Time Management Tips for Teachers: Simple and Easy Monthly Menu Planning

You've worked hard All. Day. Long.

You arrive home, and the first words out of your family's mouths is, "What's for dinner?"

There are no high fives for an awesome day.  

There is no sympathy or concern about the rough day you experienced.

There is no talking through it.

No, you've come home to a hungry crowd, and they are demanding to be fed.

Wouldn't you love to change all of the above?

The answer is so easy and simple.  

Monthly menu planning will help with time management in your life.

You'll even find that you have time for some rest and relaxation each afternoon.

Best of all is that your family will be invested and involved with this plan, taking some of the responsibility off of your shoulders!

Steps for Easy Menu Planning

Step 1: Make a list.

What are your go-to meals?  What about elaborate meals?  What are your all-time favorite meals?

Brainstorm a list of these meals.  I like to use this FREE form to make a master list.  

Step 2: Plan meals around the ingredients you have.

By planning meals around the items in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and the list of items you plan to purchase, you will save time during the month by not making multiple trips to the grocery store.

RELATED: Once a Month Grocery Shopping (part 1)

Step 3: Include your family.

Including your family once a month for menu planning is a great learning activity for your kids and keeps everyone involved and invested.  Have your family help fill out the "Master List of Menus" you downloaded above.  Make sure that each family member has his or her favorite dishes and meals included each month.

RELATED:  Once a Month Grocery Shopping (part 2)

Step 4: Plan out Your month on a calendar.

I like to plan my month in PENCIL.  Inevitably, something happens to change at least one night during the month.  Think about these things before listing your meals:

• Is there a set night of the week for church, sports, meetings, etc.?
• Is there an activity (conferences, PLC, faculty meetings, kids' soccer practices, piano lessons, etc.) one or two afternoons a week that makes you arrive home later? 
• Is there a day of the week when you are always super tired?  (Mine is always Monday and Thursday)
• Do you like cooking a big Sunday meal?
• Do you have the same meal one night a week (ex: taco Tuesday or pizza Friday)?

(Here's a FREE calendar to use.)

Keep these answers in mind as you pencil in your monthly menus.  My personal plan always includes:

• one or two "easy" nights each week
• a night for someone else to cook (Remember, even younger children can put a loaf of bread, cold cuts, chips, and plates on the table.)
• a leftover night (Keep younger children busy while you rest by letting them make menus of the foods available.)

Refer to #3 above, and include your family.  Let each family member choose his or her favorite meal, and pencil it in on a night that will work best.  

Complete the entire month, and hang the calendar on the fridge so that all family members have access.

(Don't forget to save this pin to your favorite Pinterest board so that you can refer to this post as needed.)

RELATED:  Editable Calendars (with free updates for life)

Step 5: What's for Dinner?

Each night of the week, quickly check your menu for the next evening's planned meal.  Prep ingredients, or remove items from the freezer that need to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.  Set out the crockpot if you need to add items the next morning before heading to school.  

You will no longer have to start thinking about your "second job" of cooking dinner every night.  You can now come home to rest and relax for a bit because you have a plan in place for the evening's meal.

Best of all, when your family asks, "What's for dinner?" Just point to the refrigerator while laying on the couch without opening your eyes or saying a word.  

Helping you with a plan and some rest time after a long day of work, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching

Once-a-Month Grocery Shopping - Part 2

How did you do with getting your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer organized?  It was a real eye-opener for me the first time I did it! 

Now that you’ve made a list of what you have on hand, it’s time for step two!

When you go shopping for clothes, shoes, items for the home, etc., you probably don’t go into a store planning on paying full price, do you?  No, we all love those great sales and try to find the best deals.  Grocery shopping should use the same mentality, and that is what we’re going to focus on this week.

Step Two

Whether you use (or don’t use) the weekly flyers for the best sales, it’s time to look at them just a little differently.  Pull out those weekly ads in paper form or online, and think critically as you look at the ads.  The point is to get stocked up on the things you normally use in your meal preparation.  Look through everything that is on sale.  What has the best prices?  What is your grocery budget?  You might only be able to get one item at the sale price, or your grocery budget might be enough that you can get several.  Remember, items will last just as long on your pantry shelf, refrigerator, or freezer as they will on the store shelf, waiting on you to pay full price when you are completely out of the item!

The secret to saving the most money is to get to the point where you are ONLY buying those items that are on sale.  The “Big Idea” is to get stocked up by purchasing only the items that are on sale, even if it is not something you need for this week’s menus.  When money allows, buy several of those items.  (Many sales items are repeated in a 12-week cycle.)  Always check the expiration date, and don’t purchase more than you can use in that length of time.

Now that you’ve perused the weekly ad, make a list of the items you want to purchase.  Be sure to include the name, size, and price of the item on sale.  If money is tight and there is something you want but it is not a pressing need, don’t purchase it.  Wait until the next time you see it on sale.  If money is REALLY tight, you might only be able to stock up on a limited number of items.  However, anything you can stock up on will save you money in the long run.

Add up the total of everything on your list so that you have an estimate of the cost.

If there are multiple stores that have items you want to purchase, combine them into one shopping day if possible, but don’t forget to take along a cooler for your cold items. 

By staying stocked up on items, you will find that it is rare to need to purchase things at full price.

Read the next blog post in this series, which includes your next steps to save money as you begin making a monthly menu using ONLY those items you already have on hand.

Helping you save money and stretch those dollars is just…

MY KIND OF TEACHING!

Once-a-Month Grocery Shopping - Part 1

Let’s face reality; teachers don’t make an exorbitant amount of money.  Most of the teachers I know live on tight budgets. 

Through the years, I’ve had to make some choices about the best ways to stretch my hard-earned money...just like you’ve had to do, too.  Several years ago when my children were little and I had only been teaching for a few years, it seemed that it was harder and harder to stretch those dollars.  We also had a dream to one day build a house and be able to afford to move out of the trailer we were living in. 

There was no way to cut our “fixed” expenses, such as our mortgage, car payment, etc.  One area I felt I could really control was our grocery budget, so I decided to start grocery shopping only ONE time a month.  I wanted to see how “LOW I could go”!

STEP ONE

A few days before going to the grocery store, make a list of everything in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.  You may need to spend some time organizing everything.  By keeping similar foods together, it is easier to know what you have.  After you have completed this, make a list of all of the items you need to purchase to remain “stocked up”.

Once you have a master list, it will help you know which items you purchase on a regular basis.  Most people use the same ingredients over and over with little deviation.  For me, there are only a few times, such as holidays, birthdays, or other special occasions, when I purchase different items.

According to how many items you have, this may take you several hours or even a few days to complete this first task.  However, it is VERY important that you know what you have as a starting point.  Part of my problem before using this method was that I would buy things I already had because I was disorganized.  Not only did this lead to wasteful spending, but food would sometimes have to be thrown out because it would no longer be edible by the time I “discovered” it. 

Put those items with the closest date to expiring in the front so that you will use those items first!  Becoming organized will help keep you from wasting food.  Throwing away food is like throwing money in the garbage, and you would never do that, would you?

What are you waiting for?  Well, maybe it’s a ready-to-print master list.  If so, I’ve got you covered!  Click on the picture to download and print.

Spend some time this week discovering what is in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.  

Click here to read your next steps to save money as you begin grocery shopping in a whole new way.

Helping you save money and stretch those dollars is just… 

MY KIND OF TEACHING!

See you soon!