Menu's and meal planning around our schedule

Menu planning has been a great time and money saving strategy at our house. It simplifies our meal time. When I make a menu I plan our meals based on our schedule. I don’t have to think about what to make dozens of additional times that week. I just look at my menu.

Thursday we have Girl Scouts at our house. Dinner needs to be fast and easy so everyone can finish their home work, do their chores and get to bed. With that in mind I usually put something in the Crockpot in the morning, plan on breakfast for dinner that night or maybe soup and sandwiches. I can get dinner on the table 20 minutes after everyone leaves.
By looking ahead I can choose a slower day that doesn’t have a lot of activities for my husband to grill. Often we have our larger meal around 2 PM in the afternoon because it is a less busy time at our house.
I plan for meetings or events and mark on my calendar that I need to prepare to bring a dish.
I see what evenings my husband may be home late and I can make a kids meal. For us that means make our own pizzas or macaroni and cheese. You get the idea. I make notes on my menu for morning or evening tasks such as soak beans or start bread in the bread machine.

I have a place at the top of my menu that I put snack ideas that I have on hand such as apples with caramel, juice popsicles, popcorn, strawberries, crackers and cheese, etc. That allows me to use up what I have on hand.
Another thing that keeps my menu simple and inexpensive is that I make my menu with what I already have on hand in my cupboard, fridge and freezer. That allows me to grocery shop for only what is at its best price each week.

Joy from 5 J’s and Money Saving Mom put together 11 printable menus if you don't already use one. There are one week, two week, four week and monthly menus to choose from. Now you don’t even have to run out and buy something to be organized. Get your 11 menu plans here.

Menu's and meal planning

Meal planning is essential to helping me save time and money. If I know what I am making for lunch or dinner when I get home there is no need to drive through or pick up a pizza.  Some people like their menus on paper, some like menu's on the computer or wipe off boards.  If you don't have a form already that you like for menu planning you may want to look at these Printable Menu's from Unclutter.com  for a quick start. I have a cute weekly planning pad that has 50 sheets (weeks) that I got from a dollar store for $2.  It has been worth every dollar. I also keep my running "almost out of, shopping list" on top of the microwave right next to my menu so I can jot down what I am running low on (and buy it when it goes on sale).  My friend has a wipe off board that has a monthly calendar on it.  She has it hanging in the kitchen next to her fridge and that is where she writes her menu. She also keeps her shopping list and a blank memo board next to it for notes. You could probably mount your menu board inside a cupboard or hang it on the side of the fridge if you like it out of sight.  As long as your menu is not "out of sight out of mind".
I like Money Saving Mom's $40 a week budget menu ideas .  Even though my budget is higher then hers. It makes life much smoother to plan our meals out ahead of time.  I plan with what we have on hand from sales and coupons in our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.  It saves time, money and stress from running to the store to get "one" thing. We sometimes swap what we have on the menu for a different day if our schedule or timing changes. That is OK with me.  At least we have a plan. I plan several times to have a picnic in the car. I write down a list of snacks to throw in the cooler for days we are running around or for my husband who travels.  Do you have a menu strategy that works for you?