Plan More - Save More!

In an effort to keep up with our debt snowball, we cut back expenses in a few areas. We started with cutting back our food cash allowance by $50 for two weeks. This is a small change, but it's an additional $100/mo to put towards our debt snowball.

So, here comes the changes I need to make with meal planning. We eat lots of produce and lean meats. A few nights a week, though, we have homemade "fun" meals such as nachos or pizza. Anyways, costs can add up if you are always buying the convenient options!

Although we have managed to stay within our budget, I am convinced that we can cut a few more corners to save some money.

I planned our meals for next week using some new money saving pointers that I wanted to share:

• When cooking meals with meats, throw in more veggies, beans, or wheat pasta/rice and use less meat. Try only using half of a package and use those other healthy fillers. Save the other half of the package of meat for another meal. As we all know, meat is expensive and this really will cut back on the bill! You can still get your protein through the sources mentioned here.
• Speaking of beans and rice - buy in bulk! You know those bags that are about $1 a piece and you get four times as much as you would in the can for the same price? With a little pre-planning, you can cook the rice ahead and soak the beans overnight. Just make sure to use both within a few days. It's nice to have it in the fridge ready to go and speeds up dinner prep too!
• Scour your cabinets before planning your meals. I did that tonight and discovered I already had some great items and planned my meals around those. You bought it, you may as well use it before it goes bad!
• Plan your meals around seasonal produce as much as possible. I am still learning on this one, but have been trying it out. Tomatoes and avocados are very inexpensive right now and are very versatile.

Keep in mind that this will require meal planning. You want to cut corners, but you also want to keep your health at the forefront of your mind. There are ways. Eating healthy isn't as expensive as everyone says. A little bit goes a long ways with a little planning!