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Does anyone follow menus at their house?

I'm torn. I've gone through and made 4 weeks worth of menus that I think I could repeat over and over with a few minor adjustments (adding/removing seasonal items or produce when appropriate). It looks alright, and I came up with 28 different dinners to use so I'm not always eating the same thing and I even went through the back of each menu and made a grocery list.

I think this would help me stay on track with a grocery budget and cut out the extra dining out if I didn't have the "what's for dinner" question looming over my head all the time.

My question for those of you who have menus is this: Do they work? Do you stick to them? Do they save you any time or money? Do you like it?

Asked at 8:20 AM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: kabbot01

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Featured Answer

Answered at 11:10 AM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: BrandonsMom1000

I started to do this when money got tight. It does save time and money. I shop every two weeks and plan my meals. I tend to save $50 every two weeks, when I plan.
Answers (5)
Answered at 9:18 AM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: gemgem

I used to use them and it didnt work well in my house. Maybe it will work for you though. I see alot of women say they work but here in my house my kids tend to get finicky so I cant preplan meals when their food likes change so often or they go through stages. I had some weird stages with my kids like one time my dd didnt want to eat anything but yogurt, lunchables, and veggies.
Answered at 11:44 AM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: tropicalmama

I shop every week, plan my meals for two weeks at a time. It works, but I do have to make sure I have stuff in the house to make different meals from what I plan. Every now and then, something will come up where the meal I planned is going to take an hour to prep, and I only have a half hour or something. Or I'll find that what I planned just doesn't appeal to me that day. I wouldn't plan 4 weeks worth, personally, just b/c like I said, I sometimes find I don't want what I planned. Or I'll start craving something today that I planned for the 4th week, and that won't work. lol. It does seem to help with my shopping and how much I spend, but not a whole lot. If things changed and I had to stop planning and start winging it again, it wouldn't send my grocery bill thru the roof again or anything.
Answered at 2:54 PM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: AndreaRUJuiced

who has time??? We fly by the seat of our pants - of course I try to use left overs for new dinners - we just eat as healthy as possible and play it by ear - i try to plan at least a day or two ahead with defrosting meats, etc - sometimes that doesn't even work out our schedule is always changing
Answered at 6:27 PM on Nov. 22, 2008 by: happytohelp

I used them for awhile and it totally messed up the routine, with the time in making them. My husband loves cooking so when he is home he does it. It didn't save us any money at all if any it set us back at least £40.

Stacey.x