In the constant pursuit of saving money on the weekly groceries I have made a number of changes over the last few months such as making a weekly menu plan, cooking in bulk and freezing future meals and on a couple of occasions attempting to convert myself to Aldi, which you can read about here and here. All of these tactics have given us some relief both financially and in time saved so I thought I would take it a step further and try to plan a whole month of meals buying as much as I can in one transaction. I have found a number of great pages that do this as a standard procedure, especially Stay At Home Mum, the secret to living on one wage.
Here is my plan of action for the next 4 weeks:
Week 1
Mushroom Risotto – as seen on The Organised Housewife
Coconut Chicken Curry with Noodles
Curried Sausages (Freezer)
Poached Eggs with Smoked Salmon
Tuna Casserole (with left overs served following night)
Dinner out one night for a friends birthday
Week 2
We will be staying with Luke while he works for most of this week and I haven’t factored the meals into this but the nights we are at home will include
Spaghetti Bolognese (freezer)
Moroccan Chicken and Rice (with left overs served the following night)
Week 3
Salmon Fillet with Mash Potato and Vegetables
Tacos
Mexican Pizza
Chicken Boscaiola (with left overs served the following night)
Oven Baked Fish and Chips
Steak with Cheesy Broccoli and Cauliflower Bake
Week 4
Lamb Souvlaki Wraps
Chicken Tenderloins with Mash Potato and Vegetables
Spaghetti Bolognese
Shepherds Pie
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Roast Vegetables
Homemade Pizza
There is a very good chance that some of these dishes won’t get served in this particular order and there will be nights where we go out for dinner etc but this would be the maximum number of meals I should need to cook over the next 4 weeks.
What are some of your tips for saving money on the weekly (or fortnightly, or monthly) shop? Do you use meal planning and what time frame do you plan for? I would love to hear your thoughts!
