Latest posts by Kumiko Ehrmantraut (see all)
- 7 Ways to Support Local This Holiday Season Without Breaking the Bank - October 14, 2021
Welcome to my first meal plan update! If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I started my first meal plan on Monday, June 18th.
Even though I have only been meal planning for the past two weeks, I have learned a lot. First, let me tell you why I began meal planning.
WHY I STARTED MEAL PLANNING
Just like you, I am consistently trying to find ways to cut down on food costs and cut out extra expenses in my budget. Starting in January 2018, I began tracking every dollar that I spend throughout the month. Not only am I keeping up-to-date on my expense tracker, but I am also keeping a close watch on my cash envelope spending trackers.
If you are not familiar with my budgeting method, you can read all about the cash envelope method here. Essentially, I pay all of my regular expenses online and use cash envelopes for the rest of my variable spending. If you are interested in using my budgeting method, I have a free email course that teaches you step-by-step on how to set one up. You can see more about my Budget Blueprint Email Course here.
I started noticing that almost every line item on my spending tracker was eating out. I was spending nearly $800 every month on eating out and spontaneous Starbucks purchases. I have tried meal planning in the past, but I never lasted more than two weeks.
Seeing my spending tracker for my food budget was enough to kick my butt into gear.
It made me furious that I was spending all of this money on food, rather than on my savings or paying off debt.
I also knew that I could cut my food budget in half if I had a plan. So I developed the TBM Meal Planning Workbook. (The TBM Meal Planning Workbook pairs well with $5 Meal Plans.)
THINGS I HAVE LEARNED SO FAR
As you can see from the picture above, the notecard that's by my thumb is for the week right before I started meal planning. The notecard above that is for the week that I started meal planning. Pretty big difference, right? Here are some things that have helped me save money on my new meal plan.
- Always shop your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer first! You can cut costs by making recipes that use what you already have on hand.
- Have a planned grocery shopping list! Use this list to see if any of the ingredients you are going to buy are on sale or can be substituted for ones that are on sale. The apps I currently LOVE using are Ibotta, Walmart Savings Catcher, and the Krazy Coupon Lady.
- Don't be afraid to incorporate dedicated days for leftovers in your meal plan!
JUNE BUDGET MONTHLY MEAL PLAN
I only started meal planning halfway through June, so this post will only contain two weeks of recipes. My upcoming meal plan updates will include the full month. I also include breakfast and lunches in my meal plan. However, I eat the same thing every day for breakfast (oatmeal), and I eat leftovers for most of my lunches.
I noticed after my first week of meal planning that I was drowning in leftovers. I used to meal prep my lunches by cooking a huge batch of chicken, rice, and veggies on Sunday. I decided to save my time and money and am now bringing leftovers for my lunches.
I have a small family size. I only cook for my boyfriend and me, and my 5-year old son. We make the same thing every Monday, Spaghetti with Garlic Bread. It's a favorite in my house, and it's a recipe my son is guaranteed to eat.
I do not follow a specific recipe for the Spaghetti. I cook the pasta as instructed on the box. I make the sauce by combining 1 pound of ground beef, a spaghetti seasoning packet, and one 24 oz can of Hunt's Traditional Pasta Sauce. I buy the New York Frozen Garlic Bread Sticks.
JUNE (WEEK 6/18 – 6/24)
{Note} If you don't have an Instant Pot, most of these recipes offer a slow cooker option with instructions. I did meal prep my lunches for this week and used this Teriyaki Chicken Stir-Fry Meal Prep Recipe.
- Spaghetti & Garlic Bread
- Instant Pot Chicken & Noodles
- Instant Pot Chicken with Peppers and Onions
- LEFTOVERS
- Instant Pot Pork Chop One Pot Meal
- Instant Pot Pot Roast and Potatoes
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Our favorite recipe from this week was the Instant Pot Pot Roast and Potatoes. It made a huge portion, and I was able to get two lunches out of it. The meat was tender, and the carrots did not end up overcooked.
We were not a fan of the Chicken and Noodles. It wasn't bad, but it didn't have much flavor. I ended up using more spices and salt than the recipe called for. I was able to get three days worth of lunches from this recipe.
JUNE (WEEK 6/25 – 7/1)
{note} I included July 1st, but we ate leftovers!
- Spaghetti & Garlic Bread
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Instant Pot Pork Chop One Pot Meal (Same one as last week)
- Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- LEFTOVERS
- LEFTOVERS
- LEFTOVERS
Our favorite recipe from this week was the Chicken Tacos. Not only were they finished in about 18 minutes, but they also made terrific leftovers! The ratio of spices was perfect! We added cheese, mild chunky salsa, sour cream and avocado chunks.
There wasn't a recipe from this week that disappointed us. Every recipe gave us a couple of days worth of leftovers, and tasted good!
Overall, I think my first two weeks of meal planning went well. If you are planning on eating leftovers for lunch, make sure you choose recipes that make bigger portion sizes. Also, I have found that some recipes freeze well. I made a bigger batch of spaghetti sauce and froze what we didn't end up eating. I will use it for the upcoming Monday.
If you are struggling with your food budget, I highly recommend starting a meal plan. It doesn't take a lot of time but could save you a lot of money in the end.
I plan on posting my meal plan updates every month. So be on the lookout for those updates!
DO YOU WANT MY ENTIRE MEAL PLANNING WORKBOOK?
Hi there! I have a goal this month of being more vigilant with our food budget. Food expenses is the #1 that can get out of control. I started tracking food purchases in a small planner and I was surprised at discovering how often we’d go grocery shopping (3x/week) so my goal is to plan at least shopping 1x week. My biggest struggle is meal planning but the solution is to write it down and more often than not, the planning comes into fruition! The Instant Pot is wonderful, I highly recommend Coco Morante’s Instant Pot cookbook. Looking forward to your meal plan updates!
Thank you Alina!
Hi instant pot pot roast potatoes is really a good recipe and it tastes so yummy. Thank you for sharing the meal plan with budget
You are welcome 🙂