Meal planning can be the most expensive part of a monthly budget. The truth is that you can save money on the food bill and still enjoy a tasty meal the entire family will enjoy. Potatoes are relatively cheap and you can make your own French fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes and Girl Scout potatoes for meals.
With any meal that you make, you will want to have meat and you want to shop when the stores have meats on sale. It is possible to find ground chuck as low as $2 a pound. You can buy enough ground chuck to make a months worth of meals for half the price when you buy it on sale. You can use it for meatloaf, hamburgers, meatballs, and spaghetti meat sauce and casserole dishes.
Morning meals are the most important and can be inexpensive to make. If you have some time the night before, make homemade pancakes and let the family warm them up the next morning in the microwave. It is cheaper to make your own mix than it is to buy a already made mix. You can feed the family French toast in the morning or for lunch. Bread and eggs are cheap and the meal tastes good to everyone.
Every now and then, you want to go out for a meal. Look for coupons and buy one get one free deals before deciding what the family will have for dinner. Stay away from most of the fast food restaurants that do not offer discounts. There are some well-known restaurants that advertise on TV or in flyers and offer coupons for specials. The buy one get one free deals will save you the most money.
Some meals might come in the form of frozen packages. Wal-Mart has a Banquet product that cost $5.99. This big bag has enough food to feed a family of four. For instance, the Roast and Vegetable bag has roast meat, potatoes, gravy sauce, carrots and beans. All you need is $5.99 and a 4-quart crock-pot. It might not sound like it will taste good, but the truth is that Banquet has finally made a big meal for families that fit today’s budget and taste requirements.
Shop around and you will find some great bargains and ways to cut the monthly food budget.
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