Our grocery and food portion of our monthly budget is something we have great control of. If we spend just a little bit of time planning our meals and menus we can save a lot of money each week.
 
Here are 5 meal planning tips that you can use this week to save money on your food bill.
 
1. Shop Once a Week - Sit down and decide what you are going to have for dinner each night for the next seven days. Remember to look at your local grocery store weekly ads and try to plan your meals around the meat and produce items that are on sale. By shopping once a week you will save money on gas because of eliminating extra trips to the store and also not having a chance to pick up un-needed items on each grocery trip.
 
2. Go Vegetarian - Once a week have a meal without meat. Beans are very cheap while still providing a great source of protein for your family.
 
3. Cook in the Crock Pot - Cooking in your crock pot is a great way to save both time and money. You can buy and then cook inexpensive cuts of meat in the crock pot.  Not only will you save money but your evenings will be more enjoyable by having your dinner almost prepared when you get home.
 
4. Breakfast for Dinner - Kids love breakfast foods but often we don’t have the time in the morning to make pancakes, waffles, and French toast. So why not treat your kids to Breakfast for Dinner once a week, add some eggs, and fruit. You will end up with a cheap and healthy meal that your kids will love.
 
5. Eat From the Freezer - It is helpful to keep a list of items that our in your freezer on your refrigerator so you can see and plan meals from things you already have in the freezer. This will help you not waste food that you bought on sale and froze for a later date. It is also helpful to make a double batch of a meal that your family loves and put one in the freezer to have on another night. This will help on those busy nights to have something easy to prepare from the freezer instead of catching the drive-thru or take out.
 
So, as you can see, these are just five meal planning tips that you can start using this week to help you save money on your food bill.

Tough economic times call for tough personal finance measures. People that survive, andthrive, are those that can successfully navigate the big “B”.   Budgeting.  Families with babies and children and weekly grocery shopping trips need budgets.  Independent single working professionals need budgets.  CEO’s and CFO’s and company board members need budgets.  Having a successful working budget might mean the difference between financial catastrophe or financial freedom. Do you have a hard time sticking to a budget?  Most people do!   If you can avoid these three budget killers, you’re on your way to establishing a successful framework for your finances. 

1. Avoid budgeting without first setting goals

A lot of us klnow we need to be on a budget.  It sounds responsible, right?  So we announce we need a budget, we plan to cut back on expenses, we set some parameters…and then fail to keep them.  Why?  Because we didn’t set any goals.  Setting goals is the “fun” part of putting together a budget.  Sit down with a sheet of paper and dream of what you want to do.  Will you renovate the kitchen?  Put a down-payment on a new car?  Or will you pay down some of that crippling debt?  Would you like to take a cruise to Alaska?  Put a child through college?  Or pad your savings account balance for that inevitable “rainy day”? If you have something to look forward to, you are more likely to stick to your financial plan.  For example, let’s say that you’ve decided to cut back on eating out each week so that your family can afford to go to Disney World.  The next time you think of ordering a pizza to avoid making dinner, think about your goal.  Which means more to you?  Seeing the kids’ faces light up when you walk through the gates of the park?   Or having pizza?  Is it worth it to pull out the pans and look through the pantry if it means saving the extra $20 towards your goal?

2. Avoid being a mental record keeper

It’s important to track your progress as you budget. Once you’ve decided on your goal, work out how long you want to take to get there. Do you want to go on vacation next year? Or are you saving for a college education that’s still five years away? Whether your goal is short term or long term, determine how much money you need to set aside each month in order to get there. Then, be sure to keep track of whether or not you’re actually doing what you planned.

Example: You and your partner have really been wanting new living room furniture. You decide to save up for the next 18 months and pay for it all at once. You establish that the $3000 set you want will mean putting aside an extra $170 each month. By packing lunches, making dinner at home and putting off buying a new television you think you can make it work. Over the next two months you brown bag your lunch, and have dinner at home. You feel great! Surely you’re saving that $170! But you forgot about the trip to the spa, the three times you went to the movies and the unexpected car repair that came up. The point is this, you might FEEL like you’re saving money. But unless you sit down and keep track of where the money is actually going, you are likely to forget some expenditures and develop a inaccurate idea of your savings.

3. Avoid setting your expectations too high (at first)

Even if you avoid the first two no-nos, it is possible to defeat your budgeting goals if you set your expectations too high. If you set a goal, establish how much you need to save each month and think that you’re going to follow your plan exactly to the letter, every month, and never have unexpected setbacks…you’re likely to fail. It helps to figure in the occasional splurge and count on expenses popping up that you didn’t expect. Similarly, don’t set a goal that’s completely unreachable. If you know you can only realistically put back $80 each month, it isn’t a good idea to set your hopes on a three week trip to Europe in six months.

