Save big by planning your meals!

Your meals are no different than anything else in life, if you are planning a trip to Florida you probably would not buy your plane ticket the day you are going to leave. Why? Because it would cost you an arm, a leg and your right butt cheek.

If you are the type of person that shops daily, you are spending way too much time and money at the supermarket; you might want to get a hobby!  The problem with shopping daily is that you are forced to pay the full retail price for just about everything you buy plus you are probably shopping hungry, which studies have shown is a bad idea. I know what you are saying, but Tom… I shop daily and I only buy what is on sale! Maybe you do, but I’m sure you occasionally pick up items that are not on sale because you probably get tired of eating canned ravioli’s, Wheat Thins and frozen pizzas.  I also know that sometimes you don’t feel like going to the grocery store, so you just grab a carry out from a favorite restaurant. 

If you are the type of person that shops weekly, you can still save money by using a meal plan. You will want to write a weekly meal plan using your local supermarket’s weekly advertisements. You may have to shop a few stores to get a variety of food on sale, but you should still save about 30%.   

The absolute best way to save the most is to create a stock pile of basic food items when they are on sale. If you are a person that uses coupons, that is even better!  Then you can use these in-expensive meals to fill in some of the days on your meal plan.  The more of your plan you can create from your pantry or freezer the more you will save.

Planning your meals can be easy and should not take you much time at all.  Once your meal plan is done, hang it on the refrigerator. Each morning, glance at the meal plan and pull out whatever it is you need from the freezer and let it thaw or start the crock pot.

Food is expensive and you can’t stop eating, so why not create a meal plan and start saving today? If you would like a copy of a meal plan template you can e-mail me at Tom@livefinanciallysmart.com and I will be happy to send you one.