That one neighbor who told me she saves $40 a month by meal planning on Sunday nights

She said she just sits down for 20 minutes with a notebook and plans out exactly what she's eating each day, then buys only those ingredients, and I tried it for a month and my grocery bill dropped from $500 to $360, has anyone else had a similar "aha" moment with a simple habit someone showed you?

4 comments

4 Comments

wendy_henderson2127d ago

Take a minute and actually think about what you're buying. I meal plan too but I noticed something nobody talks about. The real savings came when I stopped buying ingredients for "recipes" and started just buying staples that work across multiple meals. @shanec61 that pork belly thing is funny but honestly having too much of one thing is a problem. My aha moment was realizing I was spending $15 on random sauces and spices for one dish that I'd never use again. Now I keep like 10 basics and just rotate what protein and veggies go with them. It's boring but it works. My bill dropped to about $300 a month and I feel less stressed about cooking too.

wendy_henderson2127d ago

Is $500 a month for groceries really that crazy? Like were you buying gold plated chicken or what.

sean_barnes2414d ago

Ha, $500 a month for groceries is insane if you're living alone but here's the thing @wendy_henderson21. Depends where you live. In some cities that's basically the baseline for just feeding yourself without coupon clipping every day. Your $300 sounds good but not everyone has the time to plan that tightly or the energy to eat the same 10 staples on repeat. Also some people have dietary restrictions or health issues that don't let them just eat rice and chicken every night. So yeah, gold plated chicken might be dramatic, but $500 isn't crazy when you factor in actual variety and not forcing yourself into a meal prep prison.

shanec6127d ago

Man my buddy tried to save money by buying a whole pig once. Ended up with like 80 pounds of pork belly and no clue what to do with it. Dude was eating pork belly sandwiches for a month straight. $500 is fine if you're not trying to impress anyone with your dinner choices.