BUT
Once I tried it and found it worked for us, I was hooked, and it saved us money as well, because we always used what was at home first before we brought anything from the supermarket.
In our previous guide to Budgeting we made up a budgeting folder, so if you missed that blog, go back and find it and set yourself up with a great helpful guide to home budgeting.
But if you already have that folder set up, here is something that you can now add to that, or you might like to create your own different folder adding additional files of things you and your family like.
Download and print it here.
https://app.box.com/s/umgzp7yqqsikc6lvc8vt
It is a great habit to get into as it stops anything going stale in the pantry or refrigerator, because you always know what is in there, so you are planning meals to make things with the stuff you have first.
And that saves heaps of money believe me.
You can add all your favourite menus to the file and work out from those recipes what you already have , what you need to buy and whether you have a recipe for the dish or need to download one.
And if you do download a recipe stick it in your file so its there for next time.
Because I was busy and the children were also busy, I liked to have a copy of the weeks menu on the fridge, that way if we had rugby practise, or basketball we could design easy meals for those night, and everyone knew what we were having so within reason, once the boys got older, if they saw we were having spaghetti bolagnaise, they knew we wouldn't need potatoes peeled etc, or the other way around, if they beat me home they would know what they could do to help me.
And nine times out of ten they did beat me home, so the more they helped me the quicker dinner was.
If you would like a fridge menu download I have included one here, it is a blank copy and you can add your menu directly onto the sheet and then save it and print it off and keep yours on your fridge too.
Changeable menu planner for the month
https://app.box.com/s/9qdkxgk4wq08p1c8nvtt
Grocery Lists:
When it comes to making a shopping list, make it work for your own supermarket.
So if your first isle is
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Meat
- Bulk Foods
Start you shopping list with those first, that way you don't miss anything off the list.
If the second isle is
- Toilet Paper
- Soap Powder
- Cat Food
- Glad Wrap
I used to keep a laminated condensed grocery list in my hand bag and with using all the tips in my household to keep everything working correctly, (see my blog on My Top Ten Tips and look for the one labelled Pantry) all I had to do was place ticks beside the things I needed, and then wipe those ticks off when i was finished and start all over again.
It made shopping a breeze.
But you might not have time to do that so here is one you can save in excel and change around to suit your household and their needs
Download and print it here
https://app.box.com/s/ldcxqcljs2lr6lywpvfw
Here is a link to my pantry blog, read it it has some awesome ideas, that will save you time, money and Panadol in headaches.
http://trinasbeautifulbudgetingbasics.blogspot.com/2013/09/top-ten-tips-of-budgeting-3-your-pantry.html
Copyright note:
Please note that
All of these ideas are totally my own and mine alone, but the fridge meal planner was taken and adapted from www.mwwtpenny.com
and the whats cooking download was adapted from Www.godlyglimpses.com
No comments:
Post a Comment