I’m sure you are already aware of the large amounts of food that is thrown away. But do you know what it is costing people across America?

One study reported that a family of four ends up throwing away an average of $590 worth of perishable groceries per year such as meat, produce, dairy and grain products.

Five Hundred and Ninety Dollars.
Just thrown away.

Can you imagine picking up your wallet, pulling out $500 and putting it in the
trash? With all the food that is being thrown away that’s basically what’s
happening…

Knowing exactly what you’re going to eat each week will cut down on,
not only your overall grocery bill, but on the amount of food (aka money)
that you end up throwing away.

The first thing to consider when planning out your meals is your schedule.

Are Tuesday’s soccer practice? Do you have Bible Studies on Wednesday night? How about dinner guests? Or even lunch on the go? The list goes on and on and, if your life is anything like mine, the week to week flow of meals changes. A lot!

So plan for your schedule in your menu plan!

Got a busy week on the go? Stock the pantry and freezer full of adequate staples like pasta, soup, or chili for quick and easy meals.

How about a house full of guests?
Search out those meals that feed a bunch of people without the ingredients costing a ton.

And don’t be afraid to get creative.

When it comes to leftovers there’s only so many days you’re going to want to
eat spaghetti and meatballs. Mix it up and do meatball subs to use up that
leftover sauce! Or throw in some veggies and broth for vegetable noodle soup.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m a very visual person – I need to see a
picture example of what it is I’m trying to do.

So to help you create your own “mental picture” of what a menu plan looks
like check out this step-by-step "how to lay out a menu plan" and get ready
to start saving money on your grocery budget! - Menu Planning 101

You’ve seen the commercials on TV expounding how much money you can make if you sell your gold jewelry,or other gold items. Right now GOLD  is going up higher than any other item out there. If you have watched my videos you know how emphatically I suggest you buy several Sunday newspapers for the circulars, which are typically Red Plum (RP) Smart Source (SS)  Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and General Mills (GM).

Treat your circulars as if they were Gold and keep them until you get THE best deal for all of the coupons in them, just as you would as if you were selling your Gold jewelry. You see, even though you CAN print coupons from the internet, most deals come from the Sunday circulars. Yes, you can download coupons to your store(s) loyalty cards, but in many instances they just don’t work, which I have seen first hand. And, some stores do  not have loyalty cards. When you look for your weekly deals you will see a scenario like this:

1 Colgate Optic White toothpaste, on sale for $3. $2 coupon found in RP 7/4. You go to your folder where you keep your circulars, find Red Plum from 7/4, find the coupon(s) and cut them. You CAN do a search for this product and might find a printable coupon, but if it says mfgr you cannot use it with any from the circulars.

(This is a scenario – I am using the date and circular for demonstration purposes).

Buy your Sunday newspapers, collate and file your circulars, treat them like GOLD, and use them when there is a deal, or when YOU find one.