5 Steps for Effective Meal Planning

I grocery shop once a week, typically Wednesdays, and have found that meal planning is absolutely essential to eating healthy, losing weight and saving money at the store. When we fall off track with meal planning and once a week shopping we tend to go out to eat, get take out or quickly buy just enough for one meal and that's when the food bill really racks up -  not to mention when I make poor food decisions. I shared my tips for saving money while grocery shopping a while back, but today I thought I would share what I do to create a healthy meal plan. 

Step 1 :: Inventory. Each week I buy just what we will need for that week but it's inevitable that there is always stuff left over. Whether I change the meal I had planned and use different ingredients or one meal ends up covering us for two nights, whatever the reason, I always have extra ingredients. SO, before I sit down to make my meal plan I take a look at what I still have and come up with meal ideas using those ingredients. For example, let's say I have a pound of ground beef in the freezer, some extra baby spinach and a can of black beans - sounds like the makings for taco salads - all I have to buy is black olives and an avocado. 

Step 2 :: Cartwheel. I do all my grocery shopping at Target because I have a red card {5% off} and can use my Cartwheel. I look through the deals and "pin" anything that I know we like, need or  ould use. I then add these things to my shopping list {so I remember there's a deal} and use these sale items to build off of my meal ideas from the inventory.

Step 3 :: Pinterest. When in doubt, use Pinterest. I have a bunch of different food related boards and refer to them often when looking for meal ideas!

Step 4 :: Spreadsheet/Calendar. I love me a good spreadsheet! I have a meal planning template saved as a Word doc that I use to fill in my plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for myself, Jason and Kenley.

Step 5 :: List. After I've got my plan put together I go through meal-by-meal to make sure I have every ingredient I need to buy listed out. I'm also a super spaz and organize it based on the aisle I'm in so I can just shop aisle-by-aisle and cross off the list in order {proof you go to Target too much}. I then e-mail my list to myself so I have it on my phone. This really helps me to only buy what we need and not get sucked in to the black hole of Target, though, let's be honest, I always come home with something NOT on the list but it really does help me stay in control when shopping.

And there you have it! A simple and effective way to plan your meals from week to week. Yes simple! It seems like a lot but really it probably takes me 15 minutes to set up a meal plan and get my grocery list together.

What method(s) do you use to meal plan?

Financially Fit Date Night

This past Friday night, Jason and I had our very first money management date night. Sounds pretty wild and crazy, doesn't it? Well let me tell you, there was nothing wild or crazy about it. HOWEVER, it was necessary. Did you know that a Kansas State University study found that the leading contributor in divorce among the couples surveyed was FINANCES?! Additionally, they found the income the couple made wasn't even a factor. So basically, a major reason couples separate is poor communication and compromise in regards to their finances. Jason and I are nowhere near that point and have always had pretty clear communication in regards to our finances but nonetheless it's scary to think about the impact it can have on your relationship.

Friday night we sat down with an excel spreadsheet, all of our bills and a couple of cocktails.

We essentially went through the nooks and crannies of our financial situation and I'm going to be honest, it sucked. I really thought going in that I would end the night invigorated and hopeful and ready to conquer the world. Not to say our date night was bad, quite the opposite. But, I'd be lying if I said we didn't argue and tears weren't shed. When we took a cold hard look, line by line, at what we are making and spending each month along with a list of our debt...well, it stunk and stunk bad. There were definitely moments of feeling really deflated and defeated. However, everyone has to start somewhere, right? As Dave Ramsey says, and we have already realized, it is going to take us a couple of months to really get our budget system nailed down but we set some goals and a budget for March and are confident that if we stick with it, we'll see some extra money to start using towards our Baby Steps at the end of the month.

While it was hard facing the facts, our date night was also great in accomplishing some big initial steps such as:

• Setting a budget & plan for March
• Putting our credit cards in an envelope to be used only for an emergency, then once we have our emergency fund set up those suckers are getting cut up!

