ATTN. All meal planners :)

I want to start meal planning for the week as we are on a tight budget, but I shop at paknsave and dont know whats on special and our weeks meals depend on whats on special in the meat department, have had a scroll though the meal ideas and have got quite a few recepies now but unsure how to plan it THANKS :)

bananabear, I have bumped for you a thread called "Woe is me... must feed us all for $200 a week" which was started by a member who has a large family to feed. It is packed with great ideas on budget shopping, meal planning and generally keeping a family well fed and healthy without spending a small fortune every time you walk into a supermarket. This should give you a good start at any rate.

Thanks indy95 will take a look :)

I work my menu for the week after I have done the meat grocery shopping and base the menu on what I have bought. When I dot eh grocery shopping I look through the meat department and take what is on special or else within my daily meat $ allowance. I look at all the meat - chicken, beef, schnitzel, lamb chops, pork chops, mince, sausages, silverside etc which are all the differnt types we would eat normally, but if they aren't cheap enough then I don't buy it. So we usually will get about 3 or 4 of them each week and then I also have a few spares in the freezer from when things were a good purchase so they are my back-up. Then I work out what the meals will be and usually I have the other staples to go with the meat - potatoes, rice, some cook in the pot sachets and maybe a pasta sauce - I keep a wwatch out for them when they are on special as well and stock up.
Hope that sort of makes sense.

Another thought - when you go to the supermarket next time, ask the butchery people if there is an approximate time they mark down the prices on the "older" meat - that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it - just that it is getting closer to its best before date. Then try to shop around that time.

What you are doing is creating a plan while still gathering information...
Have a think about the cuts of meats which know are often on sale, and then plan what you could do with that cut of meat...

e. g. mince - needs tinned tomatoes, and pasta
or. chicken - needs rice and XXXXX etc etc...

so, on your shopping list you have four or five columns:
1. the basic you need: e. g. cereal, toilet paper, etc...
then in the other coloumns:
then select what you need from those columns - if mince is on special, then you select the other ingredients from the other columns which are headed "mince", "chicken", "lamb" etc etc...

Hi -I definitely recommend shopping when the meat is marked down - meat is often half price then - I've noticed some supermarkets mark things in the morning, others around dinner time - 6pm-ish.

Have a good look for these - they usually have a second, often brightly coloured label - right along the meat section - I've noticed lately that meats that have usually been regarded as being less expensive have been staying at a higher price, and that meats like steak, pork chops, even roasts, are often marked down considerably - 3 large pieces of steak recently marked down to $8. 50 from almost $20 - the pieces are easily large enough to use for two people (two palms of an adult hand size) so enough for 6 people for that price. I've bought roasts for $12 to $16 - lamb, pork and beef - marked down from almost double that - and though it's a bigger cost initially than something that's a lower price, you might be able to get two or three meals out of it.

I've wondered if the mince, sausages, etc are being kept up in price as it's generally thought that they're the best value price wise. . and that people aren't buying the more expensive meats so they end up being discounted.

Also, try shopping at a fruit and vege shop rather than the supermarket - they're often much cheaper and usually locally grown too - so eating fruit and veges in season is usually good value. Last week I bought 1/2 a cabbage ($0. 80c - yes 80c), a 1kg bag of kumera ($2), a good sized bag of large mandarins I selected - awesome local fruit ($2. 30), 7-8 carrots ($2), a bunch of banaa's $2. 50 - total $9. 60. Very good value.

Bin Inn, Moshims, some Asian Stores and similar bulk food places are great places to buy amounts of just what you need as you can bag them yourself - or to stock up on bulk purchases.

Good luck - you'll feel so proud of yourself for creating great family meals at a price that's much less than you might have thought.

be mean with your meat. I can make a roast chicken size 14 do 3 adults at least 2 evening meals. All big eaters. I strip the meat from the bone and put aside enough for the next night and only serve what is left ie approx half the chicken.
Other meat like casserole steak cuts I allow around 100gms per adult but no more than 120g, cut small it is ample.
I do have a lot of vege with our meals ie potatoe/rice/pasta and at least 2 other vege usually 3-4.
bulk meals out with beans/legumes/lentils if the meat doesn't feel enough or add a pudding something as simple as stewed fruit and yoghurt.
Make a list usuing what you have a basics in the cupboard and buy meat to the list.
Mine often looks like this: nachoes, enchilada's, roast, stirfry, fish, soup. From there I go to cupboard/freezer and see what I already have. List might then be, mince, 1-2 slices schnitzel, tin smoked fish, 1 chicken breast. tomatoes, nacho chips, stir fry vege. eggs.
I make pancakes for the enchiladas to save money or buy the home brand tortilla's 15 pack, they keep in fridge.
a couple of ideas

Are there any factory outlets where you are? I use them alot and if the amount I have to buy is too big then I split it with a friend. I have had seconds pavlovas delivered to my door at about 1/4 cost or even lessthan in the supermarket and this was even from another city . Search your city via google or similar for factory outlets and you may be surprised. Also just as an example I use Kikkomann soy sauce which is about $3. 5o in the supermarket for a 150ml bottle. In Dunedin I can buy a bottle which is a litre plus for $10 and it's good until 12/2012. A great buy to share. You may also be surprised to find out of town factory shops willing to freight at reasonable cost. If you have friends get together and go on a mission! Good luck.

also think about what meals you can eat which are vegetarian.
One of our family favourites is "vegetarian slice" - the kids call it egg pie. It has 4 eggs in it; which means we are getting protein for $2 (plus some milk and cheese)... Rather than a meat meal at aroun d$9

What about buying your meat from the butcher? I find that supermarket market is not that nice and often more expensive than a butcher. Same goes for fruit and veg, buy from the greengrocer, not the supermarket.

I recently fed 4 hungry teenagers for less than