A friend of mine recently commented to me that she's perused my blog, looked at tips and recipes and still couldn't figure out just how I make it all work for the budget amount I use (which is about $250/month for our family). So I decided to clear things up a little bit and give a step-by-step tutorial on just what I did to make things work for us.Who knows, maybe it will help you too! I've added a seperate label that should help to keep things in order, since I can't promise to make consecutive posts on this subject. I will try to finish them as soon as possible, but I'm sure I'll be adding recipes once in a while in between posts.
Step One: Make A List of Your Favorites
Before you decide on a budget amount, you need to stop and think about what's truly reasonable for your family at this point. You don't want to go from eating like a king to eating rice and beans. Your goal should be to eat like a king without having to pay a king's ransom!
So first you need to decide what's important to you in your menu. What do you love to eat? Make a list of your favorite meals including when you go out to eat. Does your family love snacks and dessert? Don't forget to add those to the list!
Here's a list that my family uses. Of course it's a work in progress. We add things all the time and even take things off the list as our tastes change. As I try new recipes, my family votes on whether or not they make "the list." If it falls short, it is promptly discarded... unless of course I veto the vote, which is my right as a mother. Overall, this is a good guide and gives me great ideas when I'm planning my menu. This list is not all-inclusive, nor is it meant to be. But it is a good starting point and everybody needs to start somewhere, right?
THE LIST
Baked Spaghetti
Beef Stew
BBQ Pork
Burritos
Calzones
Chef Salad
Chicken and Broccoli
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Chicken Casserole
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Stir-fry
Chicken and Stuffing
Chili
Chili Verde
Cobb Salad
Company Casserole
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Eggs Fu-Yung
Egg Sandwiches
Egg Drop Soup
Enchiladas
Enchilada Casserole
Flat Bread Sandwiches
Fried Rice
Gnocci
Golden Chicken
Ham & Beans
Hamburgers
Lasagna
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Macaroni And Cheese
Minestrone
Meatloaf
Mini Pizzas
Nachos
Navajo Tacos
Pastafazool
Pintos, Rice and Cheese
Pizza
Quiche
Raviolis
Red Beans and Rice
Runzas
Salmon
Sloppy Joes
Shepherd Pie
Spaghetti
Stroganoff
Stuffed Peppers
Sunday Dinners
Swedish Meatballs
Tacos
Taco Casserole
Taco Pizza
Tortilla Soup
Vegetable Beef Soup
Vegetable Lasagna
Zucchini Bake
Notice "the list" consists only of dinners. Two reasons why.. One: Dinner is the most expensive meal. It's easy for me to add breakfasts as needed without a big upset to my budget so I don't do as much planning for them. Lunches are usually just leftovers from the previous night's dinner so nothing fancy needed there either. And Two: My family HATES having breakfast for dinner. I totally love it though, so should I ever find myself familyless in my days ahead I will have to have breakfast for dinner every night to make up for the past decade or so. So basically I plan my biggest expense first. Then I add in my "Extras" list. These are things that my family loves to have but can go without if necessary.
THE "EXTRAS" LIST
Juice
Cookies
Ice Cream
Cheese Sticks
Crackers
Other Desserts
Ok, so the extras list looks pretty short for us. Keep in mind, though, crackers means ALL crackers and so on. A good way to start making your list is to think back on what your family has eaten for the past few weeks. Also peruse your grocery receipts if you keep them (which you should) to see what other things you've been buying. If it's something that comes up often then it should probably be on the list. Now get busy with making your list while I work on my next post!
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