How to Save $317 On Your Food Bill This Month

Last October, Bethany and I made one seemingly simple change that has now saved us an average of $317 on our food bill each month.

I want to share with you exactly what we did and how you can do it, too.  In fact, at the end of this post, I’ll show you how you can actually save a bit more just for being a member of our Engaged Marriage community.

So, What Was the BIG Change?

We signed up for E-Mealz.

E-Mealz is an online meal planning service that was started by a couple of busy Moms who were looking for a better way to manage their families’ time, health and financial well-being.

It has become a major help to thousands of busy families, and it has won the endorsement of financial guru Dave Ramsey.

In our case, we were eating carryout restaurant food too often, plus we were wasting groceries on a regular basis.

We shopped for what we thought we needed during each grocery store trip, but without a plan we inevitably found ourselves opting for the “convenience” of takeout/delivery and (at the same time) letting groceries expire before we actually used them all up.

Plus, our grocery shopping trips weren’t organized to take advantage of sales and store discounts since there’s no way to know this information without guidance from someone who tracks it.

How Does E-Mealz Work?

It’s really simple!

You just choose the best plan for your family from the 26 different options on the E-Mealz website.  These include a mix of food types (regular, low-fat, portion control, vegetarian, low carb, gluten free), family size and your favorite grocery store (or choose the Any Store plan if your grocer isn’t listed).

Then you just log in each week and print off your new meal plan and shopping list.  All of the ingredients you need for your weekly shopping trip are organized onto a single page and broken down aisle-by-aisle for your store, and the meal plan/recipes are on a second page.

You can even click here, browse the meal plans and print off a sample plan to check it out for free!

We haven’t noticed any recipes repeating since we started in October, although E-Mealz says their most popular recipes may repeat every 4-6 months.  That’s a lot of variety!

And in case you’re wondering, the meals are almost always DELICIOUS…so we have lots of new favorite dishes that we wouldn’t have discovered without this service.

How Does E-Mealz Save You Money?

In addition to simply eating out less and grocery shopping with a plan, E-Mealz menus are actually planned to give you the best value with each shopping trip!

The weekly plans are set up to coincide with the sales at your store for that week.  This alone can represent a major savings if you aren’t already tracking and planning your shopping trips and specific meals based on your store’s weekly sales.

Plus, you will most likely be eating healthier under your E-Mealz plan, which means you’ll lose weight, feel better and ultimately have lower medical bills!

What Does E-Mealz Cost?

E-Mealz costs just $5 per month, or $1.25 per week. Given what you save with sales, less eating out and no more wasted groceries, this is just an incredible value.

I am proud to share our experiences with E-Mealz with you, and I’m proud to endorse their great service.  Check it out!