A Limerick mum has told of how she saves €200 a month on grocery shopping thanks to a clever meal planning tool.
Nicole Murphy, 39, was at a pivotal point in her life after making a life-changing decision to become a single mum by choice to twins.
She explained how she felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility to her children before they were born and knew she needed a plan to make sure day-to-day life would be manageable and that she could spend as much quality time with her children as possible.
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Nicole said: “Every parent I spoke to said 6-7pm was the most stressful time, what with getting home from work, trying to cook a nutritious dinner and giving the kids attention at the same time.
“I knew I needed a plan to make this hour as automatic as possible and meal planning was key because it reduces the need to think about what’s for dinner, the shopping, the spending, the cooking and the cleaning up.”
When it comes to meal planning, people often think this requires loads of spare time and organisational skills, which isn’t always an option for busy parents on the go.
Nicole doesn’t want to tell people to put their cereal into clear containers or arrange their food by colour, and instead created a magnetic display system to help Irish families plan out their meals, chores and activities in a visual way so that all the family can be involved.
Nicole called her creation Magneplan as it attaches magnetically to fridge doors.
Alternatively, users can use a magnetic white board or stick it straight onto a kitchen cabinet with command strips.
“I started getting all my go-to-recipes together and created a meal planner. I summarised all the recipes on home-made magnetic cards, categorised them by colour to ensure good meal rotation and avoid getting stuck in a rut and made a magnetic board to display them all,” Nicole said.
“Using the planner saved me €200 per month as a single person, reduced food waste dramatically and gave me a few nights off cooking!
“It’s all about getting organised so you can claw back time, money and headspace for the fun stuff in your life – whatever that might be.
“When others saw my planner, they wanted one too, so I started making them for family and friends. Soon, I was inundated with orders and then…. very happily, I became pregnant with twins!”
Three years later, Nicole decided take redundancy from her job and turn Magneplan a full-time business.
After much research and trialling of recipes, the Limerick woman created the Magneplan Starter Pack which contains 49 of the most popular dishes cooked in Ireland and the UK today.
The magnetic tiles contain the ingredients, method and timings in ‘text speak’ so you can take it off your Magneplan chart and attach it to your cooker hood to have it right in front of you as you make the recipe.
There are also 9 extra cards for easy night like ‘Raid the Fridge’ and ‘Order Takeaway.’
The tool allows people to plan a week, fortnight or month ahead and Nicole believes the further ahead you plan, the more money you can potentially save – which is more tempting than other as Ireland still tackles a cost of living crisis.
Nicole advised: “The absolute Golden Rule of household budgeting is to do one big weekly shop and work off a list.
“To get your weekly list together, you need to plan ahead – this only takes 10 minutes.”
Nicole’s biggest tips include deciding what your shopping day is and plan your dinners from that on, as well as factoring any big events you may have for the week ahead, including nights out or visiting friends.
She also recommends choosing meals with fresh ingredients for the first few days after the shop and later in the week you can use defrosted meat, chicken, frozen veg or tins or packets, as well as using the corner shop if you just need bread or milk later in the week to avoid the inevitable overspend at a supermarket.
Nicole added: “The Magneplan is not about becoming a domestic goddess, it’s actually about doing less, not more.
“It’s aim is to free up time and energy for families for the fun stuff in life.”
Explore the Magneplan range at magneplan.com and follow on Instagram @magne.plan for tips and inspiration.
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