FRUGAL FRIENDS: SAVE MONEY WITH A MEAL PLAN

This is the second post in what I plan to make a series on the blog; frugal friends posts will profile people who practice what I write about on the blog in real life. In case you missed the first, check out Frugal Friends: It Pays To Fix It Yourself. Today we’re talking about how you can save money with a meal plan!

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FRUGAL FRIENDS PROFILE: ANDREA AND JOHN – HOW THEY SAVE MONEY WITH A MEAL PLAN

Andrea and John have been friends for over 10 years and married in 2016. John is a machinist and Andrea is a respiratory therapist, both working 12-hour weekend shifts.

They love being outdoors, be it camping, hiking, or just hanging out in the backyard. They also love to cook. While John has been meal prepping for years, Andrea says she only started shortly before they married.

I asked Andrea a little about their meal planning experience. This is what she said:

HOW MUCH TIME WOULD YOU SAY YOU SPEND PREPARING YOUR MEAL PLAN AND GROCERY LIST ON A WEEKLY BASIS?

Up until the global pandemic, we made a trip to the store once a week and prepped all of our meals that evening. Shopping usually took about an hour. We have started using grocery pick-up, it really does save so much time. Prepping and cooking usually takes two to three hours depending on what we cook.

DO YOU FIND THAT YOU SPEND LESS MONEY EATING OUT OR ON CONVENIENCE FOODS WHEN YOU HAVE A MEAL PLAN IN PLACE?

Definitely.

DO YOU HAVE AN ESTIMATE ON HOW MUCH MONEY YOU SAVE ON GROCERIES PER MONTH WITH A MEAL PLAN?

Prior to John and I getting married, I got breakfast and coffee at Starbucks every morning on my way to work. I’ve saved $25 a week in making my coffee and breakfast at home. I used to eat lunch and snacks in the hospital cafeteria as well. I’ve saved $30 to $50 each week by bringing our prepped meals to eat to work.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS YOU WOULD GIVE SOMEONE NEW TO MEAL PLANNING?

Check out recipes on Pinterest. Ask friends and family for budget-friendly recipes and save them! Invest in a crockpot (or InstaPot if that’s your thing). Meal prepping doesn’t have to be super fancy, there are a lot of simple meals that don’t require much time or money. Spaghetti and taco soup are so easy, and not hard on the wallet.

HAVE YOU NOTICED AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF MEALS SINCE YOU STARTED MEAL PLANNING?

My overall cholesterol has gone down significantly since we have cooked our food at home. We use a lot of different spices and seasonings to try and keep our meals lower sodium. We love our veggies too!

AND YOU MEAL PREP IN ADDITION TO MEAL PLANNING?

Every Thursday is our grocery and meal prep for our shifts the coming weekend. Usually we throw some extra chicken or fish on the smoker and we eat that for dinner on Thursday evening.

HAVE ANY GOOD/SIMPLE STAPLE MEAL IDEAS YOU KEEP ON ROTATION YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

I started making breakfast pockets a year or so ago. I roll canned biscuits out flat, we fill them with turkey bacon, or turkey sausage, cheese, and scrambled eggs. They are so tasty, and with everything baked inside, they are not messy at all. Definitely great for eating breakfast on the go.

DO YOU BROWN BAG YOUR LUNCH TO WORK ON A REGULAR BASIS?

Since we both work twelve hour shirts and on the weekend, we both always take our food to work. Breakfast, a snack, and lunch for me. Breakfast, lunch, and an evening sandwich for him. We also brew our coffee at home and take it to work in our stainless steel coffee mugs.

DOES YOUR FAMILY ENJOY LEFTOVERS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK OR DO YOU PLAN SEVEN INDIVIDUAL MEALS?

We make the most of our leftovers! We have gotten creative and whipped up some new dishes with leftovers.

ON AVERAGE DO YOU CARE TO SHARE WHAT YOU SPEND ON GROCERIES PER MONTH FOR YOUR FAMILY OF TWO?

The cost has honestly gone down so much since we started using grocery pick-up. Last month, we spent around $110 on our groceries. We ordered pizza one week, but fortunately Domino’s had coupons, so the pizza wasn’t expensive.

DO YOU INCLUDE TOILETRIES AND CLEANING PRODUCTS IN YOUR GROCERY BUDGET OR KEEP THOSE SEPARATE?

Usually once a month we’ll have to buy more bathroom tissue or a bottle of shampoo. There’s always a little wiggle room for things like this.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOUR MEAL PLANNING EXPERIENCE?

Once you get into the routine of meal prepping it doesn’t seem like “work.” We have family that wants to save money and not eat out constantly… but they haven’t ever taken the plunge because a day of shopping/meal prepping seems like it takes too much time. It’s been our Thursday routine for a while now. It seems strange on holidays or vacation when we don’t have meals to prep!

THIS COUPLE IS LIVING PROOF YOU CAN SAVE MONEY WITH A MEAL PLAN

I am going to have to step up (er, start) my meal prepping game after this! Andrea and John are proof that having a plan and preparing your own meals at home can save some serious bank! Just by preparing her own breakfasts and lunches, Andrea has easily saved over $200 a month.

This doesn’t include the money saved dining out or on convenience foods because there was no plan in place for dinner. If you have more people in your household the savings only increase!

I highly encourage you to give meal planning a try. If you aren’t sure where to start or don’t want to take the time to prepare a weekly meal plan right now just sign up as a Frugal Friend of the blog and I’ll send you one every Monday!

Until next time, stay healthy my friends! And start your meal plan ASAP!

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