There’s been quite a bit of talk in the news lately about the rising cost of food and I don’t have to tell you about the rising cost of gas. We’ve all been feeling that one for a while. As far as food goes, anything from milk and eggs to meat and veggies seems to have gone up by quite a bit in the past few months and I don’t see those prices going down anytime soon.

One of the results of this trend has been that more and more people are starting to plan their meals. Makes sense, doesn’t it? By planning what you’re going to cook ahead of time, you avoid buying a bunch of food that you end up throwing out and make sure you only get what you really need and what your family will actually eat. It’s a great way to get your grocery budget back under control in spite of the rising cost.

But what does gas have to do with it, you ask? Simple… when you plan your meals for the entire week, you can make just one trip to the store, instead of driving over there several times a week to pick up things you forgot or to get whatever you’re going to cook for dinner that night.

Give it a try… start by grabbing your free meal planning guide at www.menuplanningcentral.com and see if you can’t start saving on your grocery bill.

I recently received a great email from a Menu Planning Subscriber who had a great idea for making his grocery trips even faster, more convenient and he even found a way to keep his food expenses in check. Here’s what he wrote:

Dear Christine,

Since I do my shopping at the same store, I have created a grocery list template based on my grocery store’s layout.  When  I was at the store I wrote down the aisle number and the description of what’s there from the banners in the store (ie, Aisle 2-Can beans/meat/soup, etc) and then typed it up in the computer in the order that I will pass the aisles.  When I’m ready to make my list I print out a blank template, look at my menu and write the ingredients down in the appropriate section.  It really helps speed up my shopping trip and helps me not to overlook items I passed 2 aisles ago!

Another thing I do is write down the price (rounded up or down) next to the item as I pick it up.  Then I can keep track and stick to my budget.  If my total is getting too high, I can look on my list and know exactly what I need to put back in order to stay within my limit.

A subscriber in California.

What a great time saving tip. Once you have a pretty good idea of the layout of your store and have the template set up, it shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to rewrite the grocery list we provide you with each menu. We do our best to categorize it by sections of the store, but reorganizing it in the manner suggested for your particular store will make it even more convenient.

I also love the idea of adding a price for each item. That makes it a lot easier to judge whether or not an item on sale really is a good deal or not.

Thanks for sharing the great tip “Subscriber in California”.