There is simply no reason you should be spending oodles of money on food every week.  Planning healthy meals that don’t have to cost a fortune is ridiculously easy. The key: plan ahead and plan often.

The thing is, when we fail to plan, we tend to end up spending a lot more money than if we had made a plan. You know how it is, you look in the refrigerator and it’s empty and you end up ordering Chinese takeout, pizza or just going out to dinner. And if we don’t have a plan for one night, we often don’t have a plan for other nights in the week and you repeat the cycle. If you add up what you spend on unplanned lunches and dinners each week and month, how much are you spending? And what could you save with some simple planning?

What do I do? I spend no more than 30 minutes creating a plan for the following week and I take into consideration what I have going on. I’m notorious for thinking I’m superwoman and can cook a week of healthy meals when I really only have time to cook a few nights.  Here are a few questions I ask myself:

- At the end of the week, what do I want to say I’ve accomplished with my eating (ate more veggies, reduced cravings, etc.)?
- What’s the key to eating healthfully during the coming week (prep lunches to take to work the night before, etc.)?
- How much time do I really have to cook?
- What nights during the week do I have commitments that will prevent me from cooking?
- Where will I get healthy meals from if I’m not cooking?

Just answering these few questions gets me on the right track for healthy meal planning that saves me loads of money because once I know what’s realistic, I can shop accordingly and figure out where I’ll get the rest from.

What do you do to plan and save money? I’ d love to hear your thoughts. And stay tuned for the next post with more simple ideas and tips.

Filed under: Food Shopping, Healthy Meals, Healthy lifestyle, Meal Planning