One thing I've learned over the years is that life in the kitchen is a whole lot easier when I stay just one step ahead.
I'm not talking about spending an entire Sunday meal prepping for the week. I don't cook seven dinners ahead of time, and I don't have a complicated schedule that I follow.
Instead, I've developed what I like to call my kitchen rhythms.
These are simple things I do regularly that help me stay prepared, use the food we already have, waste less, and make getting meals on the table much easier.
And I've realized that these little habits are also some of my best frugal habits.
Start With a Meal Plan
My meal plan is where everything starts.
I generally plan a week or two of meals at a time, but I don't assign each meal to a specific day. I like having the flexibility to decide what we're having based on our schedule, what needs to be used first, who will be eating with us, or simply what sounds good that day.
But making a meal plan is only the beginning.
I also need to look ahead and ask myself: What do I need to do now to make those meals easier later?
Because a meal plan isn't much help at 5:00 in the afternoon if everything I need is still frozen!
Think Ahead About What Needs to Be Thawed
This is such a simple thing, but it can make a tremendous difference.
If several meals on my plan require meat, I want to make sure I've moved what I'll need from the freezer to the refrigerator early enough to thaw safely.
I recently saw someone put the packages of meat she planned to use for the week into a 9×13 pan in her refrigerator. I thought that was such a practical idea. It keeps everything together and helps contain any leaks.
We don't eat meat with every meal, so I'll adapt the idea to what we're actually eating that week.
The important part isn't the 9×13 pan.
It's thinking ahead.
Keep the Everyday Basics Ready
I also take a quick look around the kitchen and think about the basics we'll need over the next several days.
Do we have bread? Beans? Rice? Potatoes? Broth? Eggs? Fruit? Something easy for lunch?
Are any of my homemade pantry mixes running low?
I don't have a big checklist that I complete every week. I simply look at what we're going to be eating and make sure the basics are there.
If we're getting low on bread, for example, I'd rather make it before we're completely out than discover it when we're trying to make lunch.
Wash and Prep Produce So It Gets Eaten
This week I washed my romaine lettuce and put it away ready to use. I also cut up vegetables for snacking.
These aren't big meal-prepping projects. They're little jobs that make life easier later.
And there's another benefit: we're more likely to eat the food we've bought when it's ready to use.
Produce that gets pushed to the back of the refrigerator and eventually thrown away isn't a bargain, no matter how good the original price was.
Sometimes frugal living isn't about finding another sale.
It's simply using what we already bought.
Let Your Pantry and Freezer Work for You
My pantry and freezer are a big part of my kitchen rhythm.
Depending on what I have on hand, you might find things like:
- home-canned beans and broth
- freezer meals
- cooked chicken or ground beef
- bread or rolls
- pantry staples
- homemade mixes
- home-canned foods
I don't make all of these things every week. That's really the point.
I make and preserve food when I have the time so it's available when I don't have the time.
Freezer meals are especially helpful. I don't think of them only as meals that have to be scheduled on my meal plan.
They're also my backup plan.
When something unexpected happens or I've simply had a long day, having a meal in the freezer can keep us from ordering takeout or making an unnecessary trip to the grocery store.
Shop Your Own Kitchen First
Before I make my grocery list, I like to see what we already have.
I check the refrigerator.
I check the freezer.
I check the pantry.
I look for food that needs to be used soon, and then I look at my meal plan.
Sometimes I discover that we already have almost everything we need.
I've learned that the grocery store doesn't always need to be the first place I look when I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner.
My own kitchen should be.
I Keep Two Running Shopping Lists
This is another very simple system that works well for me.
I keep one running list for our larger stock-up purchases from places such as Costco, Sam's Club, and Azure Standard.
These might be bulk items or foods that we only purchase monthly or even quarterly. When I notice we're getting low on something, I add it to the list. I don't want to depend on remembering it weeks later when I'm placing an order or making a Costco trip.
Then I keep a separate list for our regular grocery shopping-places like Aldi and other stores where I'm buying fresh foods and ingredients we need for upcoming meals.
Keeping the two lists separate helps me buy what we actually need instead of trying to remember everything while I'm standing in the store.
Being Prepared Is a Frugal Habit
When we talk about frugal living, it's easy to immediately think about coupons, sales, buying in bulk, or comparing prices.
Those things can certainly save money.
But I think being prepared is one of the most overlooked frugal habits.
When I know what we're eating and have the ingredients ready, I'm less likely to make an unnecessary grocery run, buy something we already have, let produce spoil, order takeout, or give up on my meal plan because nothing is ready.
A well-stocked pantry and freezer can save us a lot of money-but only if we actually use what's in them.
It's a Rhythm, Not a Rigid Schedule
I think this may be the most important part.
I don't do all of this on Sunday.
I don't have a perfectly organized refrigerator.
I don't prepare every meal ahead of time.
And some weeks I'm much more prepared than others.
That's why I like the word rhythm.
I keep coming back to the same basic pattern:
Plan → Check what I have → Prepare what I can → Shop for what's missing → Repeat
It doesn't need to be complicated.
Stay One Step Ahead
The older I get, the more I appreciate simple systems that make everyday life easier.
I don't want to start from zero every morning wondering what we're going to eat that day.
I'd rather spend a little time thinking ahead-make sure we have bread, wash the vegetables, look over my meal plan, thaw what we'll need, keep some pantry basics on hand, and have a freezer meal available for the days that don't go according to plan.
None of it has to be perfect.
For me, it's Progress Over Perfection.
A few simple kitchen rhythms help me feed my family, waste less food, spend less money, and make my week a whole lot easier.
And that's just common sense.
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It's designed to help you plan meals without feeling like every dinner has to be assigned to a particular day.
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