What's for Dinner? Meal Planning Made Easy

Do you ever have the blank state when someone in your family asks you "what's for dinner?" Or are you spending an insane amount of money on Pizza, Fast Food or Restaurants?

This is one area where I have struggled in the past.  I then came up with a great system to make meal planning so much easier for me and my family.  I wanted to share it with you and hopefully you might be able to gleam some helpful tips!  If you could save just a few dollars on your food category that is is something that you can add towards your goal of early retirement, plus improve your health in the process.

Meal planning is personal to each individual and family, whether you are on a restricted diet, or receive special foods through a program like NutraSystem or Blue Apron. This system can work for you no matter what your preferences. My meal plan has changed over the years, and continues to change as my son's taste change.  I was diagnosed with Cancer in 2013 and while on chemotherapy found that my taste change drastically.  They are slowly getting back to normal now, but I have continued to adjust what I eat.

In order to plan meals for my family, I took the time to write out approximately 20-30 meals that we like to eat (and yes, this even included a few of the restaurants where we like to eat).  I wrote each meal on a little Post-It note that fits on my calendar.  I like to color code things, so I used different colored post-its.  For fish I used Blue post-its, for chicken Yellow, Red Meat is Pink, Other meats like Pork or Turkey is Orange, Green for Vegetarian, and Purple for eating out.  This color coding allows me to glance at my calendar to see if we are eating too much red meat, or not enough fish in our diets.

Next I placed the meals on each day of the month, this would allow me to look at what is happening each day on the calendar and make adjustments.  Plans change and that is OK because I can easily move the post-it notes around.  For example, if I find a sale at the store, or have some vegetables in the fridge that I need to use up, I can look for meals that cover those items and move them into the current weeks rotation.

Now here is the HUGE timer saver that I discovered; are you ready for it?  Once you finish the meal, skip ahead a few weeks and find a new date to place the post-it!  each time you finish a meal you do this, and you will NEVER have to do meal planning again.  Sure you might add a new dish from time to time, or remove something your family doesn't like, but over 80% of our meals we eat over and over.

So are you ready to NEVER have to spend hours agonizing over what's for dinner?

Here it is broken down into simple steps:

STEP 1: Brainstorm 20-30 meals that you and your family like to eat (this can include eating out)
STEP 2: Write them down on post-its that fit on your calendar (you can color code this is you want)
STEP 3: Move the meals around as necessary
STEP 4: When you finish a meal, move the post-it ahead a few weeks to a new date!

There you have it, you can do this and benefits: LESS money spent on wasted food and eating out, NO more agonizing over what is for dinner, and LESS processed food and junk food so LESS inches around your waistline!

Finding Your Way Home

It has been almost 2 months since I left the rat race of the working world.  And while I don't feel like I have all the time in the world (something that working full time made me feel like I would have if I quit).  I do find myself with time to be creative, learn, and breath.

One area that I have been focusing on, is definitely spending more time with Baby Breeze and Mr. Breeze.  We have taken advantage of warm days, lazy afternoons at the park.  Another area for myself, is reading and learning new thoughts and ideas.

Recently I picked up a book at our local library:

Finding Your Way Home: How to Become a Successful Stay-At-Home Parent, by Lucynda Koesters. 

This book would have been a great read, about a year or two ago, as I was developing my plan to stay at home.  That being said, I did gleam some great tips from this book.

In the first section Ms. Koesters focuses on reason why it is important for a parent to be at home, whether your child(ren) is an infant, toddler, gradeschooler, or teen. We know it is important for parents to bond with their child when they are infant or toddlers, but it is just as crucial to have a parent at home when they are in school and hitting their teenage years.  I love the idea that as my child goes to school, this will give me a chance to volunteer and get to know his friends, and to know that he will not be one of the many latch key kids who spend hours every afternoon unsupervised.  Most juvenile crimes happen between 3 PM and 6 PM and no wonder, a child needs guidance and a safe harbor to come home to.  Plus if you want to find out about your child's day you need to be there within the first 30 minutes - before they begin to focus on other things and the answer is "fine."

The second section of the book focuses on courage building strategies to find your way home.  While I have already made the jump to early retirement, I did enjoy her approach to visualizing what your day would look like.  She goes through weighing your options and examining your finances.  It is amazing how much of our income goes to be prepared for our jobs - clothing, parking, gas, daycare, convenience items such as fast food, guilt presents, etc.  As you eliminate these it is amazing how little we really bring home from out incomes.  She has some great money savings tips and strategies to talk to your spouse and employer.

What really hit home with me, was Part III - Transitional Strategies to a successful life at home.  This was full of great advice for me.  It is OKAY for me to slow down, and it might take me a while to learn how to do that.  I was shocked when I found myself looking at job opportunities within a month of being home.  This apparently is very common, and it is just because the reality of slowing down (and not receiving a paycheck for the first time in my adult life) was quite a shock.  I am now trying to focus on just being present at home and enjoying the peace that comes with it.  I also thought I would be able to start saving so much money now that I am at home, but found we were eating out more, and spending more on little things, as I now had more time to shop.  Realizing these things was a critical factor for me (and I will be writing more about this area in the future).

Establish a weekly routine is the next suggestion, but go SLOWLY!  Hard advice to take for someone who just exited the crazy rat race.  One of the areas that I am currently following is to set up BLOCKS of time.  For example:

7 AM to 9 AM get up, breakfast, and get dressed
9 to 11:30 AM errands or fun activities
11:30 - 12:30 Lunch
12:30 - 2:30 PM nap/quiet time
2:30 - 4:30 PM activities, outdoor time
4:30 - 6:30 PM make, eat, clean up dinner
6:30 - 8 PM - family time, games, movie, activities
8 - 9 PM - bath, story, and light out at 9 PM

This helps us to accomplish more during our day, without over structuring the time.  We might decide it is nice out and go to the park, or maybe it is cold and we bake cookies, or there might be something fun going on at the library so we go there!  It is also easy to know when to schedule appointments, play dates, and when to be able to say No!

Stay flexible!  Now is not the time to become rigid in a new routine, as that will only cause me the stress I am trying to get away from.

The book was published in 2005, so some of the information is a little dated, but overall this was a great read for anyone who is considering retiring early, especially to be home with their children.

I am thrilled to say, I found my way home!  

Early Retirement - Snow Day

It finally hit me today, what early retirement can truly do for the mind and the spirit.

We are having a snow day here in Colorado.  This morning I was listening to the news mention all the closed schools.  I was thinking about all the parents who now have to arrange baby sitters or call in to work in order to take the day off and make last minute arrangements for assignments, meetings, and calls.

What does an early retired parent do . . .

Well our morning went like this:
- Warm bacon and eggs for breakfast
- Puzzles and working on our letters
- Reading books in front of the fire under a cozy blanket
- Walking the dog in the snow
- And we are now about to have some hot chocolate after nap!!!

Now this is a Snow Day!!!

You can do this, save your income, so that you can enjoy an early retirement lifestyle!