New plan for a new year

Well, here at the Brown house we've been talking a lot lately about how to cut our spending. Our expenses seem to keep increasing (as kids get bigger they cost more! Music lessons, more food consumption, etc.) but the income isn't. One of the things we've noticed is that we really eat out too much. About a year ago we quit going out to sit-down places as often as we used to. We realized that the 6 of us really can't sit down anywhere for much less that $50 and that adds up quickly if you do it very often. Even though we made that change a year ago, we have been driving through Wendy's for lunch, ordering pizza on Friday nights, and getting take-out or Taco Bell on the weekends. I started mentally adding up what we might spend in a typical week and it was surprising to me just how much money is going toward eating "out."
Eating at home is work. REAL work. Or maybe it's just harder for me than others. There's the time spent deciding what menu items to serve for the week. Then there's compiling a grocery list of things needed. Then making sure I have staples in my pantry. Oh, better make sure there are enough things for lunch and breakfast, too. NOW...go to the store. Buy everything, and (the worst part) come home and put it away. By this point I've devoted at LEAST three hours to this endeavor and I haven't even cooked anything yet!! I'm tired, grouchy, and can't imagine doing this every week. But I had an idea right before New Year's Day.
Enter new plan...
Several years ago we instituted a breakfast schedule. We were having a meltdown every morning over what to eat for breakfast, and I was tired of it. The schedule has changed slightly over the years, but ask anyone who knows us very well and they know that Tuesday in the Brown house is waffle day. I'm sure it'll be that way until the kids go off to college. The breakfast plan has worked so well, why couldn't I apply that to the other meals of the day? What if I picked 7 meals...one for each day of the week and we had them all month long? (spaghetti on Sundays, soup on Mondays, etc.) Then I could buy in bulk and not waste any extras (we are very bad at using up leftovers at our house)! and...What if I did the same thing for the kids' lunches? So I made my lists of dinners and lunches. I chose things that I was fairly certain we would all eat.

So off Clara and I headed to Sam's, then the grocery store. I spent WAY more than I ever have at the grocery store, but I reminded myself of all the money we'd save by not eating out, and the fact that many of the things I bought at Sam's would last the whole month. The second week I made my list (it was shorter this time) and headed back to the store. Here's one of the greatest things about this plan so far--I only go to the store ONCE a week!! No more of those little trips to the grocery that end up taking more time and money than I intended.

I'm happy to report that we have not eaten a single meal out since December 29! Everyone is happy, and no one is asking to stop at McD's. We've already started talking about what menu items we will have next month and I think the kids are enjoying the chance to be part of the planning. I've written each night's dinner menu on an index card and on the back I listed all of the grocery items needed for that dinner. That way I can quickly go through when I'm making up the grocery list and add the things that I still need. Matt said he could write me an iPhone app to do that easily. He made it sound like he could do it in an afternoon, but I've yet to see it :o) For now, my index card system is working.

I'll be anxious to give another update at the end of the month to share how our new plan is (or isn't) working!