Step 2 of The Financial Fitness Bootcamp Course

It is so easy to spend too much money on food. Recently with the holidays, I’ve been eating out more. So here is a challenge for both you and me.

Challenge #2:

Make a list of at least 5 easy, quick, go-to meals that you always have ingredients on hand for and tape it on the inside of a cupboard or some other place that you won’t lose it.

My sister Karen and co-author of our book: Living a Rich Life as a Stay-at-Home Mom told me the following,

“Food can be a huge category in which money can be saved. For example, last weekend I was completely exhausted, worn out from Christmas and the food preparation that goes along with it.

My husband mentioned going out to get something at a store and I jumped at the chance to get out of making dinner and said: “Let’s all go together and go to dinner as well.” So we did. We ended up in a restaurant with our three young kids who were hard to handle and weren’t really eating their $9.00 meals. My husband had to take one of them out to the car early. The meal ended up costing us $55.00 with tax and tip and although I enjoyed my food, I would rather have saved the money to use on a date night.

On the other hand, yesterday my plans for the day got completely altered due to circumstances beyond my control. I was just getting home at the same time my husband was. I was tempted to pick up dinner on the way but we just spent $55 on dinner four days ago so I couldn’t really justify it.

Instead, I decided to whip up some scrambled eggs and bacon which I know my family loves. I put a cutie (little orange) on their plate as well for a little more nutrition and served up hot chocolate as the drink. My whole family ate it happily and they were ecstatic to get a special drink. The dinner cost less than $5.00 and fed all 5 of us.

Sometimes you don’t have the time or energy to cook a big meal. Sometimes you just can’t think of what to make and it is really easy to make the pizza call. However, if you have something super simple to fall back on that your family will eat and that you can serve up quickly with the little hassle it will save you lots of money”.

So take a minute or two right now and think of meals that you will always have on hand. Write them out or type them and print them out. Make sure to tape it on the inside of your cupboard or pantry doors or have it handy on a cell phone. Plus, having it on the inside of the doors may come in handy for other family members who are wondering what there is to eat as well.

Some examples of mine include Tuna fish sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, spaghetti with sauce, canned soup, frozen meals, pancakes, eggs, cereal, egg sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, canned veggies with rice, and more. Having a list like this of what could be made in a few minutes is a sure-fire way to avoid spending $30.00+ on a convenience meal out for the family.