Couponing goals in the New Year

Took a little vacation and break over the holidays, but my shelves and family are ready for me to start couponing again in the new year.  Having 4 inserts in this week's paper really gets me excited too! 

Ready to coupon in 2012?!

There are a few ways to get started:
1. Keep a price book- this will be your guide to if a price for something is what you want to pay.  Every family is different, so keep track of the food items your family uses the most and as you see a low price, mark it down.  If you have seen a coupon for the item, mark that down too so you know if it's something you can even get for less than your rock-bottom price you've seen.  Sometimes the sales just aren't so good for a while but you need to keep restocking, just have an idea of when to really go crazy and get more than usual.

2. Meal planning- know what foods and items your family uses the most.  I've heard of families making 4 week plans and rotating that throughout the year (13 times) or even just making a plan out of that week's ads (front page is where you want to focus).  Try to shop once a week for your meals and then only go in if there are other items you need more of as well.  You will spend less if you aren't in the stores as often. 

Here's what I'm planning to use this year to avoid that "What's for dinner?" mess cause that is the hardest part for me.  Meal planning service called E-Mealz, which plans the dinners and my shopping list for me a week at a time for under $5 a month!  I just cross out the things I already have in stock (using coupons of course) and just pick up the rest at my local store.  This will also help me have some variety in our diet and even has some crock-pot meals for the crazy nights!

3. Budget- get your budget together for the year, and adjust as changes come to your pay.  I keep better track when I am following a weekly budget and leftover goes toward the household items we buy (toiletries, cleaning supplies) so I can keep those bought at their lowest prices too.  Be reasonable with what costs are here, and hopefully coupons will help you cut down your prices as well.

4. Stay organized- no matter which system you use (file folder, coupon binder, coupon box), having your coupons ready to go will help for those last-minute shopping trips.

5. Have a support group- having someone else to keep you motivated really helps, this is why I started this site and love when others spot deals and share on the Facebook page!  Find some other couponers in your area and start a coupon swap- they probably don't use the products you use and vice versa.  It's a great way to get extras of the ones you like.  You can always use the FB page to shoutout and find some couponers maybe in your own neighborhood!

Menu Monday

Back to designating a different kind of meat per night!!
Monday:
Fish: Lemon/Garlic Mahimahi

Tuesday:
Chicken: Curry and rice

Wednesday:
Shrimp: Shrimp kabobs!
**hoping for some yummy peppers to grill with them**

Thursday:
Beef: Tomato Basil Flank Steaks

Friday:
Chicken: Shoyu Chicken in the pressure cooker!

Saturday:
LEFT OVERS!!
** if I don't designate to eat what's in the fridge already, I end up throwing it out by trash day the next week. I don't necessarily eat the left overs but my hubby does!**

Sunday:
Crockpot: Pork Chops and Roasted potatoes
**How do you make sure you have all the ingredients for your meals so you aren't cooking and find that you are missing anything?**

This post participates in OrgJunkie's MPM

Menu Plan Monday 6/28

This week's menu using only the Foodland ad (ends tomorrow):

Not listing lunch- taking it easy while older 2 boys are at Summer Fun/preschool.

Monday-
Oatmeal, fruit
Stroganoff (chopped steak)

Tuesday-
Cottage cheese, cantelope
Taco salad (tortilla chips, chicken strips, lettuce, tomatoes, dressing)

Wednesday-
Corn, beef/broccoli

Thursday-
Yogurt
Turkey sandwiches (country hearth), pringles

Friday-
Ribeye BBQ, edamame

Saturday-
Peaches, nectarines
Omelet (ham steak)

Sunday-
Roast, potatoes, carrots

This post is part of orgjunkie's MPM.

Menu Monday...

We keep saying we want variety but I am finding that if I make things simple then two things happen: 1. dinner is actually made and eaten before 8pm, and 2. variety actually does end up happening.  I am choosing to use a certain protein per night, then a crockpot night (or two!) and a free night.  That way we can spice it up using what we know we have with the protein assigned to that night... I'll follow up next week to see how it worked for us... 

Monday:

Fish- Mahimahi with lemon/herb sauce

Rice

Tuesday:

Chicken- Italian Chicken in the Crockpot

Whole wheat Penne Pasta

Wednesday:

Chopped beef: Stirfry with the new veggies from co-op

rice

Thursday:

Ground Turkey- Spaghetti and meatballs

Salad with veggies from co-op

Friday:

Special dinner for our anniversary!!

Saturday:

Shrimp- Marinated and grilled

Sunday: Happy Father's Day!

Lasagna (hubby's choice!)

Salad

Watermelon

Menu Plan Monday is part of OrgJunkie's weekly effort to get ahead each week.

Menu Monday....

