It never fails, we budget for our groceries, but the bill always ends up being more. We underestimate, run out of things faster than expected and overall, everything is becoming just too darned expensive! To make things a little bit easier, here are 9 simple ways you can start saving money on your groceries.

1. Go with a List: Yes, I know…it’s a pretty obvious suggestion, but it’s amazing how effective it can be. You can purchase only what you need and avoid all the other yummy distractions of the grocery store.

2. Meal Planning: Planning your meals in advance makes it easier to get your list together and ensure you buy only exactly what you need. You can get help with your meal planning at Dine Without Whine AND they actually put your grocery list together for you too.

3. Eat Before You Go: Another classic tip. If you’re hungry, you’ll want to buy (and instantly eat) everything! Have a meal or good snack before you go to avoid impulse purchases.

4. Stock Up on Staple Items When They’re On Sale: If you see ketchup or your family’s favorite sauce on sale, stock up. Or if it’s a certain type of soup or frozen vegetable your family eats all the time, buy a bunch of it. As long as it doesn’t spoil and you have space to store it, you will save money in the long run. The nice thing about this is if you continue to stock up on a variety of items, you’ll have a nice pantry full of food at any given time.

5. Cook from Scratch More Often: Yeah, yeah…it sounds easier said than done, but it doesn’t have to be too complicated. It’s no secret that pre-packaged items and convenience foods come at a premium price. They save you time in preparation, but they eat up your budget and let’s face it, time IS money. Plus, if you’re using Tip #2 and planning your meals, cooking from scratch more often is a whole lot easier.

6. Comparison Shop Before You Leave Home: No, I’m definitely not suggesting you go from store-to-store looking for the best deal. That takes too much time. Check the flyers that come to your door and see who is offering the best deals on what you actually need. If you don’t have any flyers at your door, visit the store website as they generally post flyers online.

7. Use Coupons Sparingly: Sure, coupons offer a great deal, but most coupons you’ll find are for items you don’t really need or use. Resist the urge to think, “Wow, that’s a good deal” and search for coupons based on items you need to purchase instead.

8. Keep the Little Ones At Home: If you have young children that want everything that they see, it’s easy to get into the trap of buying items you don’t need, treats that aren’t healthy and become victim to other grocery store distractions. Keep the kids at home with Daddy (it’s a good bonding opportunity) or a relative. You can even swap grocery store shopping times with your neighbor. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save your sanity too!

9. Make Quick Stops for Fresh Ingredients: This may not be easy if you’re on a tight schedule, but if you can work it in, it can save you a bundle. One of the biggest culprits in grocery budgets gone bad is spoiled food. If your fruits, veggies and other perishable items are always going bad, consider shopping for them more frequently, but in smaller quantities and restrain yourself from buying items you don’t need. If you have any teenaged kids, this would be a great chore for them too.

There you go – 9 ways to save on groceries. But in order to make these tips work, you really need to have a plan in place. You need to know what your family needs and what you’ll be eating. To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your grocery budget will be glad you did.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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Easy Meal Planning

Meal planning may sound intimidating at first, but it’s really not that hard.

The first thing you should do is to write down all of your family’s favorite dishes. This will be very handy when you just can’t think of anything for dinner

Next, grab the grocery ads. If you don’t get these in the mail or in your weekly newspaper, just jump online and visit your favorite grocery store’s website. Most grocery stores have their weekly ads listed right on their websites now, and some are even interactive (allowing you to create a printable shopping list – very cool!). Once you have your grocery ads in hand, scan them for sale items that can be used for this week’s meals.

Before you get to deep into your menu plan, you might want to look at your calendar for the week. If you have family or work activities that will keep you from getting home at a decent hour, you will want to plan very simple meals or even leftovers for those particular nights.

Next, you should take an inventory of the items in your fridge and pantry. Do you have any food that needs to be eaten right away? This is one of the greatest benefits of meal planning. You waste much less food because you only buy what you plan on using that week.

At this point, you should have an idea of what you want to cook for the week based on the grocery store ads, what you already have on hand, and your family’s activities for the week. Go ahead and write out the meals you plan on cooking for the week, and fill in your grocery list for the items you don’t have in hand.

All you have left to do at this point is to do the grocery shopping, post your menu on the fridge for all to see, and create your meals each day. The rest of your week should go much more smoothly now that you don’t have to worry about “what’s for dinner” at the end of each day. See how easy meal planning can be?

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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But first, if you find the idea of family meals daunting, take a look at Dine Without Whine. It’s a monthly subscription, which gives you weekly meal plans, recipes and grocery shopping list. Dine Without Whine definitely simplifies meal planning and preparation.

Ok, now back to my challenge. It’s been hard, but here you go, 10 OTHER reasons to gather around the dinner table:

1. You’ll have a ready audience for your jokes.

2. You can get instant feedback on new recipes you’ve been wanting to try.

3. You’ll have a venue to plan family activities, such as your next vacation, or a child’s birthday.

4. Your family members can help you stick to your diet.

5. Family mealtimes can teach responsibility. It’s a natural time to give children chores, such as setting the table, clearing up, and washing dishes.

6. Enjoy your good china and silverware, instead of saving them for special occasions. Because any time you’re together IS a special occasion.

7. Family dinners give structure and routine to your day, which is especially important for small children.

8. By having meals together, you can reduce the time your kids spend watching TV, playing video games or surfing on the Internet.

9. Family meals are good times to give each other props – talk about everyone’s latest accomplishments, such as good grades, a new drawing, a new skill learned.

10. Family dinners remind you daily of your blessings: food on the table, a roof over your heads, and loved ones all around you.

Having family dinner every night may be hard for most families nowadays. But if you can manage it on most nights, then you’ll enjoy the benefits.

