My take on menu planning

I like to be able to choose what I want to eat based on how I'm feeling that day. I don't do your "regular" menu planning. Here's what I do: I have a list of meals that we'll eat for that month (I have finally built up to 6 month's worth & we cycle through them) and I buy the groceries for the month. Of course I have to go back to the store for forgotten and used up things, but I try to do one BIG trip and save money by not going all the time. Then, I have a list of the meals for the month on the refrigerator and we can choose each day what we're in the mood for or have the energy/time for. I actually only plan for about 21 days and the rest either end up as eating out, leftovers, or we have to shop for a few things to make up the rest.

I have a lot of our favorites repeated several times in the cycle with lots of variety so we don't get bored eating the same thing.

My next step (that I just saw on another blog, today) is to create shopping lists for each month so that I don't have to do it over and over again. I can cross off ingredients that I still have enough of and add to the list as needed, but the basic list will be there to use the next time. I was just thinking that I had to sit down and do all of this at once, but I don't. I can do them each at the beginning of the month and save them for the next time. The only trouble is that I use an app on my iPod to shop with...I'll have to think about that some more.

What tips do you find helpful in creating menus for your family?