According to Statisa.com, an average household in 2017 now consists of 3.14 members and apparently my family of 5 is not your typical family size.
So where am I going with this? Well, when it comes to a bigger family, everything is much more expensive – more mouths to feed, more clothes to buy, more attitudes to deal with (just a bonus) – but you get the point. Cutting cost by eating in is one of the biggest ways you can save. BJ’s is our go-to for bulk shopping (yes, we clip those coupons – and their retention marketing is on point by the way). For fresh items like veggies, bread and milk – we usually head to our local grocery store. Remember to create your weekly menu and grocery check list in advance and only buy what you need – stick to your list and stop gallivanting – according to my husband.
Side note: It amazes me how he can go into a grocery store and come out in less than 10 minutes with a week’s worth of groceries.
Check this listing of the best grocery apps to help streamline your shopping experience.
Meal planning is another useful trick to maintaining a budget. Not only does it allow us to manage our shopping expenses, but it gives you less ambiguity as to who’s cooking and for the thousandth time everyone asking…what’s for dinner? Trust me, it’s worth it.
Here’s my basic rules to finding the right meals for my family:
- Must be simple – less time the better
- Must be budget friendly – happy hubby, happy wife
- Must be tasty – no point of cooking food no one wants to eat
- Must be healthy – substitute fatty ingredients with healthier ones
Sounds simple? No not really…finding meals that everyone likes and doesn’t involve us eating out or making a buffet at home is hard. After several trial and errors, our list of go-to meals is slowly evolving. I like to find meals that my husband and I both love, but with a slight variation, the girls will eat it too. Below is my go-to list:
- Turkey Pasta
- Turkey Lasagna (yes, you can use that leftover sauce from the Turkey pasta: win-win)
- Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke Alfredo Bake
- Stir Fry Chicken with Bok Choy
- Chicken Stuffed with Prosciutto, Basil and Cream Cheese
- Lemon Chicken Pasta with Capers in White Wine Sauce
- Grilled anything with McCormick Grill Mates seasoning (Island Woodfire Grill and Garlic, Herb & Wine are our favorites!)
- Cajun Sausage & Chicken Pasta
- Freshly-made pizza
- Hamburgers with Hand-cut Sweet Potato Fries
Finally, if you are so eager and have the patience of a saint, try meal prepping. I guarantee you the amount of work and effort put forth in meal prepping will save you so much time and headache. I my friend, have not conquered this massive task. In keeping with my true advice, I leave to you links to those who have mastered this art:
- https://www.health.com/food/meal-prep-ideas
- https://greatist.com/eat/chicken-breast-recipes-you-can-meal-prep
- https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/meal-prep-recipes/
Thanks again for stopping by. Please follow my blog for more tips and recipes coming soon.
~Villy
VillyPoo 