Cut down and simplify on other areas of your life, so you can cook a meal and sit down to dinner together. Dine Without Whine provides a weekly menu of kid-tested recipes, as well as a grocery list to simplify your shopping as well. Go here now and try Dine Without Whine for only a penny.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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If you have diabetes, it’s important to watch what you eat to maintain your health. Meal planning can help manage your diabetes, as well as save you time and money.

The bestselling Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy is a comprehensive but easy-to-understand guide to all aspects of meal planning for you.

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This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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Monday – hubby is grilling ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob

Tuesday – spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday – grilled chicken, mac & cheese, corn

Thursday – chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice

Friday – baseball game… hot dogs & beer at the ball park!

Saturday – brisket on the grill

Sunday – headed to family’s for dinner

Don’t forget to head over to Meal Plan Monday for even more meal and recipe ideas!

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If you often find yourself searching for something to prepare for dinner, meal planning may be just the thing you need to make meal time less stressful.

Below are some of the benefits of meal planning.

1. You’ll save time.

Knowing what you’re going to cook for dinner means you can get the meal on the table faster because you won’t have to decide what to make.

In addition, when you plot out what meals you’re going to fix for the week, you can simply make one trip to the store and buy all the food you’ll need for those meals.

You won’t have to search the refrigerator or freezer when dinner time arrives, and you can eliminate trips to the grocery store looking for something to eat that everyone likes.

2. You’ll save money.

Meal planning can also help you save money.

For one, when you know what you’re going to cook for dinner, you won’t eat out as much during the week because you can’t think of anything appealing to make.

By simply eating at home more instead of eating out, you’ll keep more money in your pocket that you can use for other important things.

3. You’ll be able to eat healthier.

If you tend to eat burgers and fries from fast food places a few times a week, meal planning can help you to eat healthier by replacing those meals with healthier ones.

Instead of greasy, fatty hamburgers or having pizza delivered, you could have a nutritious meal of vegetables, salad and a lean main course of chicken or beef for dinner.

In addition, if you need to restrict sugar or salt from your diet, menu planning can help you to consistently cook meals that fit your nutritional standards and stick to your diet.

4. You’ll be able to reduce meal time stress.

If you have your dinners planned out, you won’t have to figure out what to make while everyone is hungry and in bad moods.

You’ll already know what you’re going to make, and dinner time can go smoothly as everyone looks forward to the delicious meal they’re going to eat.

5. Meal planning is easy.

Planning what you’re going to prepare for dinner over the weekdays isn’t difficult.

It just takes a little time to decide beforehand what you want to eat, and then purchase the food.

You can plan your dinners for the week days, the entire week or longer.

However, start small by planning out, for example, five dinners for the weekdays.

Once you see what’s involved, you’ll have a better idea how many meals and how far ahead you’d like to plan.

Conclusion: Meal planning can help you to save money and time. Meal planning can also help you to eat healthier, reduce meal time stress, and isn’t difficult to do.

After you start meal planning, you may find that dinner time becomes family time again.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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Monday – pork chops, potatoes, green beans, rolls

Tuesday – hamburgers on the grill, mac & cheese

Wednesday – tacos, homemade spanish rice

Thursday – date night!  going out to eat

Friday – steak, baked potatoes, salad

Saturday – grilling out, probably a whole chicken and typical bbq fixin’s

Sunday – brisket (didn’t make last week), bbq beans

Don’t forget to head over to Meal Plan Monday for even more meal  and recipe ideas!

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Anyway… here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week:

Monday – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, hot rolls

Tuesday – hamburgers on the grill, grilled veggies

Wednesday – graduation ceremony, will either eat out or eat leftovers

Thursday – dh’s birthday, plan is to go out to his favorite steakhouse

Friday – steak, baked potatoes, salad

Saturday – graduation party, will be eating at sil’s house

Sunday – brisket (yum!), homemade mac & cheese, corn on the cob

Hope everyone has a great week.  Don’t forget to head over to Meal Plan Monday for more great meal ideas!

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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photo credit: Bill HR

One of the challenges of meal planning is having dinner recipes on hand that your family will enjoy and eat.

Here are some of my favorite places to find quick healthy dinner recipes:

FoodNetwork.com – not only do I love watching the Food Network, I love trying out the recipes too.  You can find all of the recipes from your favorite shows and more on the Food Network website.

AllRecipes.com – this is my go-to website when I need dinner ideas or if I’m looking for a recipe.  There are thousands of recipes and ideas on this site.  One of my favorite sections is Budget Friendly Meals.

CookingLight.com – a great site to find healthy recipes for those who are dieting or just trying to eat better.  Check out the Vegetarian section, or my favorite, the In Season section.

EatingWell.com – this is the Eating Well magazine website.  In addition to finding tons of recipes you’ll also find articles on topics such as cooking for kids, food and travel, food and entertaining, and much more.

KraftFoods.com – this is another one of my favorite sites for finding meal ideas.   This site is frequently updated with recipes for the occassion.  For example, right now you’ll find Mother’s Day recipes and Cinco de Mayo recipes.  They also have a new BudgetWise section if you’re looking to stretch your food budget.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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Anyway… here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week:

Monday – steak, stuffed pasta shells, salad

Tuesday – spicy beef sandwiches, french fries

Wednesday – leftovers! we (still) have tons of stuff in the freezer, so it will be a buffet leftover night

Thursday – salad, grilled chicken breasts, fresh green beans

Friday – pizza (still haven’t gotten the Papa Murphy’s we’ve been craving)

Saturday – ribs on the grill, corn on the cob, baked beans

Sunday – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls (my favorite Sunday night dinner)

For more menu planning ideas, head over to Meal Plan Monday. Have a great week!

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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