. Quesadillas
9. Crock-Pot Chicken Enchiladas
10. Potato Soup


 
 
My menu will continue on for 31 days.  Each morning when I wake up, I will lay meat out to thaw or prepare the Crock-Pot for the day.  Either way, I look at the list everyday with something in mind for the family to eat for supper.

Now, I shop at 4 different stores and have pretty much memorized where everything in each store is. Knowing this, I made a shopping list on my computer of what I normally buy when I go to the store.  Now, when I make my menu I look at what I have chosen to prepare and look at my list and check off what I need.  For instance, if I am making baked tacos, I will need ground chuck,  hard taco shells, taco seasoning and all the extras.  I pull out my shopping list and check off all the items I need for that trip as well as number of that item needed.  By only getting the items I need for my menu, it cuts my grocery bill by huge margins. I also include breakfast, lunch, snacks, toiletry and entertainment items.  Even still, the practice of menu planning and eating what is on hand has decreased our eating out  and spontaneous spending which saves us enormous amounts of money each month.