Dinnertime and meal planning can be a hassle. eMeals is here to help with that. They take the guesswork out of dinnertime and can even help you save money while they are at it. I recently had the chance to review a 3 month subscription to Emeals and want to share my thoughts with you today.
A lot of us moms are busy and trying to make a meal plan or having to come up with something last minute just doesn’t work to our advantage. I know for me having my daughter in gymnastics, my sons in soccer, attending women’s bible study, holding youth group at our house and throwing in time to get home stuff done doesn’t leave me with a lot of time to meal plan. However I do prefer to meal plan when I can because I can shop around store sales and save money. This is where eMeals comes in handy. They do the sale scouring for you and put together a meal plan that is both money saving and out of the box (for us where we tend to eat the same meals over and over). Hey I said I was busy so it’s always those old faithful recipes that get cooked, no thinking involved. A meal plan that isn’t repetitive, boring, saves money, and tastes great, sign me up! Before I continue let me share a little bit about the company with you:
Jane DeLaney, founder of eMeals, is a mother of four children and the wife of an associate pastor. She grew up as the third of five in a preacher’s family. She found that her life was drastically different from that of her mother, who had fed her large family on a small grocery budget with a weekly meal plan of her own creation. Jane’s inspiration for eMeals grew out of her frustration of pulling off dinner for her own busy family. Jane began to search for a system to simplify getting her family around the table enjoying healthy and kid-friendly meals. In 2003, Jane began the task of creating a unique meal planning service that would incorporate all of the things that a mom would want to take the stress out of dinnertime. eMeals now provides a simple and affordable dinnertime solution to hundreds of thousands of busy people and families everywhere.
eMeals offers several different meal options, including:
- Portion Control
- Low-Carb
- Natural/Organic
- Couples-Only
- Low Fat
- G-Free
- Publix
- Walmart
- Many More Stores
Using eMeals is so easy…
You purchase a meal plan in 3 month increments, as low as $5 a month that’s only $15 a month. Work that into your grocery budget each week (so if you normally budget $100 each week, budget $98.75). The shopping trip is geared to work out to around $80 per week, but remember this is only dinner so you will still need to make sure to include breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Here is a look of one of their past plans (this sale is no longer valid of course). This is the recipe and instructions sheet with 2 meals show, there are 7 meals on the full sheets of course.
Next is the shopping trip sheet, part 1. I have arrows pointing out the different areas on each sheet, but in case you can’t read it. It has the meal number in the first column (1-7), the next column is telling you the section of the store and product, the third column is the price*, and the final column is telling you other items needed (if any) for a particular meal. This sheet also has a check off area so you can check off the items as you pick them up.
Last is the shopping trip sheet part 2. This will show you the approximate total you should be spending as well as any other staples you need for this meal. Staples are items most of us will have in the pantry but make sure you do so your meal can turn out perfect!
Now the downfall for us was we don’t usually spend 80 dollars on dinner each week, for our total grocery bill we try to stay around the $100 mark for everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) so that would only leave $20 for the breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Not ideal for us. What I did, though, is scoured the ads of the other stores in the area to get the best deal on everything and noted the store next to the item on the shopping list. A lot of times I hit Winn Dixie for my meat because they have BOGO deals on different meats at different times. We also had to change out a few of the meals I knew my kids wouldn’t eat with one of those “staple” meals.
I LOVE the guesswork eMeals takes out of dinner time with everything from planning the meal to my shopping trip and current sales. I think the options they offer from vegetarian to portion control are great so that pretty much anyone with any kind of eating regimen can use eMeals with little to no changes needed to the menu. If you are like me and need to stretch your dollar a little more check other local ads and note it on your shopping sheet so you can get the best deal in your area. If there is a meal you know your family won’t eat change it out for a staple meal you know they love and work that into your budget. Also, being a huge Dave Ramsey fan, I think him endorsing it says quite a bit about money saving when it comes to dinnertime. Overall, I think eMeals is a great service for busy people who want a great meal plan but may not have time to make one. You can learn more about it and sign up here.
WIN IT:
One reader will win a 3 month subscription to eMeals
I was provided a 3 month subscription to eMeals to facilitate this review. No other form of compensation has been received. Giveaway item is provided by company or representing pr firm. All opinions are 100% honest and my own. Winner will be chosen by rafflecopter randomly. For more information please see my disclosure.
Toni Patton
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I think it would help me save money by actually having a menu plan. I normally wing it and end up going to the grocery story way too often.
I agree, it would help save money and also control caloric intake better.
I seems that it would help you eat right and save money
I think your idea was smart to do use the program for 2 out of 3 meals, I think I’d do the same. I’d love to win to check out this healthy lifestyle sort of choice. It seems SOOO convenient, I’d especially think this service would be good for new moms, people recovering from an injury, busy moms, and those living by themselves.
I make a menu every week, but I would benefit by the time savings of trying to figure out my weekly menu.
I’m a meal planner already, but having something to help me save money along with it would be great!
I would LOVE to have have Emealz. My husband and I are both full-time students and then he works full-time as well while I chase after our toddler 🙂 The idea of having something to help with the meal planning and grocery shopping sounds divine!