Find out what you already have. Have a look at your fridge, cabinets, and refrigerator. You can save money by using what you already have in planned meals.

Writing down your weekly meals could be helpful. Spend some minutes to think and plan out what you would like to have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. By writing down your weekly meals you could easily make a grocery list. With the weekly schedule you are not deciding at the last minute what to make, you ensure you have the required ingredients beforehand, and you save both time and money. Keep that list and add items on that as they run out.

Define a specific day of the week to create that food shopping list and go to the grocery store or the local supermarket.

Consider the factor ‘‘time’’ when you choose what meals you would like to prepare, especially when you are short on time. Recipes that take longer could be a great family activity and/or they could be prepared during days off.

Your goal could be to choose one day a week to do most of the cooking (and then freeze and refrigerate the food cooked), or try a new recipe. Plan to cook enough portions so that there will be leftovers to use later. Make larger meals and freeze them so that, on busy days, you can just heat and serve.

Drinks can be equal to lunch or dinner regarding their calorie-content and they also provide nutrients. Home-made smoothies and other relevant creamy beverages could be a solution as ‘meal-replacement’ for those busy days when there is no time to even have a proper lunch break.