Do you menu plan? I would be lost if I didn’t know what what I was making for dinner every night! Even when I was a crazy single girl and my dinner plans were often Bagel Bites and Lean Pockets, I still menu planned (so I’d know Monday was Bagel Bite night, ha ha). Seriously…although your menu plans may look different depending on your situation in life, I think it’s one of the easiest ways to save time and money.

There are four main factors I keep in mind when menu planning – the calendar, the circular, the cabinets, and the climate (really, the weather, but indulge me…I’m going with a “c” theme here).

First, the calendar – it’s just me and JP in our house, but if we have an event one night, I know I don’t need to cook that night. If I know one or the other of us has something planned, that influences what I’m doing. Maybe I can plan a meal takes a bit longer because I know he’ll be home late. Maybe I’d better have something ready in advance because I won’t be home till late. Besides things that hit the actual calendar, I take a minute to think about what’s going on in our lives. If I know I’ve been super-busy at work, I cook in advance or plan really quick meals. If I know JP’s working on a big project, I plan to make something that can be eaten cold or reheated nicely no matter what time he gets in. Obviously, if you have kids who are involved in various activities, this gets both more important and more complicated.

Next, the circular. I go to one supermarket every week and I look for sales whenever possible. The circular comes on Thursday (I actually get the newspaper on Sunday and Thursday just for the coupons) and I usually see what’s on sale that might spark an idea.

The cabinets…this includes the freezer and fridge. What do I have on hand? Maybe I bought produce last week that will last till Monday but no longer – I’d better find a use for it on Monday’s menu. Maybe ground turkey was on sale and I have some in the freezer – hmmm, maybe time for chili? Maybe I bought beans last week and got an unexpected dinner invitation before I could cook them – definitely time for chili! Shopping what you have on hand is definitely the easiest way to save money.

Finally, and don’t laugh too much, the climate/weather. If you live in San Diego, (a) you know it’s pretty much always 80 and sunny; (b) that fact makes me extremely jealous. Here in the northeast, we’re not so lucky. It’s not uncommon to have a week where it’s 90 one day and 60 the next. Here’s this week:

 

It’s going from hot to mild pretty darn quickly there, and spring and fall tend to be even more dramatic! The dinner salad I might think sounds great when it’s 80 and sunny won’t be nearly as good if it’s 55 and raining, and vice versa for the homemade soup! So I don’t obsess over it, but I generally give my phone a look just to be on the safe side.

Generally I only plan dinner. At one time in my life, I made a cooked breakfast every day, and so I planned that too, and at various times, I’ve tried lunch planning, but these days, I just make sure I have food on hand and don’t really plan it out. If you are making breakfast and lunch at home, though, I’d recommend planning those meals too. Nothing like promising everyone pancakes and finding out you don’t have pancake mix!

The really, really, important step – write it down! And if possible, put it somewhere it can be easily seen. First, this saves you from having to remember anything. You can look at the menu plan each night and not only see what you’re supposed to be cooking that night, but what needs to be defrosted for the next night’s dinner. An additional bonus, if you live with people who can and are willing to cook, is that if you get delayed when dinner is supposed to be started, someone else can start it (or make a decision that they’d rather not start it and call for a pizza, which may or may not have happened in my house). Seriously, though, if you have a helpful spouse or kids with an interest in cooking, they may be able to help out, but only if they know what you had in mind. At the moment you know you won’t be home to start dinner because you’re slammed with work or stuck on the side of the road or dealing with a school crisis, you may not even remember what you were thinking of making for dinner! I have a cute pad with days of the week that I use (as shown above), but you can use a scrap of notebook paper or a really big post-it – you don’t need anything fancy. If you know you won’t do it without the right tools, you can usually find a days of the week pad at any office supply or big-box store.

It may take a little time and effort to menu plan at first, but believe me…once you start, you won’t know how you lived all these years without it!

Do you menu plan? Have you tried it and it didn’t work? What are your best menu planning tips?

On Friday, I’ll be discussing menu planning for special situations such as parties and house guests.