This is part of a 30 Day series on how to begin saving money.

Oh look! Another blogger writing about meal planning. Zzzzzzz....

No. Today I am going to talk about combatting the sky rocketing price of groceries by following a few simple meal planning strategies.

1. Keep track of what is in your pantry and freezer.

I feel like this is a huge budget leak. When you don't keep an accurate track of what is in your pantry you can end up spending your grocery money on things you already have.

Take a pen and paper and write down what is in your pantry. Or you can use these free printables.

When you're ready to meal plan scan this list.

2. Grab the sales flyer.

Do another quick scan of your super market's sales flyer or website and see what's on sale.

Then match those items with your pantry items and plan around them.

For example, if you see that chicken is on sale and you have brown rice and vegetables you can make a quick stir fry.

3. Keep meals simple.

There is no need to reinvent the chicken! A roast bird, some roast vegetables and brown rice are not expensive and can be cooked very simply and easily. In fact, the entire meals will only cost you about $1.35 per serving!

4. Keep track of what you like.

Create a binder or even just a pin board of your favorite recipes. Having about 20 or so recipes you know your family loves and that you can easily replicate will take most of the brain power out of meal planning.

5. Have theme nights.

Again, not complicated. Do something like Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Sandwich Wednesday, Meat and Three Thursday and Pizza Friday. That is just an example, but it really puts meal planning on autopilot.