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Friday, February 19, 2010

FAQ Friday

I haven't had many questions for followers yet, so I am going to start off this new routine with a question that my Mom asks me...a lot.

How do you make weekly menus and remain flexible?

Yes, we make weekly menus. It is absolutely a fabulous tip I picked up at one point for saving money. I use the sales to make menus off of and it avoids many things in my home. The biggest thing? The 4 pm argument of "What's for dinner?" You know the one, when you suddenly start thinking, "Mmmm, dinner is getting near time, what shall we have?" Than you realize that everything is frozen, or needed started in the crock pot hours ago. My Mom is ever famous for this.

First off, I watched our patterns in life. We typically do our shopping on Thursdays. That was the day that my husband got paid while working for his last job. When we are living pay check to pay check, this is often how it must be done. This told me I had to have my grocery list for the coming week by Thursday.

Next, on Sundays, I would go through the ads. There are 3 main local stores that I check and shop. I check all of these ads and see who has the most and the best deals.

I than take my menu planning magnet (I found it at Micheals in the dollar section, it's awesome. One side lists the days of the week, each with their own square, than about 1/3 of each page is space for a shopping list), if we have any activities or plans for that week, I write them in. This allows me to plan what I make around what is going on. Say we have an activity starting at 630, than we usually need to eat before, and I'm probably not going to want to make something labor intensive. So, I write EACH activity on the menu planner.

I than think of the type of meal I want for each and every day. If we have a daytime activity where we'll return home tired but in time for dinner, than I'll usually put a crock pot meal in for that day. The point is, I work around a lot of things. I don't plan my meals and than work around them.

On that note, how we are able to keep to it is to STAY flexible. I'm not kidding! If Mom invites us over for dinner, we go and we reschedule that night's meal. Depending on what it is is when I push it out to. If it's something that doesn't involve many perishable ingredients, it may get pushed out further.

If the day doesn't go as planned and we're exhausted come dinner time, we look forward on the meal plan and flop a day or two to make it work, rather than calling Domino's.

I won't lie, it also helps that my husband doesn't let me give into random pizza cravings and call Dominos. But if it weren't for my meal planning, every day would be stressful.

I also choose not to plan breakfast and dinner. I like some choice each day and those aren't so hard. Besides, this is when my husband gets a chance to eat his leftovers.

Do you have a question for me? Ask away, than watch for it on FAQ Fridays!

10 comments:

  1. Visiting from "Friday Follow"! I'm your newest follower! Love for you to come visit me!

    Have a wonderful weekend :)
    ~Shelley @ Shelley's Swag

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  2. Following you back from your visit to me from Friday Follow! New follower as well !

    Stop by again anytime!

    Wendy @ FrugalFabulousFinds.com

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  3. Hello,I love Friday Follow! Was my first it was great.Hope you had fun also.

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  4. Hi, I'm a new follower from Friday Follow. Hope you have a good weekend.

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  5. Following you back via Friday Follow. :)

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  6. Friday Following you!! I make weekly plans for what we are having as well.

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  7. Wow on the planning. I find it difficult to plan out our menus and still feel "creative" in my dinner processes. I love the feeling of waking up and thinking "What should we have for dinner tonight?"

    Just stopping by from Friday Follow! Happy to be your newest follower. I'd love for you to drop by my blog sometime! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

    http://savingsandstewardship.blogspot.com

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  8. Nothing more exciting than a new follower! How long have you been blogging? 1 and a half months here! =) Found ya hoppin around from a comment you left behind I think!?

    Just Jenn~ www.seizingmyday.com

    I love planning a menu (and breaking it!) it really does help me save money at the store! and I shop the same way... three stores.. best & most 'deals' wins! ha ha!

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  9. Popping in to say hello from Friday Follow!

    I recently started menu planning at my home also. I don't usually base it on what's on sale (my husband does our grocery shopping), but it has helped tremendously with our food budget. Not to mention, the kids actually love it! They know if they want to know what's for dinner, they go look at the list. We're trying new recipes and using the crock pot a lot! (Love my crock!) We are also flexible. If something comes up unexpectedly, we bump the list back or move it around.

    Have a great weekend!

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  10. Hey there...stopping by for a late Friday Follow visit! Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!
    Hope to see you soon: www.thehusaileybunch.com

    :)

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