So what's the plan?

.
Good Morning Thrifty Friends.

So what is your plan for saving money? I am always interested in knowing how other people save money.. or in a better way - don't spend money.

My own plan involves preparing a budget, withdrawing cash from our account for the week, and understanding that is it for the week. I then wrap my head around the cost of groceries, entertainment, etc.

There are many differences in life this year from last year. For instance, I now have a 2-week lunch plan for my home childcare. That means having to buy the groceries up front, even if key ingredients are not on sale. The hope is to get into a routine and buy items on sale to stock up. I also plan to start a dinner plan, at least weekly (not that it has to be the same every week)so that I can prepare many make-ahead meals to make life much simpler as I am about to embark on very busy and full days that will leave very little time or desire for making a great healthy evening meal. I refuse to resort to chicken nuggets and kraft dinner every night.
I'm excited about the prospect of opening the freezer on a Mon night, selecting Tues night's dinner and popping it in the fridge to thaw overnight. The next day I can either throw it in the slow cooker (if the recipe allows) or pop upstairs to pop a casserole or such into the oven an hour or so before dinner time. Some evenings we'll do sandwiches and salad, or soup and salad and that will be nice too.. especially if the soup is already made and thawed and just needs a reheat. I'm about to join the ranks of working moms! Even if I do get to work from home... I will no longer be afforded the time and energy for from-scratch healthy dinner meals.

Along this train of thought comes budgeting. The problem for me is that it's expensive to by tray packs of meat, and all the ingredients for 14 solid planned meals. While I know in the longer run it will save us considerable amounts of both cash and sanity, will be much healthier for us and will make life run much more smoothly - it will wreck havoc on our food budget. Food cost for bulk purchases vary so often that it's almost impossible to budget. Since I have limited freezer space, am often daunted by a slab of frozen-together meat, and also don't like the idea of taking frozen meat, thawing it, possibly cooking it and then refreezing (Jury is out on the health risks), I do not plan to stock up on meat when it's on sale to freeze it for later. I want it frozen only once. If I find chicken on sale, I will tweak my meal plan and cook something with chicken instead.
We are contemplating renewing our big-box bulk-food store membership. We're unsure if we want to because we often find ourselves spending $200 or more, and then still have to do regular grocery shopping. And so far we've only really wanted to buy dog food - a $30 bag to be exact, and have never wished to spend $60 extra dollars for that opportunity. Also with the one vehicle, either hubby will have to go after work, or we'll give up an entire evening(because it's a good 1/2 drive one way), or (gasp!!!) have to go on a week-end day.. none of those are good.

In any event, perhaps I will leave the food budget in the bank, and just take out cash for everything else. I will need to track my grocery spending of course, and am hoping my make-ahead meals will save us some serious cash in the long run. I think it will. I am convinced from scratch is cheaper than prepackaged, prepared. And there is a certain point of it just being worth it even if it isn't saving us money (which it will)... it contributes to our health and nothing is more important to me than raising a healthy, happy family. The stress level will be reduced dramatically, and take out will be a thing of the past - reserved for when we REALLY want it, as an occasional treat, rather than as a result of being caught hungry and unprepared.

Friends - what do you do to prepare your meals in advance? Any tried and true recipes or tips?

Bon Appetit!