Monday:

Salmon night- We're trying a crusted Salmon w lime juice
White Rice
Sauteed Vegi's

Tuesday:
Chicken Parmesan
Wheat Pasta
Watermelon

Wednesday:

Mom's Birthday Dinner

Thursday:

Hubby's Vegi StirFry
White Rice

Friday:

Crockpot Beef Burritos

Saturday:

BBQ Flank Steaks

Grilled peppers, and zuchinni/vegis in season

Sunday:

Ham
Mashed potatoes
Green Bean casserole

It may seem like I used the same meals over and over, and I kinda do... just sometimes when I post them, something might come up for that particular night.  I reschedule the meal for the following week since I have all the ingredients and don't want them to go bad.

Question: how do you plan your meals?  How do you avoid the dreaded question "What's for dinner," @ 5 pm?

Menu Monday.... posting a day late!!

 I've been hiding the past 2 weeks from doing this post but only because life has gotten crazy.  Now that I'm grounded and back into the swing of things I can post the meals of the week...  I've planned the other 2 weeks, just have not posted it, sorry!!

We tried not to really have a set routine besides planning the meals but we're trying new foods and a new way of doing our summer meals (post to come!) so bear with me! 

Monday:

Salmon
Rice

Green Beans

Tuesday:

Subway Nite!

Wednesday:

Hamburgers on the grill!!

Thursday:

Chicken Parmesan

Wheat pasta

Watermelon

Friday:

Grilled Chicken on the BBQ

Grilled veggies

Saturday:

leftovers!

Sunday:

Family dinner

(in charge of dessert)

What are you cooking this summer?  Did you get the grill out?  How do you plan when it's Summer?  Is it different from the rest of the year like our house?

Menu Plan for 4/26 - 5/02

Menu Plan Monday

While looking through my cupboards I'm seeing that I need to start rotating the food I've been stocking up on.  We had a lot of rice last week, so I'm thinking this week's starch should be either pasta ....

Monday:
Homemade Frozen Lasagna
*I know homemade and frozen aren't usually in the same title for a menu, but almost 5 months ago I learned how to prepare a frozen lasagna.  I made 3, and we have 1 left.  I figure it's probably best if eaten within 6 months.  I totally love a fresh cooked lasagna, but these have been life savers on nights that are super crazy, which in this house is usually Monday night!
Tuesday:
Steak Stirfry
(we had awesome veggies in last weeks co-op, time to use the other half before they go bad!)

Wednesday:
WanChai Sweet & Sour Chicken
(got during the sale at safeway for $5.99)
**not bad since it comes with the rice and veggies**
dinner for two under $6.00

Thursday:
Tacos-
**using cheese from FL deal!**

Friday:
Spaghetti Casserole
*I need to rotate my pastas since I got a great deal at Safeway this week, and with the great spaghetti sauce sale last week at Foodland, Kraft Cheese deal til tomorrow we can whip this up quick and cheap!*

Saturday:
Leftovers or breakfast

Sunday:
Crockpot Italian Chicken with
potatoes and carrots chopped and thrown in crockpot

What's cookin' in your kitchen this week?

This post participates in Menu Plan Monday

Menu plan 4/19-4/25

More family favorites and the sales this week at Foodland and Safeway helped keep these meals coming!!

monday:

Italian chicken

Rice
green bean casserole

tuesday:

Pizza Nite!!
Chilled pears

wednesday:

Potatoe/Ham casserole

chilled canned peaches

thursday:

Crockpot Pork Chops

steamed vegi's

friday:

Spinach Ravioli
French Bread

saturday:

breakfast!!

(waffles, pancakes or whatever the hub wants to cook. 
Maybe omeletts if he's feeling up to it! )

sunday:

Roast

Penne Pasta

Grands Rolls

I'm feeling bored with my menu and love any additional suggestions you are including in your meal.  My husband is very traditional and has to have a meat, starch and vegetable... But if there's a way to break away from this I'll take any suggestions you have....What do you do?

Menu Plan 4/5-4/11

Our goal is to try to increase our vegetable and fruit intake in our meals. Let's see how we do this time!!


Monday:
Stir Fry- thanks to my experimental husband, it's never the same which is why we have it so frequently!
Sliced tomatoes and avacado (going bad, had to be eaten!)

Tuesday:
Salmon
Brown Rice
steamed Asparagus

Wednesday:
Steak Fajitas

Thursday:
Banana waffles
Bacon/Ham
chilled peaches

Friday:
Leftovers or Spaghetti

Saturday:
Fried Rice
Fresh fruit from co-op

Sunday:
Lasagna
Garlic bread
fresh green salad

What are you having this week?  We can use some new easy recipes!!

Menu Plan 3/29-4/4

Here we go!  What are you eating this week?  How do you decide your menu?
How often do you try something new?

