A spreadsheet program can allow you to set up a flexible but organized meal planner.
Credit: Colleen Fischer | ©Colleen Fischer
If a tight budget is starting to squeeze your food spending, it may be time to consider a strategy that can save you money and help you maintain a healthy diet: meal planning.
Meal planning is as simple as working out at the beginning of the week what you will serve for dinner each night for the rest of the week. You can then use your plans to formulate a grocery list, helping ensure you buy only what you need when you shop. Plus, if you know what you're planning to cook and have the supplies for the meals on hand, you'll avoid unhealthy takeout.
Let's start with step one for getting into meal planning: Set up a document for planning meals.
Before anything else, you want a place to start jotting ideas as they come to you. I find myself opening my meal planner repeatedly throughout the week just to note a meal idea I can use in the future that maybe I saw on television, read on a food blog, or simply felt a craving for.
Something as simple as a text document or piece of paper where you list the dates and what you plan to serve for dinner that night works just fine. I planned my meals this way in college, including during the summers when I cooked for my whole large family. It's a little less organized than other methods, but it allows you plenty of freedom.
These days, I use a spreadsheet that I've set up like a calendar, with rows for the date, the main course, side dishes, and starches. I leave space for meal reviews (so I can note when a meal was a big hit or huge failure) and special notes, such as marking when someone will be absent. I like being able to combine my meal plans with my daily events, but I prefer the flexibility of my special calendar.
Alternatively, you could use a calendar program such as iCal or Google Calendar. These are less easy to bend to your needs, true, but they do make it easier to corral a busier schedule. If you're already using a calendar program, this may be the way to go. Bonus: You can share your meal calendar with your family online. No more enduring the "What's for dinner?" whines!
Meal planning is as simple as working out at the beginning of the week what you will serve for dinner each night for the rest of the week. You can then use your plans to formulate a grocery list, helping ensure you buy only what you need when you shop. Plus, if you know what you're planning to cook and have the supplies for the meals on hand, you'll avoid unhealthy takeout.
Let's start with step one for getting into meal planning: Set up a document for planning meals.
Before anything else, you want a place to start jotting ideas as they come to you. I find myself opening my meal planner repeatedly throughout the week just to note a meal idea I can use in the future that maybe I saw on television, read on a food blog, or simply felt a craving for.
Something as simple as a text document or piece of paper where you list the dates and what you plan to serve for dinner that night works just fine. I planned my meals this way in college, including during the summers when I cooked for my whole large family. It's a little less organized than other methods, but it allows you plenty of freedom.
These days, I use a spreadsheet that I've set up like a calendar, with rows for the date, the main course, side dishes, and starches. I leave space for meal reviews (so I can note when a meal was a big hit or huge failure) and special notes, such as marking when someone will be absent. I like being able to combine my meal plans with my daily events, but I prefer the flexibility of my special calendar.
Alternatively, you could use a calendar program such as iCal or Google Calendar. These are less easy to bend to your needs, true, but they do make it easier to corral a busier schedule. If you're already using a calendar program, this may be the way to go. Bonus: You can share your meal calendar with your family online. No more enduring the "What's for dinner?" whines!
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