As you have read, I often consider myself a pretty good meal planner & grocery shopper. We are a family of 5 and I usually spend $70-$75 a week on our groceries. This includes items to pack lunches, formula, diapers, etc. During the summer, I think I do especially well- I have a little more time to plan, clip and cook (and yes, I actually do enjoy cooking, but it just seems as though I never have enough time-especially when school starts back up again). I also find myself lacking in creativity. There are times that I've gotten home from the grocery store and wondered what we're going to have for dinner! So...as I was flipping through websites about menu planning, etc I found E-mealz. This is a menu planning service that cost $5 a month. The first thought that Nathan and I had when reading about this is "Why pay for someone to plan our meals?" but as we've read many reviews, none were negative and it is our hope that it will live up to it's purpose (to simplify dinner time, save time, save money and give you a meal time make over-making dinner more of a family time). We are also hoping that it will cut back our eating out, give us more of a strategy to meal planning and increase the creativity of dinner time in our house.
"So, what is this?" you may ask. As you explore the website, you find that you can pick from a variety of meal plans (we are doing the Kroger family plan that feeds 4-6 people and gives you 7 meals a week). Other choices include plans for 2 people. You may pick a specific store in which you shop (Walmart, Aldi, etc) or you may choose the "any store option". Specialty menu plans are available as well (gluten free, vegetarian, low fat, portion control and several others). Each week, E-mealz will post a menu for the week. This menu takes into account what is on sale in your store (or area) and gives you the most cost effective menu selection (this includes side dishes, etc). They give you recipies and directions as well as a detailed grocery list including price. The website gives you tips on how to use your coupons effectively and even vacation menus so that you don't bust your budget when you go on vacation.
Most weeks will average a cost between $70-$85. I anticipate that this will actually increase my grocery cost after I add in baby supplies and school lunch foods. However, what I gain from it will outweigh the increase I hope. From what I have calculated by looking over my budget, if we are able to cut out some of our eating out habits, we will definately be saving money (I am afraid to say that throughout the month of March through the beginning of April we spent approximately $250 in eating out! That is almost more than my grocery budget-ouch!). I hope to give you a more positive update after trying this for a few weeks.
Drawbacks that I anticipate are that my kiddos may not eat everything offered. Asher actually will try-he's such a good sport! But McKenna will resort to the old standby- a hotdog or bologna. I do plan to tweak the menu from time to time (for example, this week, peas is going to be a side that I will replace with green beans). However, I have read that there will be leftovers for lunches and that later in the week, they give you reciepes using those leftovers.
My menu plan for the coming week has just posted, but, since I have already planned out this week and done all of our shopping, I will start cooking from that list beginning next week (I usually do all of my grocery shopping Friday nights or Saturday-I know, party animal). I will be sure to keep you posted. I'm excited to try something different and hope to make dinner time a little more exciting :)
No comments:
Post a Comment