Well there were a couple of different things to consider this fortnight that I took into account. The first was that the next 2 weeks are just before school holidays and the second was that I wanted to change my meal planning weeks from Monday to Sunday to Wednesday to Tuesday.
With school holidays approaching I am trying to think ahead a little to sustain what I have in my freezers for main meals already. I really want to keep what I can for the holidays so I can keep under my budget in the following fortnight. Because the next fortnight is in the school holidays, I know the kids will be eating me out of house and home where the pantry is concerned! So the less I need to spend on expensive main meal items the better. I can put most of the grocery budget towards pantry items.
Changing my meal planning weeks is something I do whenever I feel the need. Its important to be flexible if you need to. What ever makes things easier at different times in your day to day. For me I found shopping on the weekend was interfering with my family time too much. When kids are at school all week those 2 days at the end of each week are vital and I was getting down to only 1 due to grocery shopping. For me it's not as it is for you, for me it's a day long task due to filming for the channel etc. So I've now changed it to a Wednesday. Wednesdays are great for me as both kids are at school, so its a great opportunity to 'work' and not feel like the kids are missing out. So for now that is the current meal planning weeks starting this fortnight.
My NORMAL rule for setting a grocery budget is $70 per adult (persons aged 14yrs+ because we all know that teenagers eat as much as adults at this point!) and $50 per child (under 14yrs) in the household is the main grocery shop budget for a fortnight. I feel no matter where you are living in Australia - city, country or coastal states - it's a fair $ goal for your budget. For us that is $240 for the main shop in the first week. I then have a flat $70 for the top up shop in the second week of the fortnight. I base that off what ever I set per adult. So in total that is NORMALLY $310 for the fortnight for my family of 4.
Keeping all this mind my budget for my main shop is this week is $240. I’m currently estimating that I will spend around $258. I do have a trick up my sleeve to get under budget, so be sure to watch the matching grocery haul to see if I stay under budget !
Some tools I used to do my meal planning were:
(VIP's use the shop code found on the private Facebook Group to download FREE)
- 7pk Monthly Meal Planner + Shop Your Pantry Meal Ideas + 40 Dinner Theme Night Idea's + Blank Family Favorite Meals Sheet - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- A Easy Grocery Calculator - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- 2pk Grocery List Budget + Grocery & Meal Planning Wish List - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- Lunch Box Meal Planner - INSTANT DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE
- Daily Meal Planner For The Busy - INSTANT DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE
Print out these using the VIP shop code found on the Facebook Group!
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So that is where I'm at this week. Be sure to check out the matching grocery haul vlog if you want to see what I got and how I went with staying within my budget.