Buying food is one of the most expensive items in the family budget. Planning these costs can save up to 30% of the money. Therefore, today we will learn to compile a list of products for the week.
Why do we need such a list?
Food stocks will not end suddenly, forcing once again to go to the store. If you manage to clearly follow the list, then you will not make impulsive purchases and save money.
The list is based on a predefined menu. All products will be cooked on time, and you won’t have to rack your brains over where to put leftover food so that it does not go bad.
Why make a menu?
It is difficult to determine what products are needed if you do not know what you are going to cook. Without a menu, the list will actually be taken from the ceiling, and in the middle of the week you will have to constantly buy something.
Perhaps, with the habit of developing a weekly menu, it will not be easy, and you will think that this is an extra waste of time. But just imagine what benefits you will get!
Firstly, the main task will be automatically solved - the purchase of products for a week. The list will be a simple listing of the ingredients of dishes on the menu.
Secondly, remember that thousands of housewives daily puzzle over what to cook today. They sort through the recipes, and then go to the store, because there are not enough trifles in the refrigerator. You can get rid of this hassle.
The diet will become more diverse, since it is unlikely that you will want to plan the same dinners in the form of pasta and salad in advance. You will learn how to cook new dishes.
Finally, the menu will help analyze how your diet is right and balanced.
How often do you need to make lists?
It is unlikely that you will be able to make your own standard list of products for a week once and forget about it. Firstly, you will not be constantly cooking the same dishes! Secondly, sometimes people celebrate holidays and go on diets, which requires adjusting the usual list. Thirdly, the summer menu is different from the winter.
List Types
Much depends on whether you have the habit of stocking and harvesting: do you freeze vegetables and fruits from the summer, do you make pickles and jams, do you cook home-cooked foods, do you buy sugar, cereals and potatoes for the future, etc.
If there is always stock, then in most cases A weekly grocery shopping list will be compiled based on what needs to be purchased. If you cannot boast of thrift, then the weekly grocery basket will include almost all the ingredients that are planned to be used in the next seven days.
There are also lists for special occasions. For example, if you plan to receive guests or decide to go on a diet from Monday.
Ready options
If you think that it’s enough to find a ready-made list of products for the week on the Internet, and the problem will be solved, then you are mistaken. Of course, there are such lists, but they may not be suitable for you, because each family has its own taste habits, and everyone has different budgets. Half of the products from someone else's list may simply not be necessary for you.
To simplify the task, you can use someone else's list, adjusting it to your needs. But first, you still have to make a weekly menu so that there is something to start from.
Menu Rules
Determine the day you will shop. Then you can plan your diet so that perishable foods are cooked first, and don't buy too much.
Bring all family members to this lesson.
Consider available stocks. Sugar, flour, groceries are usually purchased with a large supply, and there is no need to purchase them weekly.
Do not make a weekly food list on an empty stomach, otherwise many unnecessary items will appear on the list. However, immediately after the meal this should not be done either, otherwise the necessary things will seem optional.
Do not forget that army discipline in ordinary life is useless. If you suddenly do not want to eat what is assigned on the menu, or if you don’t have the strength to get up early in the morning to prepare the planned pancakes, do not force yourself. Make sure you have a stock of home-cooked foods and include in the list of products that will help out in such cases. For example, it can be dumplings, granola, cheese and sausage, yoghurts, canned fish , etc.
Writing a list
Each has its own methodology. When compiling lists and menus becomes a habit, you yourself will figure out how you find it easier. For the first time you can do so.
In order not to get confused, divide the list of necessary products for a week into groups: groceries, drinks, meat, chicken, sweets, etc. So it’s clearer and faster. You can even make detailed details, for example, divide the category “Vegetables” into “fresh”, “frozen” and “canned”. This technique will save time in the store - you do not have to run around with the trolley. And it will be even easier to do home bookkeeping if you do this.
Now start from the menu. Say, on Monday you have fried eggs with ham and coffee for breakfast, and for lunch - borsch and mashed chicken. Take the blank of the list with categories and arrange the ingredients into groups. In "Vegetables" - potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, beets and garlic. In "Drinks" - coffee. In "Meat Products" - chicken, beef, etc.
You can not list products immediately by group, but first make one big list according to the menu. Then calculate the amount of each ingredient and sort it into sections in the final list.
Of course, you can not waste time breaking down into groups and just list in a column all the products that are needed. Again, this is a matter of convenience.
