Menu Plan Monday

Monday/Tuesday: Black Bean Taco Salads
Wednesday: Opening Dinner at the Beacon
Thursday: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese (requested by Jonah)
Friday: Veggie Omelets (spinach, mushroom, green pepper, and onion for sure)
Saturday: Homemade Pizza (spinach, mushroom, and black olives for sure)
Sunday: TBD once I figure out next month's meal plan

Big news! For the month of September, we will be doing the Think Outside The Box Breakfast Challenge.  Look for more information on that on Friday, but I'll give you a hint...it involves a break from cereal.

In other big news, at least for me, I will be switching from doing our meal planning 2 weeks at a time to doing our meal planning one month at a time.  The format of the Menu Plan Monday posts won't change, but my behind-the-scenes lists will.  I want to have all of our meals planned out for the month at once (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).  I will buy all of the pantry staples for the entire month in one big shopping trip right away, and do weekly trips to pick up produce and milk and such as we need them. 

I'm hoping that this will help us stay on budget better.  I tend to do poorly at spreading my money out over the entire month, so my plan is this:

• 50% of the grocery budget for the big shopping trip at the beginning of the month
• 25% of the grocery budget for the weekly "as needed" trips
• 25% of the grocery budget for diapers and deals throughout the month

Since I'll be doing the big shopping at the beginning of the month, I'll know if I've over-spent on the pantry staples right away, and can plan the other categories accordingly.  Since I'll have the meals planned out, I should have a pretty good idea of what I'll need to buy for my weekly trips as well.  That leaves me free to spend the other chunk of money on deals as they come up, but if it's gone, then I don't need those deals.

I took the time yesterday to do some pricing at Sam's Club vs. Walmart to see if that would be worth the effort to do some bulk shopping.  There are a few items that I could get for a better price, but surprisingly, not a lot.  I think I will stick with borrowing my brother's membership every now and then for those few things, rather than getting our own membership and shopping there often.