Chopping the budget by cooking ahead

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This blog post originally appeared on Momaha.com. Read more from Daniell here.

Aside from four months during the summer of 2010, I have not worked a 40-hour workweek since becoming a mother.

A surefire way to help our family tackle the goal of getting out of debt involves this mama adding a day to her workweek. (Gulp!)

It also means more time away from home. And that, my friends, is going to be the real challenge.

I have watched in awe as my fellow co-workers — all full-time employees — manage their work and home lives with grace and efficiency. I have four stay-at-home days to accomplish what these men and women do on Saturday and Sunday.

A sampling of chores: laundry, grocery shopping, errand running, bill paying, organizing, house cleaning, all accomplished in between shuttling their children from one activity to the next, quality family time and maybe a social engagement or two.

And now I must learn this juggling act for myself.

Judy Daniell

Things are going to change around here if that transition is going to go smoothly.

One thing I decided to try is Once a Month Cooking, or producing a month's worth of cooking in one or two days. You spend an entire day cooking and freezing meals, so you don't have to cook for the rest of the month. You're planning your meals in advance, so you're sticking to a budget. Sounds like a great idea to save time and money, right?

After a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is cook dinner. So, we'd grab a bite to eat. Not anymore. No more takeout. We are saving money. And that starts in the kitchen.

My neighbor recommended "Dinner Is Ready," a book filled with hundreds of freezer-worthy recipes. I tried this last year sometime, and the meals turned out great. But I never carved the time out of my schedule to do it again.

With the impending workweek shift, I was finally motivated to give this another whirl.

I gathered ingredients. I spent $174.15 for this grocery trip.

The next day, I took the older boys to school and dropped my 3-year-old off at day care.

I was in the zone.

I cooked and chopped and cried (onions do it to me every time), then hit repeat.

When I finished, I had packaged nearly 30 meals in seven hours. I made nine recipes (including lasagna, beef stew, meatballs and chicken enchiladas), doubled them and then divided each recipe into thirds — a total of 27 meals.

If I add the $30 day care expense to the grocery bill, I spent $7.56 per meal. Not too shabby, especially when you're looking for ways to spend less money.

The real test will be how we stick to our budget in February. Our grocery/eating out bill typically would run $600 to $700 a month, including anything I buy at Walmart. We're hoping to bring that down to $400 or less.

I was exhausted and sore the next day, but giving up a weekend day to give me more quality family time every other day is completely worth it. I no longer dread the "what's for dinner?" question. And my pocketbook is happy.

Judy Daniell is married with three sons. She works part time. Read her Wednesdays on momaha.com and her debt-fighting blogs in Money.

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