I'm the kind of person who likes things regimented and orderly (for the most part) so it only makes sense that having a plan would be right up my alley.
I'm monthly amazed by how God helps us cut back. Every time I think there couldn't possibly be another thing we could reduce to come up with money God shows us something I hadn't even considered.
For instance:
Up until the last couple years I wouldn't have been able to tell you what we spent on groceries monthly. We would just grab favorite items off the shelves, and often things would get thrown away because we would forget we had them or not know how to use them in a meal.
In addition we were eating lots of processed foods, and making very little from scratch. Wow, things have changed.
Our currently monthly budget for groceries is $320. That may not seem like very much to you, but we've made it work for months now. I've gotten much better at cooking and getting creative with recipes, and Mark has always loved to cook and help me in the kitchen so it makes it easy when we work as a team.
But, before this last grocery trip I did something very different. I planned out every single meal (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and even snacks).
It took me a couple hours to do, but I now have a fantastic base for the next several months to come.
After Grocery Shopping I almost choked when I realized how much I had spent: $182 FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. We really didn't have to do any major compromising, I just formulated a list and stuck to it. Woo Hoo!
It ended up being 27 Dinners, Lunches and Breakfasts + Snacks. I'm still thanking God.
I won't bore you with anymore details unless you want me to explain the system I used.
I'm planning on posting some of the recipes we're trying. Everything from Mongolian Beef, Shepherds Pie, South African Peanut Chicken, Siracha Sauce BBQ chicken and more.
Check out this blog that I follow click here
It's by the Author of the book that prompted my meal planning.
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