Menu Planning & Grocery Shopping

NEVER, if you do now, return to the grocery store without a list again! I promise you, making a meal plan and grocery list is SO easy and will save you TONS of money!

Here's what I do, because it works for me.  Find what works for you and your family, and stick with that.  The more you do it, the easier it'll get. 

I have several documents that I've created in Word & Excel that I use while meal planning.
I start with a document that looks something like this:

Meal Planner
Dates:_________________________________
	Agenda	Time to Cook	Leftovers	Main Dish	Side Dishes
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:

I know... dorky, right? But, like I said, it works for me! : )
I start by filling in what me & my husband have going on that day in the agenda column (you can't plan your meal if you aren't realistically thinking about what you have going on that day). From that, I fill in the "time to cook" column. 
My husband and I always take "last nights dinner" to work with us for lunch the next day. So, I have to plan for leftovers.  I fill in how much we need for leftovers in the leftovers column (I only work part time, so I don't need a lunch each day). From there, I get to the meal planning...
I keep a running list of meals that I make.  They are divided into categories - Quick & Easy, Semi Time Consuming, Time Consuming, and Crockpot.  Once I know how much time I have to cook each day, I can easily fill in meals in each days box.
Ok, so your meals are planned... Easy, right? Well, it will get easy, I promise!
Next, I keep index cards with each meal I make listed on it.  Each index card has ingredients needed for that meal.  I pull out each index card for each meal I'm making, copy off the ingredients that I need, and TADA, I have the start of my grocery list.
Then, I have a "basic grocery list" (you can find one of these if you do a google search.  If not, ask me, I'll send you mine).  I use this to remember to get items like Paper Towels, Sugar, etc.  I go through that list, mark off what I don't need, and add what I do need to the main grocery list.
Finally, I arrange my grocery list by the grocery store I shop in.  I start with Produce and end with frozen food.  This makes my trip to the grocery store SO easy.  I literally walk through & grab items! It doesn't get easier than that! : )

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.  AND, it is so worth it! I no longer feel all anxious when I go grocery shopping.  I plan for two weeks of lunch & dinner, and my total is always under $200 (usually around 150). 

So, start meal planning.... : )