Menu Planning

How many of us have heard the dreaded, "What's for dinner?" too many times? Unfortunately, this is a common problem among households. Another problem is the grocery budget has gotten out of control. Many families are spending more money than they really need to. Eating out is common and often the result of not having a plan for dinner. Do you want to lower your grocery budget and still eat well? That is where menu planning comes in.

Planning a menu does not have to be difficult or time consuming. By simply selecting some of your families favorite meals and determining which day would be best to eat it, you have created a menu. Some homes only need to worry about dinner, but other households need to worry about breakfast and even lunch. If you are a computer person, there are menu calenders available all over the Internet. If you prefer, create your own menu using a software program or even by hand. Include every day of the week on the menu. If you enjoy eating out on Fridays and do not want to give that up it's OK. Just put eat out under Fridays category.

Having your family's input will greatly assist you in making sure that your family will eat what you have planned. In your menu you may want to have one day a week for each member of the family to have their favorite food. By doing so, your family will be more willing to stick to the weekly menu.

Each meal should include any side dishes, unless you are sure that you will have ideas for side dishes every night. You may also include any desserts, so your family will know what to expect. The best part of having your menu is that you are now equipped to go grocery shopping effectively. You have a list of all meals that you will be eating at home, so determining what you need to buy should be relatively easy. This is one reason that including everything for your meal on your menu is beneficial.

Grocery shopping will be easier and cheaper now that you have your menu. By buying only what you are going to be eating for that week (or two if you prefer) your budget will drop significantly, as you will no longer be buying junk food or food with no purpose that may end up wasted. Most families could use the money saved for other things, so planning a menu serves more purposes than knowing what to eat.

Display your menu where everyone can see it. If it is displayed then rather than hearing every person ask at least once, "what's for dinner" they will become accustomed to looking at the menu and knowing. Another benefit of displaying the menu is getting help preparing it! If you are running late, you can easily call your family and ask them to get started on the preparations - provided they are old enough.

Planning a menu may take 5-15 minutes a week, but the savings your household will experience will be worth the trouble. You will experience savings in your grocery budget as you shop better and smarter. You will also save from having to eat out or eat unhealthy because you didn't plan for dinner. And finally, you will save yourself from making needless trips to the grocery store because you forgot something. So make a menu and enjoy the savings!