Monday, August 3, 2009

Tweaking my Menu Planning: Part 2

The second part of my menu-plan tweaking is switching to a two-week rotation (shopping and planning) instead of weekly.

Honestly, it's happening naturally, so I figure I ought to "get the clue" and go with the flow!

1. We go through staples in about a two-week time-frame (cream, butter, milk, flour, juice, eggs). All of these items keep for at least two weeks.

2. We're switching to using all-cash as a budget method (Dave Ramsey), and Mark gets paid on the 15 and 31 of the month, so it would fit perfectly to go ahead and alot all of the money at the beginning of each pay check.

3. I'm locating local sources for eggs, milk and produce, and if I end up driving to purchase those, it would obviously be wise to limit the trips, so I'm thinking every 2 weeks would work well.

4. If I enforce this for myself and the family, it would encourage both careful planning and frugality. For example, if there are yet 3 days until the next grocery trip, we must make-do with what we have, as opposed to an extra trip to get the things for what we *want*, not necessarily what we need.


Do any of you shop/plan by a 2 week schedule?

3 comments:

Myra @ My Blessed Life said...

You are so inspiring! I would love to do this, but I'm too much of deal-getting person. It's a highlight of my week to get my coupons, sale ads and plan my trip! :) I am pondering cooking my meats ahead of time and freezing them to make dinner prep faster.

Laura said...

2 week shopping works great for us! I tried once-a-month, but it just doesn't work for folks who eat a lot of produce, milk, etc. It's also great when you're carting kiddos to the store when you go. Doing that every week doesn't appeal to me much! You're inspiring me to get back into my meal planning/shopping routine! :)

Tammy said...

I SHOULD do major shopping every two weeks, for the same reason - payday is 15th and 30th. Thanks for a great idea. I still think I will need to pick up milk and produce more frequently (how do you get yours to last two weeks???) but should plan ahead with all the major purchases. I'll report back...