Happpyyyy Friday, Friend!
As we wrap up the first month of 2025, we hope you’re feeling empowered to tackle your finances in a big way.
As we mentioned before, if you’re serious about saving money and building wealth, it’s time to focus on the Big 3 budget busters.
So far, we’ve covered housing and transportation (and trust us, we’ll have more tips for those in the future).
Today, we’re getting into food— the one expense that can sneak up on you the most!
Let’s face it: food is necessary, but it’s so easy to overspend.
One minute you’re grabbing a snack because you’re “hungry” and the next, you’ve dropped $50 on a grocery haul that somehow only contains $30 worth of actual meals and $20 of impulse buys. Whoops! 🫢
If you’re ready to save money without resorting to eating hotdogs for every meal (even if some us think that might actually be the dream😅), we’ve got you covered.
BONUS: If just some extra money would be helpful for the grocery budget, then enter our giveaway for a $1,000 Visa gift card (we’ve partnered with some friends to also give the winner a $1,500 gift card to Scott Kemper Imagery and a copy of our book!)
🍱 How to be a Meal Planning Queen
The way we see it, there are two types of meal planners: Jen’s and Jill’s.
Jen’s Method | Prioritizes realism over perfectionism.
Listen, Pinterest-worthy meal plans are cute, but they’re not practical for the average adult who’s also trying to juggle work, life, and possibly a Netflix marathon on the side.
-
Step 1: Look at your week and be honest about the days you’ll have energy to cook. 🔋It’s okay if you can’t bulk cook all in one day, or can’t muster the energy seven out of seven days.
-
Step 2: Keep it simple, baby. 👌🏻 Prioritize short ingredient lists, little to no prep time, and as few dishes as possible. Find your recipes that are easier to say yes to before saying yes to takeout. Every week Jen does some version of a one-pot chicken and rice, a freezer meal (sometimes prepared in advance, sometimes store-bought), and a salad.
Jill’s Method | Prioritizes flexibility.
Sometimes you lay out a nice plan but wake up the next day and you’re just not feeling it. If this sounds like you, don’t set yourself up for failure. Instead, make it easy to pivot!
-
Step 1: Each week take inventory of what you already have on hand and meal options that can be made with those ingredients. ChatGPT can be a great resource here! 📝
-
Step 2: Create an options list with 4-7 dinner’s that can be made with the ingredients you have (and of course grocery shop the rest!). ✅
-
Step 3: When meal times roll around, use this list like a menu and decide what sounds good in that moment. (⚠️ NOTE: These options should include shelf staples or freezer items, so it’s no biggie if a meal doesn’t get made, it can just be made another day that week.)
If you’re moving into 2025 embracing a season of less spending, you’re certain to agree this week’s episodes are full of fire advice to help us stay on track!
On Tuesday, Jen and Jill shared some great actionable advice in Tips For Living on an Extremely Tight Budget (Ep 478).
For all us folks focusing on the Big 3 expenses, Jen and Jill are joined by a special guest to chat about all things meal planning in Meal Planning to Save Money & Reduce Food Waste with Jess Dang (Ep 479)
Tune in wherever you get podcasts and let us know what you thought of the episode over on our latest Instagram post!
✅ Read: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day. This quick read is a fun guide with actionable ideas to help prioritize daily “highlights!”
✅ Watch: Wasted! The Story of Food Waste. 🚮
✅ Do: What’s worse than food waste? Literal money waste. Make sure you’re not missing out on potential earnings from missing retirement accounts. Check out Capitalize today to help you roll over your old 401(k). **
✅ Meal Prep: Easy Taco Salad. Spend with pennies. 🌮
Spending is a skill and you can learn to master it. If you’ve ever struggled with being unable to stick to a budget or felt guilty about spending on something you enjoy, Jen and Jill’s debut book is going to be your next favorite read.
Bon appétit,
Misti
⭐️⭐️ P.S. Want to share all this goodness with your friends AND earn cool Frugal Friends merch?
**Means this is a sponsored or affiliate section. We may earn a small fee or commission when you choose to try one of our sponsor or affiliate partners. But opinions are still 1000% our own.
