Make a Plan, Save Money

This week I did not make a menu plan for the week. The result: I spent almost twenty dollars more at the grocery store this week.
The second mistake I made was going to the store starving, the result: I spent more money on stuff I didn't really need.



This next week I will make a detailed menu, and I will eat a snack before I go to the grocery store.
I like to have a plan. My friends sometimes tease me that I seem to have a plan for everything. My motto: make a plan for any obstacle but expect for nothing to go according to plan. They laugh at me because I have a plan for if someone breaks into my house while I'm home, or what I would do if I had to move in with my parents or the in-laws.
 I have a plan for if we ever have disposable income, and I have a plan for life right now.
 But all of those things are beside the point. My point is: if you have a menu plan, or a plan for what kind of food goals you have for the week you'll be a lot less likely to spend too much money.
It takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to make a menu for the week (including Martin's food, my husband's food, and my diet food). I check my pantry for ingredients I don't have to buy (sometimes I do this before I make my list to see which ingredients I have to build meals around). I make my meal plan with all of the ingredients I need for each recipe and exactly the right quantity; I can mark things off my list as I go through my cabinets and freezer and determine exactly how many onions, etc. that I need to buy.

Also, if I know that I really don't want to eat unhealthy food during the week, I don't buy unhealthy food. The result? Less money wasted on stuff I will only regret eating.
I also plan for a fun night. Frozen pizza, fast food, or some other kind of cheap and easy meal for a day I just run out of time to cook, or I am too tired to cook. For the other days I try to cook dinner earlier in the day (around 10am) so that I know it's finished before something unexpected comes up in the afternoon.

These are my money-saving tips; do any of you have any you'd like to share?