Menu Planning and Food Budgeting

We foodies all know we go nuts in the grocery store. Like Mozart, we walk through the produce and fresh meats and seafood departments and we start composing culinary symphonies in our heads, and the next thing you know, we’ve dropped a bill (that’s $100 for those of you who aren’t as “hip” as I am ) on a single meal or at best two. Unfortunately, that sort of thing is hard on the budget.

A better way is to utilize some form of Menu Planning. All that means is deciding, in advance, what meals are going to be prepared for the coming week, working out a shopping list for those menus, taking stock of what we’ve already got on-hand to make sure we don’t double-buy, and then going and buying exactly what we need, and no more.

Now I am a big believer in a well-stocked pantry. There are just some staple ingredients that it makes the most sense to buy in bulk and just have on-hand when needed. Things like flour, sugar, rice, dry beans, pastas, and that sort of thing. For one thing, they keep virtually forever and also it just doesn’t make sense to buy them on a per-meal basis. But most other ingredients, especially perishables, should be planned for and purchased on a “just in time” basis.

Now having said that, there’s also the Bargains to consider. You never know until you get there what your local grocer will have marked down, on special, or reduced for quick sale. You need a certain amount of food budget set aside to be able to scarf up those easter eggs, and a good sized freezer to accomodate them until you get around to cooking something with them. Always allow a little wiggle room to grab bargains.

I’ve invited my wife to prepare a series of articles on menu planning and food budgeting, detailing the different tools and methods that have been developed and talked about elsewhere on the web, to provide you with a wide array of options for helping get a handle on that out-of-control food budget. Look for the first installment in a couple of days.

-Chris