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A frugal menu can help you to slash your grocery bill!frugal menu Having a menu will help you to:
 A good menu takes your budget into consideration and can save you quite a bit of money. What are your favorite meals on a budget? Share them with us here! How often you need to plan your menu depends on how often you shop for groceries. If you shop every week, then do a one-week menu plan before you do your shopping. Take your family's preferences and lifestyle into consideration when you do your planning. Also try to plan balanced meals.The Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center Nutrition Department recommends for a balanced diet:
How to make a balanced plate Cook In Steps for creating your frugal menu: The first step to creating your menu is to decide what you will eat for the next week or whatever period of time you are planning the menu for. This will take some creativity and will become easier with practice. There are many things to consider when choosing your meals: What type of weather are you having? Do you have any days when you will be home late and need something extra quick and easy? Will you be having company? what have you eaten a lot lately and are tired of? What types of produce are in season? Try to add some variety to your frugal menu so you won't get bored with your choices. To stretch your budget further, try to include some low-cost menu items such as vegetarian options and less expensive cuts of meat. Also, don't forget to include fruits and vegetables in your menu! After you have completed your meal plan, make a list of the ingredients you will need to prepare the meals you have planned. After you have made your list of ingredients, go through your pantry or cabinets and your refrigerator and freezer and see how many of these items you already have. Mark these off of the list (make sure you have the quantity you will need for the recipe!). If you come across something that you have on hand that needs to be used soon, you can adjust your menu to include this item - you may be able to mark something else off of your grocery list. I also like to try to put my list roughly in order of where things are located in the store. This makes it easier to keep up with what I need to look for next as I am making my way through the grocery store. If you collect manufacturer's coupons, go through these now and see if any of them can be used for things on your grocery list. Take your list and any coupons that you have selected with you to the store and try to stick to buying things on the list and nothing else. (More tips for grocery shopping .) By planning your meals you can save a lot of money and headaches. It’s a great return on a relatively small investment of time!
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