That said, grab a pencil, some paper, a calculator and have some fun. Allow yourself to dream a little, plan a little and start seeing some great results. Sacrificing in the short term is worth it if you’re working towards something big that you want in the long term. Avoid setting your budget without goals, avoid being the mental bank statement, avoid defeating yourself with unrealistic expectations…and start seeing your dreams become a reality!

The first thing my clients tell me is that they are living paycheck to paycheck and there is no room in their budget to save money. My response to them is that there is always room; you just need to know where to look for it.

If you were to write down everything you spend money on in one month, you would be surprised to see how many wasteful things that you buy. Buying one less Starbucks a week is a savings of almost $30 a month. Renting movies instead of going to the theatre will likely save you a good $15. And getting dinner for 2 from the frozen foods isle instead of your favorite restaurant can save you up to $50 a month.

It is these types of lifestyle changes that some financial counselors will encourage you NOT to do. They will tell you that you do not have enough self control to make decisions like those. I, on the other hand, encourage anyone who wants to save money to take a close look at where they are throwing money away on unnecessary luxuries that they could do without. And then I ask you to do something even more daring.

I dare you to put the money that you would have spent on a new hair color, coffee, or dinner for two and literally put that cash in jar. Then hide the jar in a safe place where only you or your spouse knows where it is. Do that every time you would spend money on something you can live without. This method has so many benefits to it, so let me explain some of them:

1.) It gets you started on using cash instead of credit cards. It is harder to hand over a twenty dollar bill than it is to give the clerk your plastic card. You will start to see the difference in spending when you work with only cash.
2.) You will start thinking about every purchase in a new light. You can start off by limiting the amount of drinks you buy each month, but then keep going and limit something else you buy every month, like a new DVD. Your mindset will change into more of a frugal shopper.
3.) You will start getting excited about saving! When you see your jar starting to fill up you will get excited about not spending money on something so that you can keep adding it to your savings jar.

Once you have enough self control developed, then move that jar from under your bed and into a savings account with a high interest rate. Banks may seem like an iffy place to keep your money these days, but remember that your money is FDIC insured up to $100k.

It is now 2009. Perhaps 2008 brought you a pay cut, loss of 401K match, and the disappearing of a bonus you had come to love. Harsh yes; the end of the world, no. It is now time for some common sense. Every person, like every business, must learn to keep expenses in line with income.

Think back a few decades to the day of your parents. Did they spend their time glued to electronic toys? No. Ok, most of those toys did not exist, but the point is, they lived and they lived happily without it. Fast forward to modern day. Is there a child without a cell phone? Hardly. The marketing folks have taken care of that. Are many without an iPod? Hardly. The marketing folks have taken care of that. They have convinced you that your child would somehow not live without it. Now, it is time for reality.

I started with not much and was mortgage free by the age of 35. How? Common sense. For literally EVERY purchase decision of my life, I asked myself the same question. Do I want it or do I need it? Yes, the iPod is a cool device, but do I need it? No. I can turn on the radio.

There’s a cool new movie out that I can see for about $10. Do I want to see it, or do I need to see it? Clearly the answer is “want.” Well, instead of $10, I can wait and rent it at the grocery store for 99 cents in a few months. That’s a 90% saving. Or, if you’re lucky, you can check out movies for free at the local library. That’s a 100% savings!

Now let’s talk phone lines. Do you have a home computer hooked to the internet? Do you have relatives out of town that are long-distance? Forget the long distance fees and call them for free on Skype. (www.skype.com). [No, I am not affiliated with Skype. I just love how much it saves me]. I have used it for several years to call relatives outside of the country for free. I send them an email as to when to meet me online for a free chat. I haven’t paid a dime for long-distance in about 4 or 5 years! In fact, I don’t even have a phone line in mu house!

Forget the purchase of cutesy things for the home. You know the ones you picked up at Pier 1 the other day. If anyone were to look at my home, they would discover that there is not a single “nick-nack” on any piece of furniture. For one, the clutter would drive me crazy. Two, add up all the little things you’ve bought over the years and ended up throwing away, calculate what you would have had with compound interest by investing that money for years and I guarantee you’ll be in the thousands. Sure could use those thousands these days I bet.

Now let’s talk teenagers. If you’ve just lost your job and are down to one household income, do yourself a favor and get rid of the kid’s cell phones! They do not NEED them. You do NEED the money you would save from them. It never killed us when we were kids to use and SHARE the home phone line. Really, it won’t kill them. Seriously, it is a different day. And a time goes on, I think you’ll see more people come to their senses and start eliminating the expenses of items you do not NEED.

What do we really need? Food. Water. Shelter. Family. Everything else is a luxury.