Might be a bit boring, but I do have a method to my madness... bwuahahaha.
First of all, I do keep a separate list with my staples, that lives on the fridge - this is stuff like flours, spices, tinned goods and general grocery items.
Then I mealplan all my dinners for the pay month. I try to add a few new recipes in there and include at variety of things - at least one vegetarian and one chicken or white meat, then lamb and beef combinations for variety. Thursdays is my busy day each week so I make sure I plan something on that night that is time savvy - be it reheating something I've cooked in bulk or a 30 minute meal. I also make note of days where I know we will be eating out (for example this next month we have a school function and a wedding)
I put all of my mealplan in an excel spreadsheet. The first tab is what I'm cooking.
2nd tab I then go through each meal and go through the ingredients and put them in columns depending on where I buy them.
I have a column for the butcher, the farm (produce), the supermarket and 'other' (e.g. I buy my easiyo yoghurt online - it's got heaps more flavours/range than the supermarket and very cost effective! - if you want some info on how to get $15 off your second order, let me know!)
Now, I have my draft shopping list, I then transpose everything off my list on the fridge, have a quick look through the pantry to check I haven't missed anything and then check the bathroom and laundry lastly to add any more domestic products.
Then that's my list! I find I only do a top up shop of fruit once, maybe twice a month and I get my bread and milk, butter and cream delivered by farmers direct this then cuts down on any adhoc trips to the shops and vulnerability to buy things on a whim.
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9 lovely comments:
You don't mind if I come and live with you, do you?
wow, I am very impressed. Your method looks simple and effective.
holy moly. wow. v impressed woman here. I would love to be that organised. we waste so much money on food that we don't cook, or takeaway. I really ought to get organised, but I just am so tired in the early evenings that sometimes the thought of cooking is just too too overwhelming. And herein lies the freezer meal I imagine!!
golly gosh...i wish i could be this organised. great job, btw!
This is really impressive, and pretty simple really too! I have been trying to get more organised and avoid shopping every 3-4 days like I seem to be. I have now got a few dishes I do dregularly, so maybe I should adopt this plan!!
thanks so much for sharing luv!! i'll be trawling your recipe section for some of those dishes - they sound delish!! next time you go to farmgate could you post a photo of your fruit and veg? would love to see what you get - aren't i nosey!!! thanks for the inspiration - love reading about your stuff (godd command of the english language haha) Amanda (frugalmama) xx
Amanda, I went farmgating today - d'oh!
My fruit and veg has only *just* been put away. I'll tell you what - I'll scan in my docket and send it to you :)
I'm even more impressed now that I've seen your meal plan shopping list in action! :o
Wow so super super organised... I think i need to look at my excel type programs on my laptop to do one of these up for myself!
My darling Mr11 bought me a magnetic meal planner complete with shopping list and cleanable marker for Mothers day this year, only down side i can see is it has no baking space and Sunday is mums day off (although there is a little room on the side for baking and at the bottom for sunday meals.
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