After listing the required points, start adding optional items - sweets and delicacies. Next, add products with a long shelf life, the stocks of which are coming to an end (pasta, cereals, salt, coffee, tea).
In parallel, you can immediately sketch out several lists of products that will be needed in the week. For example, dairy products and bread are better to buy fresh.
List Example
As mentioned earlier, each family has its own sample menu for the week. The list of products, respectively, too. But first, you can use the template. For example, such.
- Milk products. Here we bring cheeses, milk, yogurts, sour cream, eggs, butter, cottage cheese, etc.
- Meat, chicken, fish and seafood. Include eggs, minced meat, stew, canned fish in this category.
- Spices and oils. These are any spices, vegetable oil, vinegar, mustard, all kinds of sauces.
- Vegetables fruits. You can list dried fruits, nuts, granola.
- Grocery. Macaroni, cereals, rice, soda, salt, sugar, flour, yeast, peas, beans, bread, etc.
- Beverages. Tea, coffee, cocoa. Do not forget to take into account your taste preferences. For example, add cream to dairy products if you add them to coffee.
- Delicatessen and sweets.
Let me remind you that for convenience you can detail your list of products for a week in any detail.
Disadvantages of menu planning
With all the advantages of the method, busy people may not like it. Your breakfast is coffee, do you have lunch in a cafe near the office, and in the evening prefer to cook a packet of ravioli or eat yogurt? Then compiling a detailed menu is not for you.
If you work a lot, then on weekends, most likely, you prefer to relax and engage in hobbies, rather than thinking about household chores. And, of course, after a hard working day, you least want to cook a complicated dinner.
In addition, it will take some time to search for recipes, distribute dishes by day and create a list of necessary products. Cooking according to the menu will take even more time. It turns out that the method is suitable only for people with a not very busy schedule.
Also, those who want to make weekly menus need to be able to cook at least basic dishes, otherwise it will be difficult at first. Of course, in the recipes the ingredients and their quantity are indicated, but, believe me, in practice everything may turn out to be different from what you think.
It’s psychologically difficult to obey a schedule all my life. There will be situations when, for example, on the menu for dinner you had yesterday’s buckwheat porridge with a patty, and you (or someone from the household) really want fried potatoes. You will cook potatoes and the whole routine will go wrong, since the porridge is not eaten, and other dishes are already planned for the next day.
What if there is no time or desire to make a menu?
To pre-compose a menu and clearly follow procurement lists, you need to be fairly organized and disciplined person. In the frantic rhythm of modern life, there is not always time for scrupulous housekeeping. But you can make a rough list of products for a week.
Even if you cook according to your mood, you still know approximately what foods you need. We suggest compiling two lists. The first is what you eat almost every day. For example, cheese, sausage, instant coffee, yogurts, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruits, butter, mayonnaise, sweets, etc. Make a basis for a weekly list.
Next, each time you will only need to slightly adjust your regular grocery shopping list for the week. Before you go to the store, look at the stocks in the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. Complete the list with basic products (cereals, pasta, potatoes, spices, canned goods) that end. It does not take much time.
Keep in mind that in this case situations will arise when you suddenly decide to cook something special, and you don’t have any necessary trifles (tomato paste, bread crumbs, gelatin, for example). Have to visit the supermarket once again. By the way, in total, constant trips to the store will take longer than if you “bought” once a week.
Once again about saving
Saving money is the main motive for those who decide to plan purchases. But an economical list of products for the week is a luxury, accessible only to prudent and thrifty housewives. Therefore, take note of the following tips.
- It would be nice to master such a useful quality as the ability to cook a delicious dish "from what it was" (casserole from the remnants of rice or mashed potatoes, croutons of browned bread).
- Eating semi-finished foods regularly is giving away money that could be spent on other nice things. Allocate one day a month to make semi-finished products. For example, wind a lot of stuffing and make cutlets, stuffed peppers and pancakes, stuffed cabbage, meatballs, dumplings for the future. All this can be frozen and, if necessary, simply brought to readiness.
- Check stocks from time to time to know which foods need to be cooked first, before they go bad.
- It is useful to calculate everything in advance and take exactly as much money to the store as there is enough to pay for the grocery basket in the list.
- Take the time to go to different stores and choose the one whose prices you like. Track promotions.
I hope this article has been helpful and you will begin to plan your purchases. If at the same time you will still collect checks and keep records of expenses, then very quickly learn to save.