I’m a household of one. I have a nasty evening commute that often makes me just want to go home without stopping for groceries. Yet, I’m still on a tight budget and need to eat.
I’ve read post after post on meal planning and cooking for one. The problem is, they aren’t usually realistic to my eating habits or lifestyle. I often get last minute plans or decide I’m too exhausted or starving to spend much time on dinner. So I have come up with a much more realistic way to plan my meals and it has absolutely saved my waist line from too many Culver’s drive-through cheese curds (my weakness).
- Plan a maximum of four days out. I don’t like grocery shopping any more than the next person, but I also don’t like throwing my paycheck down the garbage disposal with the half-eaten (or not-at-all eaten) food when I try shopping for a longer time frame. Four days is what I have found provides maximum efficiency while minimizing waste.
- Plan your most labor-intensive meal for tonight. Go grocery shopping, then make the meal. You are more likely to be on a roll when you just saw a room full of delicious food. So make shopping day your yummy day. It will be rewarding.
- Repurpose If You Won’t Re-Eat. Don’t pretend you will eat last night’s dinner for lunch tomorrow if, like me, you won’t. Instead, try repurposing the ingredients into a new meal that you won’t be sick of. For example, if you make chicken one night, the next day make the leftovers into a BBQ chicken pizza, or pasta with chicken, or a use it as a topping on a salad. When I repurpose into a totally different meal, I don’t like I’m compromising to stay on budget.
- Keep a stocked pantry. This goes back to number three. I don’t necessarily know what I will be hungry for four days from now. And if I’m not satisfied with my meal, I end up breaking out the ice cream for dinner. So, I always keep rice, pasta, a Pillsbury pizza crust, sauces, and frozen vegetables in my house. They have a long shelf life and are versatile either on their own or to enhance a leftover.
- Check your schedule first. Free lunch at work? Friend in town for the weekend? Early office meeting that will keep you from packing lunch? Know your schedule and yourself, and don’t over-plan. If you enjoy the walk to the sandwich shop, don’t try to eliminate it from your meal rotation. Leave some gaps for those days to happen.
- Don’t give up after your first try. There will be times when you slip up and a pound of ground chuck ends up going bad before you try your dad’s taco recipe. It’s ok. Next week is a new week.
