How to Meal Plan For Two On A Budget
For many almost-retired couples, sticking to a food budget is essential. Here’s how to create a meal plan for two to help you spend less.
For an almost-retired or retired couple, the weekly food bill can take a big chunk out of the budget.
Everyone is talking about the high cost of groceries these days. Bob and I have definitely found we can’t be as free with our spending at the grocery store as we used to.
I recently posted about saving money on your food budget. One of my top recommendations was to meal plan and shop for a week or more at a time. Today I wanted to give a more detailed explanation of how to do that for anyone who would like to try meal planning for the first time.
Let’s start with the basic process I use to create a weekly meal plan for two.
- The first thing I do is check my refrigerator and pantry to see what I have on hand. A big part of saving on food costs is minimizing waste. So I want to note anything I need to use up in the next few days.
- I try to keep a running list of pantry items I have used and need to replace, but it’s good to take a quick inventory of the staples I have, as well.
- When I sit down to make my meal plan, I list the days I’m shopping for and leave space to fill in the menu for each day.
- Bob and I don’t really eat lunch. We try to eat a high protein breakfast every day, usually late morning. So I only plan breakfasts and dinners on my menu. (I typically buy some light snacks to have on hand if we need one in the afternoon.)
- To start planning our dinners, I first plug in meals that use what I have on hand. In the example below, I had frozen chicken tenders on hand. I planned to use those to make Parmesan Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Mushrooms for Two one night, and my easy version of Chicken Parmesan another.
- I like mixing up the types of meals I’m making (E.g. Mexican, Italian, Asian, etc.) and trying new recipes every so often.
- I keep a list of favorite meals in a Word doc on my laptop in case I need some inspiration. I also use Pinterest to find and store recipes by category.
- Try to economize where you can by using the same item in multiple meals.
- For example, I needed fresh spinach in the parmesan spaghetti squash dish, so I decided to make egg bites that also contain spinach. In the shopping list below, I added an asterisk to items that would be used in more than one dish.
- Remember, the easiest and least expensive way to cook is to make simple, uncomplicated dishes that use minimal ingredients.
- I try to include some quick and easy meals or things we can eat for two (or more) meals. On those days that I don’t have time or I’m just not in the mood to cook, they can be a budget saver.
- Once I’ve figured out all the dinners I’m making for the week, I add in our planned breakfasts for each day.
- I like to make breakfast casseroles or things that make enough for multiple days. I don’t like to take up a lot of time in my morning cooking breakfast. (Bob does do a lot of the cooking for this meal when I’m busy.)
- Once I’ve completed the plan for seven days of meals, I go through each day and list all the items I need to buy.
- I make my list of everything I will need for my menu first. Then I re-order it into categories like produce, dairy, frozen foods, etc. I organize the categories in order of how they are shelved in the stores where we shop. Then it’s easy to just go down the list as we go through the store. No back-tracking or randomly looking up and down aisles, thus no time-wasting.
So here is a recent weekly meal plan for two to show you how this works.
I’ve included the links to some of the recipes I use, in case you’re interested. Keep in mind that I sometimes adjust the recipes to make just two portions, and/or tweek them a bit to use what I have on hand. Dinners first:
Monday: Parmesan Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Mushrooms for Two, with a green salad
Tuesday: Buffalo chicken burgers with sweet potato fries
Wednesday: Stuffed Pepper Soup with brown rice
Thursday: Chicken parmesan (this is my quicker, healthier version where I just cook some chicken tenders in a pan, top them with a spoonful of marinara, and melt some shredded mozzarella over that) I’ll serve these with a green salad and a side of buttered leftover spaghetti squash sprinkled with parmesan
Friday: Sheet Pan Sausage & Veggies A complete meal made on one pan – I love these sheet pan dinners!
Saturday: Leftover Stuffed Pepper soup with brown rice
Sunday: Smoked turkey wraps (spread a little softened cream cheese mixed with finely diced jalapeños on a flour tortilla, top with sliced turkey, lettuce, and a drizzle of French dressing, and roll up). We’ll have Broccoli Cranberry Salad as a side with these.
After I have planned my dinners for the week, I add in breakfasts and any additional snacks or extras.
For this week, I decided to make these recipes. I’ll supplement our breakfasts with fruit. Bob likes sourdough toast with his some days, too.
- Cottage Cheese & Veggie Egg Bake This will give us three days of breakfast.
- Zucchini & Proscuitto Egg Muffins These will make enough for another three days.
- We’ll use the other half of the smoked sausage from the sheet pan dinner on Friday and have it with scrambled eggs and toast on the last day.
Now here’s my completed shopping list, organized and priced for our local Aldi as of this writing.
The items that have an asterisk are things I’ll use for more than one meal. I’ve included a list of the things I had on hand after the shopping list.
- *Large Spaghetti Squash: ~$2.99 each
- *Baby Bella Mushrooms: ~$1.79 per 8 oz package
- *Spinach: ~$2.49 for a bag (5 oz)
- *Bagged Lettuce (2 bags): ~$1.79 each
- *Cucumber: ~$0.69 each
- *Red Onion: ~$1.29 per lb
- *Green Peppers (3): ~$2.49
- *Red/Yellow/Orange Peppers (3): ~$2.99
- Sweet Potatoes: ~$3.99 for 3 lbs
- Baby Potatoes: ~$2.99 for 1 lb
- *Broccoli: ~$2.29 per bunch
- Zucchini: ~$1.79 for 3 or 4 zucchini
- *Cherry Tomatoes: ~$2.29 for a pint
- *Fruit (for breakfast and snacks): ~$4.99 (depending on the type of fruit you choose)
- 1 lb of Ground Beef: ~$4.49
- *Smoked Sausage: ~$3.99 for a pack
- Prosciutto: ~$3.99
- Sliced Smoked Turkey: ~$2.79 for 9 oz
- Cream Cheese: ~$1.29 for 8 oz
- Plain Yogurt: ~$1.89 for 32 oz
- *Eggs (2 dozen): ~$3.00 each
- Petite Diced Tomatoes (2 cans): ~$0.59 per can
- Large Tomato Sauce: ~$0.79 per can
- Chicken Broth: ~$1.29 per carton
- Hamburger Buns: ~$1.19 for 8 buns
- Flour Tortillas: ~$1.69 for 10 count
- *90-Second Microwaveable Brown Rice (2 packs): ~$2.49 each
Total: $70.29
(These are the pantry items and things I had on hand)
- Frozen chicken tenders
- 1 pound of ground chicken
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Almond milk
- Blue cheese or ranch dressing
- French dressing
- Celery
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Onions
- Bread crumbs
- Slivered almonds
- Craisins
- Marinara sauce
- Apple cider vinegar
- Maple syrup
- Hot sauce
- Olive Oil
The more you practice meal planning for two, the easier it is to do it.
It really becomes second nature after a while. Now I wouldn’t go grocery shopping without doing this first, because I know from experience what a difference it makes to our budget. And to eating a healthier diet.