Menu Planning {on the cheap}

I have been trying to get better at menu planning and wise couponing, as in I only use coupons for things we need. I have started planning out meals for 2 weeks at a time and shopping accordingly. Although, if there is a great sale on meat on one of the off weeks I still go and stock up. I went shopping yesterday and only spent $48.01 on all our groceries for 2 weeks...including fruits and milk! I saved about $12 in coupons and planned my menu around the best deals that week at the store. There are a few things that I already had on hand for the menu but for the most part I bought all the main ingredients for most meals. Here is our menu:

Sunday: Butternut Squash Soup (I bought the squash {$8 for a giant one that will make 3 soups} at the farmer's market last weekend and roasted it up then cubed it and froze it to use when needed)

Monday: Roasted Chicken and Okra (the okra is from W's Grandparents garden so that part of the meal is free, plus I had some chicken {I bought for $.59/lb a month ago bone-in skin-on chicken breast} in the deep freeze so I paid nothing this week for this meal)

Tuesday: Calzones (this has become a staple in our house. This week I had to buy flour, cheese, and sauce for them the rest of the ingredients I had on hand or in our garden)

Wednesday: Pumpkin Curry Soup (I bought the pumpkin at the farmer's market last weekend, it was $4 for a good sized pumpkin)

Thursday: Stirfry (again a staple around here. Had to buy a big bag of rice this week and bought some chicken which was on sale for $1.59/lb...great deal)

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: We will be gone for dinner so no plan here

Sunday: Spaghetti (a few months back I spent a whole day making and canning sauce, so now we have jars on hand for whenever we need them, I did have to buy noodles though this week)

Monday: Crock-pot BBQ chicken sandwiches and corn (again bought chicken for $1.59/lb and bbq sauce have the buns and corn in the freezer)

Tuesday: Macaroni and Cheese (had to buy the cheese and noodles)

Wednesday: Crock-pot pork tacos (bought the pork for $1.99/lb and the taco shells everything else I have on hand)

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Grilled fish and broccoli (have both these items on hand in the deep freeze...stocked up a fish a few months back when it was on sale for a great price)

Saturday: Chicken noodle soup and homemade french bread (have all the ingredients on hand at home to make this)

Sunday: Alfredo and homemade french bread (had to buy cream, have everything else on hand)

A couple things I've learned menu planning is:

• Always check your freezer and pantry before making a grocery list.
• When planning meals out think of what meals you will make that can be easily doubled or tripled for leftovers or the freezer (I do this with the bbq chicken, pork taco meat, and some soups)
• If you see a great deal on a certain meat, stock up and plan meals around that, or freeze extra.
• Spend some time double checking store deals and coupons to make sure you have all you need before heading to the store.
• Shop sales and for in-season fruits and vegetables.
• Cook ahead. I do this with the calzones or any meat I will use shredded that week. I also pre-cut vegetables ahead of time if I can.
• Buy yogurt with coupons and stock up on double coupon days so you have it for awhile.

Wanted to also note for breakfast we do a lot of cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt and granola. They are fairly cheap and often you can use coupons and sales to stock up on cereal for less than .50 cents a box. Lunches we do leftovers, pasta w/tomatoes from the garden, or grilled cheese sandwiches.  I do buy fruit too. On this last trip I bought 2 large bunches of bananas (for $.39/lb) and a large bag of apples (for $.99/lb), I bought some grapes last week for $1.19/lb so we still have those on hand. I also have some pear and apple sauce frozen from our last big make ahead day. I also try to make up homemade cookies for snacks at least once a week. They are great for hubby's lunchbox and for pick-me-ups throughout the day, other than that we don't really have snacks beside fruits, vegetables, and yogurt or if I make up homemade wheat-thins.

Anything else you guys wanted to know? Or any tips you have that I may have missed?