So, here's what we decided to have this week...

(I am attempting chicken meals this week which I normally don't eat during my pregnancies due to personal texture preference and my gag reflex ...so those meals are subject to change.)


Monday:
Mexican Chicken
Spanish Rice
Steamed asparagus

Tuesday:
Spaghetti Casserole
Grands Rolls
sliced fresh pears (if ripe)

Wednesday:
Stroganoff (didn't have it last week)
Fresh salad
Crescent rolls

Thursday:
CPK frozen pizza

Friday:
Chicken Stirfry
Rice

Saturday:
Banana Pancake party
fresh fruit salad

Sunday: Happy Easter!

EASTER- ham, potatoes, jello, rolls, dessert!
********************
I usually have my husband look in the cupboards/pantry with me on Sunday evenings and help me decide what he would like to have and help prepare for the coming week.  Together we help each other create the menu.  One question he asked last night was, "Why do we have so much of this or that and how do we know which one to use?"  He's talking about my 4 jars of peanut butter and many boxes of pastas or other items that I have multiple of.  I told him that I have a system.  For my jars and cans, I put them away toward the back, and when I cook, I pull from the front.  I used to work at Walmart and learned the shelving system they use.  (if you want freshly stocked items, pull from the back)  I am used to having one or two of something, so having it get 'older' wasn't an issue, but since learning to save and stock up, I'm able to have this shelving system that Walmart uses too!

This post is part of Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday 3/22-3/28

I like to use what I have on hand and purchased from sales the week before. 

Monday:

Banana Waffles

Eggs

Bacon

Pineapple Chunks

Tuesday:

Taco Salad (using up vegi's from fridge, to make room for new set tomorrow!)

Cut up fruit (apples, pears, bananas, strawberries)

Wedsnesday:

Stroganoff with egg noodles (easy, EASY crockpot meal!)
salad (with fresh vegi's from the co-op!)

Thursday:

Ravioli w/ Marinara sauce

Pillsbury Grands rolls

Salad (hoping for good veggie's this week!)

Friday:

Shrimp & Steak

Rice

Steamed Asparagus

Saturday:

Left overs, clean out the fridge :)

Sunday:
Steak Salad (replace chicken with steak)
Papaya slices

What does your menu look like this week? What do you do that is quick and simple for your busiest night?

See other menu ideas here

Menu Plan Monday- 3/8-3/14

I've had a goal this year to do better at planning my meals.  I am finding that it's a lot easier to plan when I have inventory to work with.  I used to be the kind of planner that would plan meals, make my shopping list, then shop until I had every item on the list. That usually meant that I would exceed my budgeted amount and would have to cover it from different areas.  So, I'm taking note from my wise role models of how they make their meal plans. 

This week I am using my inventory and am happy that I have a variety to work with. 

Monday:

     *Beef Stirfry (using up as much vegetables since new ones come in the co-op on Wednesday)

     * Rice

     * Pineapple (Costco had a whole pineapple for $1.99, lucky us!)

Tuesday:

     * Pizza (Pillsbury had a great saleon crusts at Foodland, so we picked up more last week)

     * Cut up strawberries and grapes (other sales from Foodland)

Wednesday:

     * Breakfast: Banana Waffles, bacon, eggs & fresh fruit

(by mid week I need an easy meal or I usually give up!)

Thursday:

     * Bertolli's

     * French Bread  (I do get fresh items for a meal once in a while!)

Friday:

     * Spaghetti 

     * Green Salad

     * Leftover French Bread

Saturday:

     * Leftovers or something the Hubby decides to make!

Sunday:

     * Tomato, Basil & Garlic Chicken

     * Penne Pasta

     * Fresh Fruit

Usually when we've had company in the past, we'd had to make 'stocking up' shopping trips and it turns out be quite an expense.  Since watching the sales, stocking up, and creating a great inventory to choose from I haven't had to do this yet.  I think this is one of the best ways we can get our food storage filled with things that we actually eat.  What are you cooking this week?  How do you make sure you're not making daily shopping trips?

This is part of orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday

Menu plan Monday

Reminder to do your meal list tonight if you haven't yet.  Use FHE if you can! This will help your meal planning get easier! 

Our menu plan:
Monday: Shrimp Portofino (like Macaroni Grill)
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Subway night
Thursday: The BIG KAHUNA OF ALL MEALS!  We're bringing green bean casserole, cream cheese pie and we'll see what else. 
Friday: Thanksgiving leftover casserole
Saturday: Chicken Alfredo, pasta
Sunday: family dinner and Kyle's birthday party. Steak and crab legs- potluck the rest with the family. Cake/ice cream

The goal is to use as much as you can from your three-month food storage, shop your cupboards first!