I've been couponing for a few years now. When people find that out, the #1 question is : "How do you keep track of all that food so you're not throwing out food that's been in your freezer for a while?" My answer "I plan all my dinners." I only plan the main course nothing else. I have an erasable monthly calendar that I call my "Motherboard". I put EVERYTHING on it. Chores, baths, laundry, etc.
I have a little cheat sheet of dinner ideas I look over & place that dinner on whatever day I choose. It takes me about 15 minutes to complete the monthly menu. That's it. I do have an erasable board next to the freezer, but it hasn't been updated in months :(, but I know approximately what's in there. I even add left overs (LO) or pick (everyone choose what they want cereal, quesadillas, etc). This seems to work for us, if I'm running somewhere my husband can start dinner. In no way is this set in stone, but at least we have a goal & aren't arguing about "What's for dinner?" & it's cuts out the "I don't know what to cook, let's go eat out" syndrome, which save us money, too.
So try it out. Start with a list of dinners your family likes to eat. Then plan a weekly dinner menu. If you're adventurous, try tackling an entire month. BTW, I have been know to skip a month or two due to sheer busyness.
Remember saving money on food is great, but if you're throwing food away because it's too old, you're basically throwing money in the garbage! Tell me your menu ideas, too! I'd love to hear about it.
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