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How To Make A Meal Plan That Saves Money
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Meal Planning
Meal planning is a sort of calendar for your groceries and meals. The same way you might plan out your week or month for work, meal planning takes care of that for each meal.
It can save you money if you're buying the right groceries and also save you a lot of time in the long run.
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Meal Plans Save Money
Buying groceries can last much longer. A five-pound bag of rice costs around $10. It can last for many weeks and also compliment any meal.
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Meal Plans Save Time
- 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.
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Eat Healthier
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.
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Building A Meal Plan
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.
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Successful Meal Plannings
- 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.
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Making It Easier
- 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.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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People eat junk food mostly out of convenience
Home-prepared meals are a key feature of healthy eating
If you want to eat healthier, the first and most important change you should make is to start cooking your own meals from scratch. And along with improving your health, you’ll likely save a ton of money by making your own meals at home.
Prepare your own food
The only time you have agency over what you’re eating is when you’re doing the purchasing and prep.
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Measure your expenses
Take a hard look at how much you are spending day to day. Every time you spend money, write it down as it happens in a little notebook or log it into an app.
Alternat...
Aiming to save pounds, not pennies
Get a cheaper living situation: Live in a smaller house that needs less stuff to fill it or get a roommate.
The personal finance rule of thumb is to spend no more than one-third of your income on rent.
You Can Cook
If you can read, you can cook. If you can read and cook, you can use meal planning and prep to save time, money, and improve your health.
Base your menu for the week on two things: what you already have in the house and what is on sale at your supermarket.
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Cooking At Home: A Chore More Than A Hobby
- Many people see cooking at home as a chore rather than a hobby or a fun activity to do to save money and have a delicious meal at the same time.
- Fast food and ready-to-eat dinners ...
How To Start Cooking at Home
- Cooking at home isn't much of a hassle when you plan things ahead. Weekly meal plans exist and are a trend that's easy to follow.
- Schedule it so it happens.
- Home cooking includes investing in the right tools like quality knives, pots and pans because it makes cooking essentialy more fun to do. You can pair cooking while listening to music or a podcast, anything you enjoy doing.
- Keep it realistic. You don't have to cook 90% of the time, set aside 30 mins for cooking and 10 mins for decluttering your fridge.
- Keep it simple. Repeat often. You don’t get bonus points for complexity or variety.
- Have 3-5 go-to recipes. The more you make a recipe, the easier it will become and the less mental resistance you’ll feel when you think about making it.