In today’s world of daily increasing food prices it is important to learn how to adapt our favorite recipes and to create weekly meal plans to keep the cost of food within our budgets. 

The best way to figure out your weekly food budget is to assess your current spending. Save your receipts for a month of shopping. All of your receipts. Including meals purchased ready-made and meals eaten in restaurants. This will give you the ability to see what you actually are spending each month. You can compare your monthly spending to the chart provided by the USDA to see how your spending stands up to what they have posted. Of course you need to know what the average costs of food are in the area you live to make a fair assessment. It is also important to make sure that the number you come up with fits within your overall household budget – if not, you may need to compromise by pulling back on some of the more expensive items you purchase.

While there are an abundance of online sites for meal planning and menu planning, they are generally geared to a specific diet or weight loss plan and don’t necessarily meet the needs of the kosher consumer. They also don’t take into account the recent rise in a favorite staple; eggs. Many budget conscious meal plans will tell you that eggs are a low cost item to keep on hand. However, in the US the cost of eggs has risen over 60% in the last year, making eggs less of a budget friendly food. 

Once you have your month’s spending in front of you it will be easier to see where costs can be cut. For many that means less dining out, less takeaway items and more homemade meals. To plan your weekly meals, set aside time once a week to write down a meal plan that includes all of the meals your family eats, taking into consideration meals that they enjoy. Before doing this it is important to see what is in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer so you use what you have and don’t buy duplicates. Get into the habit of dating foods you freeze, whether they are store bought or homemade. Write a shopping list based on your menu, but also be prepared to be flexible. For example, if you had planned on making eggplant for dinner one evening but when you are in the market you see that eggplant is more expensive than anticipated – or that it is out of stock – but you see zucchini is on sale, consider substituting the zucchini for the eggplant as they cook in similar ways. Get creative with recipes and learn which foods can be substituted for others. 

Another way to stick to your budget is to shop smart. Once a month, bulk buy things that can be stored easily at a lower cost, and buy produce locally based on what is grown locally and in season. Also ask your produce grocer if they have any less-than-perfect inventory they can give you a deal on. Bruised and over ripened fruits and veggies can be used in cooking with little to no discernible difference from their perfect counterparts. One creative budget minded shopper in Jerusalem has befriended a few produce vendors that will actually allow her to pick through the produce they are ready to toss and take what she wants for free. Another great way to get ‘free’ food is to plant a vegetable garden or container garden. This is a great way to teach children where food comes from and how to grow it. It has been shown in studies that children are more likely to eat foods they help to grow. If you have time and are inclined, foraging is a very popular trend and there are experts that teach guided classes. In Israel our own Adara Peskin Shalem leads both private and group classes on this. (Don’t eat wild plants unless you are 100% sure you know what the plant is, to avoid eating something toxic.) 

The main things to keep in mind when making a meal plan are: 

1. Knowing your budget 
2. Being aware of your current household inventory
3. Having a list to shop from but being capable of replacing items that don’t fit one’s budget or are out of stock 
4. Menu/meal planning with flexibility
5. Getting creative and thinking outside of the box  

You can create your own shopping list template or use a readymade template from the internet. Here are some that are adaptable and easy to download:

1. Grocery List Templates
2. Daily Menu templates
3. Food Budgeting Worksheets

Related Articles

Related