Planning meals

Anyone who knows me knows that I love planning.  If it involves spreadsheets, making lists, or event planning, I love it!  Therefore, I am a huge planner when it comes to weekly meals because if I plan ahead, these following things can be avoided:

1) My crankiness from being hungry because I don't know what I'm going to eat
2) Eating non-nutritious foods as a meal such as boxes of girlscout cookies that are in my freezer
3) Wasting money on eating out multiple times a week.

Since my life is so exciting, one of the highlights of the week is when I get the mail on Wednesday since that's when the weekly grocery circulars come!  I like to look through and see exactly what is on sale that week and to see if there are any corresponding coupons that I have.  I know what you're thinking...I sound like one of those crazy people on TLC's Extreme Couponing.  But really--I'm not.  I just like to plan ahead and save money while I am at it.  Extreme couponing may have to be another blog entry on another day. =)

A typical meal out at a national chain like Applebee's or Chili's for two people may cost between $40 and $50 after a tip.  If you do a simple meal like Subway- even that is going to be about $11 after buying two sub sandwiches & taxes.  Say you eat out/purchase take out twice a week....

$60 (two meals) x 2 times per week x 52 weeks per year = $6,240.

When I think of it in terms of actual numbers instead of seeing the transactions on my credit or debit card, 6 grand is actually quite a bit of money.  In my mind, that's pretty good spending money for my dream Italian trip that I'd like to take.  Don't get me wrong, I do love eating out and trying out restaurants, but I like to try to save it for the special occasions  like a date night with my husband or a celebratory dinner.  I don't like to eat out so much that I don't really savor the food and I'm only eating out because I'm too lazy to cook.  On a regular basis, I create a list of the weekly meals.  Using that list as my template for grocery shopping helps me to not buy snack foods and junk foods.  I then post that list on my refrigerator so that I know what I'm going to make for dinner.  Knowing ahead of time, I can also prep foods the night before such as marinating items or prepping a casserole and just knowing that I have to put it in the oven when I get home.

I think about the positive effect I have on my diet by planning ahead and buying something healthy at the grocery store.  One of my favorite things to buy is broccoli because you get a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to nutrition.   Brocolli has a ton of Vitamin C and calcium.  Therefore, I love it when it goes on sale for $99 a pound because it's a steal!

I am an old-school girl.  I enjoy cooking for my husband and then having a sit-down meal with him to hear about his day and just have a conversation.  We spend so much time apart during the day that any quality time we spend together with good communication is something I treasure.  Therefore, when I plan my meals ahead of time, I don't have to ponder what I am going to cook that night and can either make it ahead of time or prep it right when I get home.  There isn't a bigger investment that you can make on your future than your own health and what you eat plays a huge role in it.

Wishing you happy and healthy eating!