Meal Planning: Binders Make Everything Better

In the last five years of our blissfully married life I have never sent an actual “budget.” 

There, I said it.

We’ve done pretty well with spending, but we’re guilty of spending more than we need to because we didn’t plan it out. But in November of last year (literally on Thanksgiving Day!) our lives were turned upside down. We were parents, now responsible for the well-being of a tiny (and needy) person. 

Have you seen formula and diaper prices these days? Highway robbery.

We quickly realized that with so much money going to Munckin’s necessities each month, we needed to keep better track of grocery spending. But like I said, I've never set an actual budget.

Now if anyone can be called OCD it is my Mother.

She is one amazing woman. I remember her keeping a pretty tight budget when I was growing up. But as far as groceries go, she seemed to keep us well-fed without a lot of planning. She just… did it. But as in many other areas of my life, I am not my mother (though I strive to be!).

We used to shop at Aldi. I love that place. I never had to check prices. I just bought everything that I knew I could work with to make meals. You really can’t overspend there. An entire cart of groceries for $80? Yes please!

But we’ve moved to a town where there is no Aldi. Just a Walmart Supercenter.

Crud.

So, my old plan doesn’t work anymore. And my major staple, ground turkey, is TWICE the price at Walmart as it was at Aldi ($2.88/lb vs. $1.49). We’re lucky if we leave spending under $100, and it’s usually more than that.

So, I can’t just buy stuff to keep on hand, and hope to use it up eventually. We needed a plan.

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with Pinterest? That place has a solution for nearly anything. It is my haven.

After reading a few other blogs and talking things over with the Hubby, we decided to try monthly meal planning. Now, I love to cook, but by dinnertime the last thing I want to do pull an idea for dinner out of thin air. I may be Mama, but I’m not a magician.

Up to now I have avoided “meal planning” because the thought of being tied down to a specific list each day/week/month just rubs me the wrong way. What if we're set to make mac-n-cheese, and I feel more like tacos?

So I just make one huge list of meals. At the beginning of each month I sit down and make a list (letting the Hubby make some suggestions) of meals that we will eat throughout the month. Since I don’t cook every night, my list only contains about 20 meals.

Ahhhhh. 30 minutes of brainstorming and now for the rest of the month I don’t have to come up with dinner ideas. Just pick one from the list! I like to pick mine either the night before or in the morning. Then, during the day, I know what I will be fixing and plan the time for it.

And since I’m OCD, I didn’t want to just keep my meal list in the 10-cent notebook that I scribbled it down in. I made myself a fancy binder to keep on track with it.

Inside there are pretty pocket folders to hold things like recipes, grocery lists, and a monthly calendar – I write down what I cooked for dinner each day (or note that we ate leftovers). By the end of this month I’ll have a better idea of how many meals I’ll need to cook, what yields the most leftovers, etc.

This is our first month of meal planning, so I’m still working out the kinks. We’re watching pennies, so I’m making all the meals that I can off of the list without going to the store. This disproves the “there’s nothing to eat!” theory!

But when we actually do run out of food, my pantry and brand new chest freezer are ready for action.

I don’t know about you, but I find things are easier to tackle when everything is organized. A messy pantry does not inspire me to cook gourmet meals.

My pantry used to look like this:

Yuck.

The space is there, but the shelves are super-deep and pretty far apart for small food items. My attempts to add shelf risers just made things a jumbled-up mess.

Plus, the house is a rental and the walls were still dirty and yucky from the previous tenants. Gross.

So, in true OCD fashion I spent two days tackling my pantry. I emptied EVERYTHING out, cleaned it, and painted it.

Then I treated myself to a shopping spree at the Dollar Tree. Does anyone else love that place as much as me? I spent $5 on baskets/bins (all color coordinated, of course). Nothing fancy, but I think it turned out great:

Ahhhhh. So much better! 

My favorite part (besides the awesome wire shelves that the Hubby installed with his power drill for me) is the baskets on the bottom. I nailed them to the wall and they now hold my plastic baggies and chips/snacks.

Since I took the pic I've replaced the yucky old light-bulb-string with a pretty polka-dot ribbon. I'm also going to make labels for the baskets so the Hubby and I know what is in them without having to dig.

So here are my tips for you:

• How you organize your pantry determines your snacking habits. Keeping snacks out of immediate sight helps you cut back on how much you munch between meals.
• Real estate is precious. All boxes that are half empty should be downsized, saving tons of space.
• Keep things you use all the time in easy reach. Keeping the garbage bags accessible means taking out the trash won’t be such a chore.
• You don’t need a hoard of plastic shopping bags. A small stash is plenty.
• Visual appeal is very important. If your pantry looks like a super-mom’s pantry, then you will feel like super-mom. Woo!

That’s it. Just a few simple tricks to stay organized, ultimately making life easier!