Tightwad Tuesdays

I know it's Wednesday but I never got a chance to sit down and write this yesterday. I've decided to do Tightwad Tuesdays instead of Frugal Fridays. Arlen's working 10 hour days now so that means he's home on Fridays so we're busy working around here and I don't get a chance to blog.

Several weeks ago I decided to start meal planning. I've always wanted to do it but never did because I thought it would be really difficult. For some reason I thought I'd have to go and find a bunch of fancy recipes and be cooking all the time so I never did it.

Well, awhile ago I got a newsletter for Hillbilly Housewife all on meal planning and she made it seem so simple that I gave it a try. It is so simple and it really makes the week go so smoothly for me because I know exactly what I'm making and I have the stuff I need for everything.

This works for our schedule but you could do whatever works for you. Every Monday evening after the kids are in bed I sit down to plan the next weeks meals. I use a chart I got from Menu Planning Central but you could make a very simple spreadsheet on the computer. First I look through the sale fliers and my cupboards to 'shop the pantry'. I try to cook as cheap as possible so I try to plan two dinners using beans or lentils, one dinner using chicken, one dinner using beef and one dinner using fish and I usually make homemade pizza one night a week. And we usually have leftovers on either Saturday or Sunday nights. I also plan breakfast, lunch and two snacks a day. If I know we'll have leftover rice from dinner then I plan to have Hot Rice Cereal for breakfast the next morning. If I'm making 'My Best Pinto Beans' (that's what the recipe is called) then I plan to use the leftovers to make refried beans and tortillas for the next dinner. After I plan all the meals then I make a shopping list. I do a quick look in the freezer, fridge and pantry to see what I already have and then I write down what I need. Since I've already looked through my coupons and fliers and plan accordingly I get most things on sale.

I have saved so much time and money by taking only a half hour on Monday evenings to plan the week. Then I pack the kids up on Tuesday and we go shopping for the list of things we need.

I'm just new to this meal planning thing so if any of you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.