A Smart and Cheap Way to Plan Meals
I cook at home a whole bunch. It’s partly due to watching our expenses more carefully, and partly due to wanting to have healthier eating habits.
All the money we used to spend on eating out now goes to an increased grocery bill. It’s sad, but it’s much more expensive to shop and eat healthy things than it is to eat processed foods.
I try to browse the supermarket ads and buy things when they’re on sale. I’ve never been disciplined enough to use coupons on a regular basis, but if they’re right in front of me, I’ll take advantage of them.
But sometimes, what I plan to cook for the week is not on sale, and I end up buying stuff at full price. That drives me crazy!
But there’s a new service on the web now that can really help you a) shop the grocery sales, b) find meals that utilize items on sale and c) build your grocery list for you. It’s called Food On The Table.
Here’s how it works. You tell Food On The Table where you live and at what grocery stores you shop. You also tell it what proteins you want to prepare that week. It displays for you all the stuff that’s on sale that week at the grocery stores you patronize.
What’s cool is that you can compare up to 3 stores at one time and see who has what on sale.
Once you select your sale items, you can build a meal plan. Food On The Table has an extensive recipe database or you can upload your own favorite recipes to your account. This is a great feature because it allows you to cook more seasonally.
You find what’s on sale, and find a recipe to fit the sale. I usually work the other way around, which is why I spend more than I need to at the grocery store.
After you set up all the main dishes you’ll cook that week, Food On The Table generates a master grocery list for you…including everything from the recipes you’re utilizing. You can then eliminate any items you already have on hand, or add other items to your list. It even shows you a total of how much you’re saving that week by shopping the sales!
I’ve seen a lot of meal planning services out there. And I’ve seen a lot of coupon sites. But this is the first service I’ve seen that combines both and lets you kill two birds with one stone.
You can plan 3 meals per week for free with Food On The Table, or up to 7 meals with their premium membership. The premium membership ranges from roughly $5 to $10 per month, depending on how many months you purchase in advance.
A service that shows me sales, gives me recipes and generates my grocery list all in one session? I’m so there!
