Flip it! Plan your meals around your grocery store's flyer.

Game Plan: Instead of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer... then use your cookbook or go online. Look at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to. The US average cost for a moderate meal plan for a family of four is $770 per month. Every family food budget will vary but that is a good number to shoot for.

Engage the Family:
Of course, like all families; members have different likes, dislikes and favorites. Plan to take the time to sit down together and look at all the flyers and websites and get input from the whole family on what to PLAN to eat next week. Make the grocery shopping part of the experience so the kids can see all that is involved. Then they can see the importance of clearly and neatly writing out the list, how to navigate the store with efficiency (time) and have an appreciation for the person who takes the time to do the shopping regularly.
A great idea is to have the person who chooses the dinner menu be responsible to help the parent do the cooking for that meal. This is a great opportunity for the parent and child to connect (bond) during an activity while serving the other members of the family, teach about accurately measuring, kitchen safety, appealing presentation and learning appreciation for the one who prepared the meal.
Leftovers are always an interesting issue. Most times people put off eating them and they go to waste. With some creativity, go to a recipe website, search by ingredient and come up with a unique meal based on the leftovers you have. For example, on "Leftover Night" pull your extra food on the counter and enter the ingredients on a website like "allrecipes.com". Have some fun with coming up with some new ideas. Another idea is to have an Iron Chef Challenge. Have each family member come up with their own meal and vote to see who wins the Iron Chef Award!

Online Resources:
Here are some helpful websites to find coupons and deals:
www.southernsavers.com
www.dealseekingmom.com
In short, collect coupons from the Sunday paper, organize them and use these websites to match sale items with coupons you may already have (or that you can print from the website).
Organize your coupons by type and find out the items

Make your grocery list according to the store's organization. Fruits and veggies should be at the top of the list because that's usually the first department in the store. Frozen and bakery items should be at the end because those are the last departments before the checkout counters. Get to know the layout of your store and this will become a habit with you too.

Grocery stores are designed to keep you in the store as long as possible. All 'essential' items (milk, bread, produce) are located on the extreme corners of the store, so you have to pass by lots of other tempting merchandise even if you're just running in for a quart of milk. The most expensive products are placed at eye level (except for kid's products, which are placed at their eye level). Products on display at the end of aisles are usually not on sale or a special buy. Once you know these details you can plan your shopping list according to store layout, and save time and money by avoiding impulse buys.

Stick to your list! Grocery stores are designed to have you buy items on impulse.

Keep a calculator with your coupon collection. Use it to determine if your coupon saves you more than buying the generic item.

Don't shop when you're tired, hungry or in a hurry.

Here are some recipe websites:
Try searching "by ingredient" to use up what you already have!
www.allrecipes.com
www.kraftfoods.com
www.cdkitchen.com
www.desktopcookbook.com

Family Devotions

Principle: Failure to plan is planning to fail
Scripture: Genesis 41:14-57, 1 Kings 17:1-15

Conversation Starters:

1. How did Joseph’s planning save Egypt and his family?
2. Did Joseph’s plan require discipline by the people?
3. Was the planning stage uncomfortable and time consuming for the people?
4. How does the planning of meals help us to be better stewards of our resources?
5. Would better planning by industrialized nations reduce food waste and lower costs?

Key Concepts: Preparation, planning, discipline, denial