KatieRabbit - I plan for 5 meals, depending on how many nights we are home. We tend to go out on weekends either to friends, family or just have quick meals like omlettes or toasted sandwiches. As for lunches it's either leftovers, we buy our lunch (one luxury) or we just leave bread, cheese and a few other staples at work to make something up. We then also buy the normal snacks we like (fruit, crackers, dip, yoghurt etc) that we use to munch on. We don't have a snacks list as such, just what we normally buy each fortnight.

Then as I said earlier we do a big shop each fortnight and a little shop in between for fresh vegies and anything else that is in the meal planner for the upcoming week that we don't have. It's normally not much.

Gigi - It's all about the list. When I started it could take me ages to work it out. But once you do the list then stick to the list. Also, ziplock freezer bags are my secret. Irrespective of what meat we buy it always goes into the freezer in portions for two. Then I know how many 'meals' I have by how many meat portions I have. Portion controlling stuff can also work for other foods at first to get the hang of it.