• Creating our debt snowball and tabulating our total debt {not fun, but good to just have a number to start chipping away at}
• Scheduling our money date nights for the rest of the year {if it's on the calender, we'll stick to it!}
• Finalizing our super awesome comprehensive finances excel file {more to come on that!}
• Doing our taxes {again, not all that fun, but awesome to have done}

And then, in celebration of surviving our first financial date night and taking one step forward...we took a shot. That's just how we roll. 

I plan on posting about our progress and what we learn and accomplish along the way. Erin and her hubby Jared along with their alter egos Sallie & Perkins have been such a huge inspiration to me, so if I can help or inspire even one person with our plan, I think it's worth posting!

Yaaaaay money!

Total Money Makeover

Paying off our student loans and credit card debt has been on the agenda for what feels like years, come to think of it, it has been years. We have had good intentions, but life gets in the way. For example, the nearly $1600 in {post-insurance} medical bills we've racked up in ONE month's time thanks to Kenley's foot, a fiasco with Jason's mouth and a teeth pulling for Bailey {which I would like to go on record saying cost more than the two human procedures combined}. It has finally gotten to the point where we realize we can't continue to take one step forward and two steps back forever, we need to just commit and get this done and move on with a wonderfully awesome debt free life.

After hearing so many good things from fellow bloggers {Erin & Bridget, I'm looking at you} about Dave Ramsey and his teachings, I decided to buy one of his books and see what all the fuss was about. I opted for The Total Money Makeover and am so glad I did. 

It was a super quick read but the way in which Dave explained getting out of debt totally spoke to me. In this particular book he equates getting "financially fit" with weight loss. Considering getting myself in shape has been a huge part of my life the past year, I could totally relate to everything he was saying. When it comes down to it, losing weight and getting in shape is all about dedication, commitment and math. Turns out it's same with finances - when you are dedicated and committed to sticking to a budget the math will work out and there will be extra money to put towards savings and debt.

What I loved most, though, is that this plan is all about baby steps. I am trying really hard in my daily life to live by that "Slight Edge" philosophy that small actions compounded over time yield big results and that is really what Dave's financial philosophy is as well. He has a list of "Baby Steps" that when followed, it leads you little by little to financial freedom. 

While the overall picture seems super daunting, breaking it down in to smaller, manageable and completely doable goals it makes it seem not so bad to get our finances in shape. Jason and I have set a money management date night for tomorrow and I'm excited to share what I've learned from Dave's book and work as a team to get a game plan in action!

Have any of you used Dave's plan?

A No Spend Month

HAPPY TUESDAY MAMAS! Time for....

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY!

This Tuesday I'm not-so-much talking about "baby" stuff but instead linking up with my pal Erin to talk about budget and financial related things....which is totally part of being a mom, right?

Let me start by saying...

OH EM GEE, we did it! 

This past month Jason and I followed in the footsteps of my financial idols, Sallie & Perkins, and attempted a "NO SPEND MONTH". That meant NO meals out, NO shopping, NO Starbucks. NADA. The ONLY things we spent our money on this month were groceries {which I budgeted}, gas and our bills. NOTHING else. OK...that's a wee bit of a lie. I did book a plane ticket but ONLY because fares were starting to go up and if I didn't book it this month I'd be booking it next month. AND the couple of times that we enjoyed a meal out or I got coffee was done using gift cards from Christmas.

Before I go into the nuts and bolts of our financial plans for 2014 and the success of our first month of the year, I have to brag about my husband. Jason started a new job with the same company in October, a sales job, and since has been the top salesman on his team every single month. He has worked so hard and has won bonus pools, received extra incentives and has given our family much more flexibility in the budget department. I couldn't be more proud of him and cannot express how happy it makes me to see my husband working a job that he really loves and is absolutely dominating. Thank you honey. ♥

Last year, I shared my handy dandy budget spreadsheet that I use to track our spending. With an amped up version for 2014, we were able to lay out and budget all of our bills and our grocery costs for the month. I am absolutely tickled pink that EVERY.SINGLE.CATEGORY on our spread sheet this month is GREEN, meaning we were UNDER budget! To top it off 11 of the categories had a big fat zero next to it!

