My Biggest Frugal Meal Planning Hack

Hands up if you have ever went to the grocery store and bought food because you just didn’t realize what you had in-stock at home or that you still had enough food for at least another week of dinners. (I am waving both hands here)

If you are anything like me, I will sometimes plan for a meal, never make it, then totally forget I have the ingredients for that meal and go out and buy food for the next meal plan. It happens most when my pantry is cluttered and disorganized, or when we have an abundance of food in our refrigerator from an event or a party. Or when I just flat out forget what I bought!

When you are trying to stick to a grocery budget, it is hard to do if you don’t follow through and make the meals you plan for.

I am not the best at coming up with a meal plan for each and every day of the week, but when I go shopping, I usually have a general idea of the meals I would like to make with the food I bought.

One thing that has really helped me not to accidentally skip any meals I bought food for is having these meals all written down in one convenient place, like my refrigerator door.

It’s simple, and I usually just write down the names of the meals, as opposed to writing down all the ingredients I have on hand. It works for me. It’s a nice, quick, at-a-glance look that helps me to quickly choose what my options are.

It helps to prevent me from wasting food and wasting money, which is a huge plus, especially in this current economy where food prices are through the roof.

If you think this could help you too, grab my frugal meal planning printable PDF for yourself and start keeping track of your on-hand meals. You could use this template any way you like.

You could fill it with ingredients, or you could fill in the squares with complete meals. You could use the squares to categorize your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, or you could categorize by ingredient.

I choose to keep it simple and insert the name of the meal. No rhyme or reason in the way I use it. You could use it completely different. You could also use it as part of a meal planning binder. (which I intend to work on making, because I need one for myself!)

A grocery budget is such an important thing to have, and once you have determined that budget, staying on it takes some work. I hope this idea helps you as much as it has me.