DIY Menu Board= less $$ on groceries

I spent a few months trying different strategies for moola on groceries. I feel like it's expensive now and I'm buying for 3 adults (myself, Jerod, and my sister Amanda), I'm terrified to know what our grocery bills will be like when Cailyn and any siblings she has are older. I tried buying only things that were on sale by scouring grocery ads every Wednesday when they came out. I didn't really feel like I was saving much though, so I tried couponing. I'm sure you've seen an episode or two of Extreme Couponing on TLC? Turns out, Iowa grocery stores don't allow the doubling of coupons so you can sometimes get good deals, but mostly I just found myself stocked with 3 and 4 boxes of wheat thins or Triscuits because they always seem to have a good deal on them. Finally, I went to planning out each night's dinner. That's all I shop for each week, besides staples like milk/eggs/yogurt, and I feel like it's made a difference in my grocery bill. But I kept hearing the same question all the time: What's for dinner? So I decided we needed a menu board, DIY style :)

First thing's first, I bought a chalkboard from Hobby Lobby for $7.99 and spray painted it bright orange- I didn't think it would work at first, but thought, "What the hell, let's give it a go!"

I apparently have a thing for birds- I realized this as I kept adding decor to my kitchen, so I decided to just go with it and found this silhouette online, printed it, and snipped it out for a stencil.

Using acrylic paints that I had leftover from the nursery pictures I made last year, I crafted a colorful little blue bird

The use of colorful chalk and a spot right across from the stove and countertop means mama remembers what to make for dinner, eliminating surprise fast food trips and saving some cash for more important things, like finishing the other half of the basement!