With all this extra money in our account we sat down and talked about our current debt and financial plans. We agreed to start the journey to "Financial Freedom" by way of Dave Ramsey. Our situation is just slightly different, however, because we are trying to save money for a down payment on a house while paying off debt. With that in mind I created a separate page on our budget spreadsheet to track our progress and keep track of our debt owed.
It looks like this:

I went through and entered what we have in our savings account, all of our credit card debt, student loans, car loans, etc., how much is in our 401k and how much is in Kenley's College Savings account. This gave me a great base to get our game plan set and I will update it each month with the new amounts / balances.

I am so proud to say that after just one no-spend month we were able to check step #1 off our list as well as pay off 2 of our consumer debts {paypal & a credit card}! That debt list and amount is still daunting but even getting two small balances off there felt amazing. We then took the paid off credit card as well as my credit card {which we're still paying off} and put them in an envelope so that we can't use them!

In addition to not spending this month, reaching $1,000 in our emergency fund AND paying off 2 of our debts, we took the very first steps towards buying a house! We now have what I call an "out of sight out of mind" bank account where we are auto-depositing a percent of our income to save for a down payment. This account isn't attached to any of our other accounts, so we can't easily transfer money out of it. As we pay down our debt the plan will be to add that extra money to the house fund!
Next stop....

via

It's really amazing to see how much money we can actually have when we don't spend it on frivolous things. I think we learned a lot this month and I look forward to using this new knowledge in the upcoming month.

To check out other no-spend month related posts, check out my buddy Erin's blog.

Budget Friendly Healthy Meal Planning

The beginning of this new year kicked off a healthy eating lifestyle as well as a no spend month. Well, if you know anything about healthy food you know....
$$$$$
Why oh why can't the cheap-o ramen noodles that I love so dearly be good for me?

After a couple of weeks I feel like I've got this eating healthy while sticking to a budget thing down and wanted share the method to my madness in hopes of helping some you achieve this as well, because who DOESN'T want to eat healthy and save money?

That's what I thought. 

The absolute BIGGEST component of me both eating healthy and saving money at the grocery store is PLANNING! I'm a planner by nature {can I get a woot-woot from my Type-A-Twin, Erin?} so I actually enjoy sitting down and meal planning / couponing each week {and prepping my meals as well}. If this sounds like torture to you, just trust me, it's not that bad and is SO worth it! 

I grocery shop on the same day every week, Friday. This alone has helped because I know I only need to plan / buy food / budget for 1 week's time. This also allows me to plan on the same day every week, Thursday. Getting in that routine makes it more likely that I'll actually follow through. 

I do ALL of my grocery shopping at Target. I do this for a couple of reasons:

1. Target is the bomb.com

2. They have EVERYTHING 

3. Red Card Red Card Red Card!

4. Online Coupons

5. CARTWHEEL

A couple of notes on that....

1. We have a Target DEBIT Red Card. Charging groceries to a credit card kind of defeats the purpose of trying to get out of debt, which is the whole reason to have a no spend month. Target offers a free Red Card that links to your bank account and simply auto-withdraws from your account. You get the benefits of 5% off every purchase but don't need to rack up more debt! Win-Win my friends, WIN FRICKIN WIN. 

2. If you don't know what Cartwheel is, get on your phone and download the app NOW. It's essentially Pinterest for Target coupons. I know, mind blown. You just save the coupons you want to use, they scan your phone at check out and BAM! Additional savings! 

3. You can combine Cartwheel, Target's online coupons, Target Weekly Ad coupons AND your Red Card. YES! YOU CAN!

So, with that knowledge, here's what I do every Thursday.

1. I create a word document and add a table for a week's worth of breakfasts, lunches, dinners & snacks. Then I'll go through and enter meal ideas. I will usually hit up Pinterest at this point to get ideas and inspiration, especially for our dinners. I also jot down ingredients Jason wants to make his lunches, anything Kenley needs for her lunches, and anything else we NEED for the week {toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.}

2. Once the general plan is set I visit Target.com to search for coupons. If you haven't done this before, here's how to find coupons:

Click on the "Weekly Ad" link towards the top right of Target's home page. 

