So a lot of people (my 5 friends) know I buy mostly organic and fair trade when the option is there. I want to remind you that our grocery budget has decreased dramatically since I started meal planning and I STILL buy 90% organic.
Here’s why. I used to think only pretentious people bought ONLY organic. But then I started paying more attention and doing more research and heres the thing…Cancer has become not an “if” situation but a “when” situation. Almost everyone knows of someone that has it. It’s a scary thing and at first my only goal with buying organic food was so that I could somehow allow my family and I to be healthier longer. Period.
That was where it started. Then we began to notice that we simply felt better. We were sleeping a little better, we were less anxious and didn’t feel as though our minds were in a fog. It became second nature to pick that option over the other because it (to us) was worth it.
Let me get back to our budget. I was spending $900+ on groceries every month AND we were still eating out all the time! When my husband and I first got married I thought heating up a frozen pizza in the oven was “cooking”. Oh sweet, sweet girl… And any produce we bought was waisted. Going to the store was a guessing game of “oh, we might need that. Let’s get it.” Literally, we always had food but never had ingredients to actually make anything!
Finally in year 3 of our marriage I had had enough of always having things that didn’t make ANYTHING. So I started meal planning.
I made a list with each day and beside it listed “B, L and D” for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I looked at Pinterest (and still do) for easy 15 min meals and listed out one for each dinner. For lunch I put either “LO” for Leftovers if I knew I’d have enough or I would put sandwiches/salad. Breakfast is always some kind of fruit, yogurt (for the boys), and some kind of protein. See how I work backwards? It’s much easier that way to first plan the dinners and then work around them.
Side note: I used to do simple cereal and milk for my oldest but he would end up asking for a snack 15 min later and then every 5 min till lunch so I said no more! It’s better for my sanity to fill that boy up, if possible. Now we just use dry cereal for snacks.
I posted a photo in my last post of how I start my lists but here it is again.
Besides cutting our budget in half it has also prevented us from eating out as much because we KNOW what we will eat every night. It wasn’t a guessing game any more. That in itself reduce so much stress! I can now give that energy to other, more important, things.
So then, as we keep going…After you’ve planned out your meals you simply make a grocery list of everything you need for the week! No more thinking “I might need this” and buying something that will go to waste!
Now I think half of our groceries each week are produce. And we EAT them. They no longer go bad and get thrown away! And if some start ripening before you get to them throw them in the freezer.
You can freeze soooo much.
Wow, I’m sorry guys. This post turned into something real special. Hope you enjoyed it. If you still have questions please leave me a comment below. I would LOVE to help you out!
