Day 27: The Weekly Deals Menu Plan

I mentioned earlier that I prefer to do a 4 week (monthly) menu plan, and that I find this saves me money. Mostly this is because I love having a well stocked pantry, and I have a fantastically frugal bulk foods source near us and I buy my meat in bulk as well.

The monthly menu plan isn’t the only way to plan for maximum savings, though.

Particularly if space is at a premium for you, you may find huge savings with the weekly deals menu planning method.

How does this work?

Well, each week, when I get my newspapers (I get 3 subscriptions of Sunday only, primarily for the coupons), I look through the sale flyers for all local stores in the paper. Then I take what is on sale (especially if I have a coupon for it), and I plan meals around what the best deals for that week are going to be. By the way, don’t forget to print off some free coupons from my site, while you’re at it!

Alternatively, you could plan your menu for the following week, if you shop later in the week.

This method can also be used to flesh out a more general monthly menu plan.

With my monthly menu plan I do a variation on this. We do plan things about 4 weeks in advance in our household (it works for me), but I sometimes add specific veggies, fruits, and other ingredients depending on what is on sale.

For example, if I am planning Pizza for Friday (which is what we had yesterday), I will decide what goes on the pizza based on what was on sale.  We got some bell peppers 11 for $10 last week, some onions, and some italian sausage, plus 5 Cheese Italian Pizza Blend was what was on sale in the Cheese department.

Assignment:

This week, when the sale flyers arrive via mail or the Sunday paper, look them over, and see how many meals you could possibly make for the week with those items on sale for a great price. Make it a game to see how much you can save in a week, while still preparing meals your family loves.