 Then scroll about halfway down the page {past the weekly ad} and you'll find the link for "Coupon Savings".

 This will bring you to the page where you can search and print coupons based on the categories on the right. It also shows your coupons and your savings!

SO easy! 

3. I will then visit Cartwheel and search / browse / pin all the coupons I can. 

*NOTE! It's taken me a long time to refuse the urge to buy things simply because of a coupon. Instead I will only print & pin coupons I actually need for the meals I plan. 

4. Next up, I tweak the meal plan based on the coupons available. If there's a great deal on steaks - I throw in a steak dinner or whatever. I simply do what I can to save on an item but remain healthy. 

5. Once my coupons & meal plan is finalized I write out a grocery list noting any coupons I have so I am sure to remember when shopping. I have also found that organizing my shopping list by aisle {yes, I know Target that well} helps cut my shopping time down by a ton!

6. I email myself the grocery list so that I have it on my phone and can pull it up while shopping. 

7. Then, I shop for groceries buying ONLY what is on the list. Target is FAMOUS for sucking you in and making you THINK you just have to have that Valentines Day themed mini-bucket from the Dollar Spot. I don't care if it's on sale for $0.50, if you don't NEED IT to survive, you don't buy it. 

8. Finally, you check out, save a butt load of money and eat healthy delicious meals for a week.

REPEAT. 

I'm sure this seems a little psycho, but honestly, I cannot express to you how much this has helped me meal plan, eat healthy, save money on groceries AND cut down on shopping time. Some extra effort on the front end more than pays off when I see the money I've saved on food and the pounds I've lost!

The "H" Word.

There's a word that's been looming over our heads for the past several years...

HOUSE. 

Jason and I have been renting our townhouse since November 2008 and we love it. We have two floors, two bedrooms, one and a half baths, a pool, a community room perfect for parties, a work out room, a wonderful location and all the perks of renting! Read: when your bathtub starts to leak and all of a sudden there's a giant gaping hole in your downstairs ceiling you call a number,  it's repaired in a day and costs a grand total of $0.00. 

Our little place is perfect for the four of us.

But, as our family grows {which we are actively taking measures to avoid for at least a couple of years} we will need to move, there just isn't room for another human in our current home. 

Plus, it's not ours. We are allowed to paint which I have taken full advantage of but that's about it. I can't get new carpet or expand the kitchen. I can't update the light fixtures or put in crown molding. 

I don't want to leave the convenience of renting {or our pool} but I do want a place to make our own. 

When I start thinking about owning a home I get all kinds of overwhelmed. 

The thought of having to save for a down payment - terrifies me. 

The thought of searching for a home - terrifies me. 

The thought of getting a lemon or a money pit - terrifies me. 

The thought of buying a house with a creepy ghost in it - double terrifies me. 

Our current lease is through February 2014 and my guess is we will sign one more either 12 or 15 month lease which puts us in a home probably spring of 2015. So with a little less than two years until home-ownership, where do I start? Start saving? Get pre-qualified? Or do I just create a new Pinterest board for home decorating ideas and just hope for the best? 

Seriously though, I am CLUELESS when it comes to this. Do any of you have any good resources to help me calm the F down? 

While I wait for your advice I'll just be pinning...

{I wish}

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{yeah right}

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{yes please}

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{genius}

via

{an absolute MUST}

via

The "B" Word

The dreaded "B" word that absolutely everyone hates...

BUDGET.

I am in no way a financial expert, in fact, quite the opposite. I am embarrassed to admit that up until last year I was quite the financial mess. I didn't budget, I didn't track my spending, I made horrible financial decisions and I'm paying for it. Literally. 

Jason and I lived together for 4 years before getting married but we didn't have a joint account until after the wedding. We just split the bills and were otherwise responsible for our own spending and let me tell you that was a disaster. I remember reading somewhere that the number one cause of marital trouble is finances, so you know me (a total spaz) I began to worry that if we didn't get our ducks in a row we were doomed.

