I'm a Little OCD About Meal Planning

I used to go to the store everyday to get groceries for that night's dinner and the next day's lunch.  We lived in town and very close to a grocery store.  Then we moved.  There wasn't a grocery store in my town.  Not one.  At all.  I would still go everyday but usually after work.  Along with everybody else.  Did I mention I'm not a rushing crowd lover?  Then we moved again.  Farther from town.  And I now I had a toddler in tow.  While some days, going for groceries was my only time out of the house and my then toddler loved our outings, it got a little old.  Going 30 minutes, each way, everyday for bread.  Or milk.  Or chicken.  I decided start making a menu, a plan, and taking a list.

I'm a little OCD about my menu and list now.  I feel completely lost when I don't have a list.  It's just stressful.  Yes, I know it's just grocery shopping but if you're trying to stick to a budget, you gotta do what you gotta do!

I have a system that works so nicely for me.  It has really organized my meal planning, my kids school papers, coupons, and to-go menus.  So, I thought I'd share it.

 I use a binder to hold everything together and plenty of clear page protectors to stash everything in. 

I made these cards to help me remember ingredients and sides.  Each card is a meal and has everything that goes into that meal.  I'm a huge fan of quick and easy so some of them are super short!  I sit down with the previous menu, my cards, paper for my list, and any new recipes I'd like to try.  I plan my meals, being sure not to plan them to close to the last time they were on the menu, and make my list.  I also have a card with our staples, like bread, milk cheese, fruit, etc. so they're also added to the list.

I write out my menu in pencil to allow for changes or to move things from one night to another, if needed.  I keep this in the same page as the menu planning page.  Next to that is the menu for my girls school lunches so I can plan what days they'll be buying lunch and what days I actually have to make their lunches.

 I keep my coupon in this handy pouch and dig through them after them menu is made.  I keep a stash of restaurant coupons because who doesn't like to save a few bucks when you could and probably should be cooking.  Sometimes mama needs a night off too!

This has nothing to do with menu planning but it's super cute!  I carry crayons in my purse and have for years.  The kids can only color so much with 3 greens and a red that the restaurant gives them!  I had a prefect sized little pouch for them for quite a while but Mr Davis left it at the restaurant one night while I took the girls away from the table while he finished paying.  I blame him for leaving it & he blames me for not taking.  whatever.  He's wrong.  Anyway, I saw this cute little tin with crayons already inside.  It was on clearance at my Target for $1.24 so I couldn't NOT buy it!