I’m a numbers person, so I pay close attention to my family’s budget. For the most part, we’re a pretty frugal family, but the one spending category that really bothers me is how much we spend on food. And I don’t mean eating out… I’m talking about how much we spend on groceries each week. For a small family, our grocery budget is out of control.

So when a friend taught me how to do meal planning, I knew this would be the answer to our outrageous grocery bill.

There are many benefits to weekly menu planning, but the greatest benefit to my family is how much money we save on groceries. By planning our meals in advance (I usually plan our meals one week at a time), I know exactly what I need to buy at the store, and I avoid buying food that we won’t eat that week. Before I started planning our meals, we wasted a lot of food because it spoiled before I got around to cooking it. Meal planning also reduces the number of times I go to the grocery store (I used to go almost every day!), which means fewer impulse buys. I don’t know about you, but every time I go to the store to pick up one or two items, I’ve spent $50 or $60 before I know it. Weekly meal planning helps reduce unnecessary purchases, which means huge savings over the long run. Cutting out the daily grocery trips probably saves me the most in our grocery budget.

The next advantage to weekly menu planning is the time it saves you. First, because you spend less time figuring out what to cook for dinner (or surfing the web for ideas). Second, since you already have everything you need to cook dinner (for the whole week!) you won’t have to run by the store after picking the kids up or on your way from work. Imagine how much time you’ll save just from eliminating daily trips to the store. If you’re like me and go to the store several times a week, you could save a couple of hours of time just by planning your meals ahead of time.

Another huge benefit you get from weekly menu planning is that it helps you eat healthier. People who do meal planning tend to eat better because they go out to eat less often. By eating out less often, you cut out a lot of the fatty foods that you would normally eat at fast food restaurants. Also, when you cook at home, you’re more likely to select fresh, healthy ingredients for your meals.

You’re convinced that meal planning is a good idea. After all, you can save time, money and even eat healthier when you meal plan. But how do you actually do meal planning? Here are some tips on how to get started meal planning:

1. Write down all of your family’s favorite dishes. Keep a recipe book or binder handy so you always have dinner ideas.

2. The next step is to look through the sale ads from one or two grocery stores in your area. You have two goals here. First, to find dinner ideas. Second, to plan your meal around items that are on sale that week. This is one way that meal planning saves you money.

3. Look through your pantry and refrigerator for food that you already have on hand. If you have any perishable items that need to be eaten soon, or if you have any old food in the pantry that’s going to expire soon, then you’ll want to plan your meals using these items.

4. Write out the meals you plan on cooking for the week (a weekly meal planner worksheet works great for this), and fill out your grocery list for the items you don’t have on hand.

5. The last step is to post your weekly menu for the whole family to see, and then to cook your meals of course! Once you get the hang of meal planning, you’ll see how much time and money you save, and your week will go much more smoothly now that you don’t have to panic about what to cook for dinner each day.