Last year (2012), we made some financial changes that have really helped get us on track and have made a world of difference in terms of the "B" word.

1. We got a joint checking. Not to say this is the way to do it for all couples, but having a joint checking account makes paying bills a hell of a lot easier! It's also made us both a lot more financially responsible, when you're sharing money you tend to be smarter about what you're buying. 

2. We communicate, a lot. I think this is the absolute most important thing you can do. We always tell each other what we've spent money on no matter how small the purchase so that we are both aware of where our account stands at any given time. Online checking also helps a ton because we are both able to check our balance on a daily basis. 

3. We have separate accounts too. We have a monthly allowance that we give our personal accounts and we can spend that money as we choose, no questions asked. This also allows us to buy each other gifts without the other seeing the purchase come up in our joint account. 

4. We use a super awesome spreadsheet that I created. A bunch of you have asked me for this in the past, so here it is!

January Budget
Income 1:	31-Dec		15-Jan		$2.00
	$1.00		$1.00
Income 2:	4-Jan	11-Jan	18-Jan	25-Jan	$4.00
	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
Extra Income:	$1.00				$1.00
					$7.00
Category		Budget			Actual
Rent
Comcast
AUM
Xcel Energy
Sprint
Centerpoint
Banfield
Student Loans
Car Payment
Car/Renters Insurance
Lifetime
Jason CC
Kristin CC
Medical
Gas/Fuel
Car Maintenance
Target
Food/Groceries
Meals Out
Coffee
Champps
Restaurant/Bars
Entertainment
Alcohol
Misc.
Kenley
Bailey
Clothes/Shopping
Health/Beauty
Gifts
Basketball/Softball
Fantasy Sports
Home Improvements
Travel
Business Expenses
Savings
TOTAL
Income vs. Money Spent

*At the top I keep track of our income. I get paid on the 15th and last day of every month...so that top row is where I enter my paychecks. 

*Jason gets paid every Friday, so the second row is where I enter his paychecks (don't worry, we both get paid more than $1.00)

*The next row is where I add any additional income we make; whether its side jobs, gifts, or whatever. 

*The green box is a formula to keep track of how much money we have earned for that particular month. 

*Next I list all of our monthly bills. I put the budget in the first column (this is based on the average we spent for all of last year) and then once I pay the bill I enter the actual cost in to the second column.

*The next chunk is for Gas and Car Maintenance...since this varies pretty drastically from month-to-month, Ii don't set a budget for it...I just track it in the second column. 

*The next section is for all things we typically spend our money each month. We have set budgets for each category and work hard to spend within that budget. And, yes, Champps has it's own budget....we eat there a lot.

*Next we have what I call the roll-over category. We have a budget set for these categories but because they aren't something we spend money on every month (the Kenley category does not include diapers...it's essentially extra stuff for her....like clothes or toys) the unspent amount will roll-over to the next month. So for example...let's say we spent $100 on gifts last year, our monthly average would be $8.33/month which would be this year's monthly budget. Then let's say we only spend $6.00 on gifts in January...the extra $2.33 would roll over to February making the gift budget $10.66 for that month. Got it?

*The last category is things we don't spend money on very often or get reimbursed for (like business expenses and fantasy sports...when Jason wins)

*Finally, we track our savings per month at the very bottom! 

This system has been working great for us! But, I found that in order to be successful you need to check your bank account and enter in purchases at the very least a few times a week. When you're looking way back it makes it more difficult to account and budget. You also need to be avid debit card users like we are. We very rarely have cash on us and if we do it will be for something specific so that we can add it to our budget in the proper category. 

It was pretty eye-opening to do this for a full year and see how much money we spent in each category. It definitely has helped us tighten up our finances and set a stricter budget for this year. 

I know this isn't for everyone, but if this has worked for me, it may just work for you!

Give it a try and tell me what you think! 

Or share with me what works for you! I'm always interested in getting new ideas to add to my system!