Monthly Menu Planning

At the beginning of each month, I sit down and plan what a lot of people don't like to do.  I plan what I'm going to cook for the month.  It may seem like a lot of work, and I'll admit sometimes I don't want to do it.  However, the rewards that planning a menu gives me far out ways the occasional lack of enthusiasm.  The biggest reward is that I save money.   The next reward is that I know what's going to be cooked or is cooking ( I love crock pots), and it keeps me from eating out.  This post has nothing to do with why I love my little house, but it does have to do with my fetish of saving money.  I hear a lot of people saying that eating healthy is too expensive and that if you don't spend $300-$500 a month for groceries, you're not getting healthy food.  I'll be the first to tell you that I once thought that. That's when I started to challenge myself to eat better and become a better wife/mom/teacher.  That's also when I started to challenge myself to make a grocery trip for less than $120....for the ENTIRE month.  While I don't always get out of the store for that amount; I do leave most months for less than $170!!  It can be done and I do it without coupons.  I don't like coupons at all.  I probably use two a year.  Thus, the menu planning.  I know exactly what we're going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.  We don't eat a lot of processed food; it's quite the opposite.  I love fresh foods.  The three of us eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  It can still be done!  Although this month's menu isn't the best menu we've had (I don't usually eat hot dogs), you can get an idea of how I plan and what we do to stay on a budget.
A lot of my meals are things that we know we all love, like the pizza or spaghetti.  Quite of few meals are from one of my favorite websites SkinnyMs or their Facebook page.  I made an entire month's worth of slow cooker meals in February!  It was a blast, and I was happy every night when I got home, because I didn't cook and it was a breeze to clean up.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.    One more benefit...my husband and daughter loved them all!

Below is the menu.  You'll see that some of the days only have the meat part written, but rest assured we have a large salad and veggies of some sort with it.  The only additional thing you need to know is that whatever we have for dinner the night before is what we eat for lunch the next day.  That way, there's no waste.  Because I had to buy household stuff this month, I spent $175 on our grocery bill.  Enjoy!  There's no wrong way to go about menu planning.  Just know what you're going to use the groceries for and don't buy what you don't need.


March Menu