meal planning

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to pay for a meal planning service, specifically fresh20 or the scramble (leaning towards fresh20). DH and I are expecting our first in a few weeks and I'll be on maternity leave for the next few months. We're really trying to tighten up our food budget (we eat out a lot) and I am admittedly clueless when it comes to meal planning on my own. As a new mom I know I won't have any brain cells to devote to meal planning for a while, which is why I'm thinking of signing up for one of these but I'd like to hear from others first who use/used them with success.

How much do you spend per week on groceries, using one of these subscriptions? Do you find it actually saves $ in your food budget in the long run?

[Anonymous]

We use the vegetarian version of the fresh 20. I don't know how often they have sales but they had a half off sale in December and I purchased an annual membership for $27, which is pretty cheap.

You can download a free trial week on the fresh 20 website.

They have a preprinted grocery list for the week which includes prices - prices are usually in the range of $60 for the week in total. Most prices are comparable to grocery stores in the area. However they also have "pantry staples" which will cost some money to accumulate.

I signed up when my baby was 2 months old - honestly I couldn't have done it before then as it does take some work to get the meals on the table each night.

On an average week we LOVE one meal, like 3 meals and one meal is just okay.

What I do love about fresh 20:
-We can use it or not use it. So if it is going to be a crazy week I just don't do it.
-I like having the annual membership so I can search all of the archives and pick the one that sounds most delicious
-It really does help us to eat a lot of fresh veggies. And it helps us move away from too many carbs and dairy products, which is a trap we fall into as vegetarians
-It encourages me to try new things.
-I love just printing off a shopping list and going - so easy!
-Most nights there is enough food for both of us to have a good sized meal and then for my husband to take leftovers for lunch the next day

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Oh and one more thing - it really helps me to not waste food items. You really use every thing you buy. Since we use the leftovers for my husbands lunches it definitely saves us money.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, that's very helpful! $60/week for dinner is a lot better than we are doing right now on our own.

Good to know you were able to start using it around the 2 month mark with the baby. I obviously have no real idea when we'll actually find our bearings after ours is born but it does give me some hope that things will settle enough after a couple months to get into a cooking routine. Until then, I'll be leaning on trader joes for lots of convenience foods and trying to keep costs down in other ways.