How To Make A Meal Plan That Saves Money

• Meal prepping: The idea is you have certain meals that you want to eat over a week, and you cook them in bulk and refrigerate them until needed.
• Cooking for one: Instead of taking 30-45 minutes to cook each meal every day, you can take 1-2 hours at the start of the week and cook many meals to refrigerate that can cover the whole week.
• Cooking in bulk is another way to save time. Try and make a little extra on purpose with each meal.

Cooking your food is often far healthier and more effective per calorie than processed food.

A meal plan is more effective if you plan to exclude processed foods like chips and other snacks.

The idea is to live by a schedule so you can save some money on groceries, and free up time.

You don't need to plan a meal for every day. You can plan a couple of meals with repeats in between.

• If you're meal planning for five meals, write down a grocery list that includes everything for those five meals.
• Set a limit on how much you can spend on groceries each week and have a designated "grocery day."
• Take stock before you shop. You might still have extra food available.
• Take some ideas from wherever you can. The web is a good source for meal plan ideas to help you develop your own.
• Experiment with whatever food you have.

• Make sure your meal plan is simple. If it is too much planning, plan fewer meals and rotate throughout the week.
• Prioritize leftovers and bulk cooking.
• Simplify the dinners themselves. Some meals can be quick and cost-effective.