I’ve written a few different posts on meal prepping because it’s a relatively small task that can really save you a lot of time, energy and MONEY  in the long run. Plus, it can really help you stick to a healthier diet if that’s something you struggle with. Taking a few hours at the beginning of the week can really make your days go smoother throughout the week, and regardless of whether you work a full-time job and are constantly on the run, or you’re a stay-at-home mom with a houseful of kiddos, everyone could use more time.

This post is going to focus on how to meal prep in a way that saves you a lot of time and money by focusing on the versatility of your meals and using things you already have. So get ready to be creative and read on to learn how to meal prep to save money.

1. Check Your Freezer/Cupboards/Pantry BEFORE You Start Planning

This is one of the most important places to start because so many people (myself included) think they have to start each week with fresh ingredients and strictly look at the meals they want to prepare and buy their ingredients accordingly. But if you think about it, if you already have chicken breast and ground turkey in the freezer, but you were planning on making beef meatballs and a greek dish with lamb, you can change your plan and use what you already have, saving money and minimizing waste, or just alter your plan a little to include what you already have and make turkey meatballs and chicken greek bowls.

The point is to get creative and use the ingredients you have already to help you save on your grocery bill. After time, you may start to find that you use a lot of chicken or ground turkey in your meals, which are usually healthier alternatives, and you can automatically start looking for recipes that incorporate those ingredients because you almost always have them on hand.

I would recommend actually looking through your freezer and cupboards often, though, to make sure what you think you have is food that you actually have. There’s nothing worse than getting prepared to make a certain dish and you’re missing that one ingredient you assumed you already had. 

2. Plan Your Meals and Build Your Grocery List At The Same Time

The easiest way to do this is to look at the meals you want to make for the week, and list out the ingredients you’ll need to make them. Then, go to your freezer and pantry and see if you already have any of those ingredients, or if you have other ingredients you can substitute in the recipes to save money. For example, if you want to make a stir fry and you don’t have rice, but you have quinoa instead. Maybe you can try using quinoa in place of rice. Who knows, you may find a whole new dish you like even more!

This also helps make sure you’ll have everything you need to make your meals. It’s so much harder to try and focus on what goes in a dish when you’re standing in the aisle at the grocery store and you’re kids are screaming and people are rushing you and waiting on you to just move you your cart already…we’ve all been there. Plan it out ahead of time and you can fly through the aisles, getting everything you need and not giving yourself time to add unnecessary items that can really add to your grocery bill.

3. Plan A Few Similar Meals In The Same Week So You can Use Ingredients More Than Once

This is a great tip for those of us who like to try something new every once in a while. I usually don’t like to splurge on things like herbs and spices unless I know it’s really going to make or break a dish. What you can do is make extra of the dish so you know you can get two meals out of it or find a way to reuse the extra ingredients so you don’t end up wasting something you’re not used to buying.

For example, something I really like to do to save both time and money is to make spaghetti and turkey meatballs one night and make extra meatballs and have meatball hoagies another night. That way, all I have to do is buy a little more sauce and a pack of buns and I have two meals that didn’t take long at all. Plus, the hoagies can be made on a night when we’re on the run because the meatballs will already be made and I can heat them up in the crockpot and have them ready to go.

I also like to use this tip when I’m planning on making a few different dishes with the same protein, like chicken. You can almost always save when you buy in bulk so I know if I’m buying a bigger pack of chicken that I can save money, divide it between two meals and not waste food.

4. Plan For Leftovers

Depending on the size of your family, and the size of the meals you’re making, your leftover supply can easily get out of hand. In our household, most of the dishes I make are realistically for 4 people. Sometimes, depending on the dish, my husband and/or myself will eat a second portion and we don’t end up with much for leftovers. However, typically, if I make a casserole or a crockpot full of soup, we’re going to have a lot of leftovers.

The key is to plan for leftovers accordingly. If you know that when you make a certain dish you’re going to have a lot of leftovers, then plan to use them for a meal another night. Maybe not the next night but the night after that should be an easy way to get two meals for the price of one, not to mention reducing the amount of work you have to do in preparing it!

Using leftovers for easy lunches the next day is another great way to get more bang for your buck when it comes to purchasing groceries. These leftovers are often some of the easiest lunches because when you’re putting them away the night before, you can just portion them into smaller containers and be able to grab them and go during your busy mornings.

This is also a great way to make sure you don’t waste a lot of food. Our household can easily get in the habit of not eating leftovers and we end up just throwing out a ton of food at the end of the week. But if you plan to have leftovers, then they have a purpose and you end up throwing away less later on.

5. Have Easy Meals You Don’t Have to Make Right Away

Another great tip for busy families is to buy ingredients for one or two meals a week that don’t have to be eaten right away. In other words, instead of buying raw, thawed chicken and produce that needs to be used within the week or it will spoil, buy frozen chicken and produce that can be made within the next few weeks or months.

When you have a busy household or you’re always on the run, you may not know exactly what your plan looks like every night for dinner. If you buy a couple meals that you can save for later if you don’t end up eating them, then you won’t end up wasting food if you decide to go out to eat or get back late from a soccer game and grab something on the way home.

BUT DON’T FORGET that you already bought the ingredients for these meals! I like to make a list of the meals I plan to make each week, mostly so that I know what I bought ingredients for and I can use the food I buy. I like to call this “save for later” meal my “Just In Case” meal. It’s easy to prepare just in case I need it. Or maybe you planned to use leftovers from earlier in the week but the dish was such a hit with your family that there aren’t any leftovers. Having a “Just In Case” meal can prevent you from having to make a last minute run to the grocery store or spend money eating out that you didn’t anticipate. Just don’t go too long without actually making the meal or it will end up just taking up space in your freezer or pantry.

6. Don’t Forget About Dessert!

This one may seem silly to some, but to me and I’m sure to many others, it’s a very important point to make. My husband and I love dessert and we both usually have some sort of snack after dinner, that’s sweet in nature. Personally, I like to have something sweet, but in a healthier form of dessert that I can enjoy guilt-free. But there are a lot of desserts, even healthy desserts, that you can make using ingredients you already have or are already buying for something else.

For example, you may already buy oatmeal in bulk for the pantry for breakfasts and apples for the kids’ lunches or quick snacks, but even in those two simple ingredients, you have the majority of what you need to make a delicious apple crisp! Get creative and mix it up with desserts you’ve never tried before. It will give you something else to look forward to with your nightly meal. If you need more ideas for Easy Weeknight Desserts, click here.

The other point I want to make here is to not only think about dessert, but also think about your other meals and snacks you’ll need throughout the day when you’re trying to minimize ingredients. Think about what you can use in more places than one and you may just find new snacks you enjoy or breakfast dishes you can’t live without. Plus, you won’t end up with so much trash or full cupboards and complain that you don’t have anything to eat.

There you have it. Six simple steps to help you prep your meals for the week and save time and money in the process. I like to prep a lot of my meals on the weekends, but sometimes I just don’t have time. So on nights when I can make a little extra and get two meals out of one or reinvent some part of the meal for later in the week, I’m a happy camper. Try these tips today and watch your grocery bill shrink and your wasted food diminish in no time.