I used to use recipes online but it was time consuming and i often found things didn't turn out well. I still use allrecipes.com because there's thousands of reviews on recipes so you know if it's going to turn out well, but i most buying cook books from The Book People. This helps massively, we exprimented with food until we discovered what types of food we liked and what flavours that go together and went from there.
The way i do my shopping is linked to how i meal plan so i'll try and explain. Apart from when it's cold and we want warming food, or in summer and we want to eat light, i generally go through my cook books and look for recipes i think we will like, recipes that include the main things we eat i.e different meat, pasta/rices dishes, veg dish and then i make a list of all the things i need to make each dish.
I then look at how much meat etc is needed for the meal and compare it to the weight of the packet at the supermarket, then i know i have to use xgrams of chicken/beef etc so that gives me more of a starting point to go look for other recipes that i can use the leftover meat.
Same goes if a recipe will need something i don't have,or something i don't usually buy, like a soy sauce/fish sauce or a specific cheese or continental meat, i will always have enough recipes for those meals.
It takes organising and it means you'll have to be perpared to eat the same food in the week so it doesn't end up in the bin, but most things are fine for 3 days or so days in the fridge. So if i use half a pack of chicken on monday, i'll cook something different tues and wed and cook the rest on thurs in a completely different style meal so it doesn't feel repetative. We rarely eat the same meal twice in a month.
I don't meal plan week by week, but write a list of all the meals i can make with what i will buy for those main recipes i picked from the cook books and pair things that use the same main items together so i know to put them in the same week (because we freeze all our meat and defrost to use it). I generally gather 6-8 recipes then for the rest of the month i kind of wing it, because after i've bought loads of in season veg, other meat and staples, i know what i can do with them. It took work in the beginning but doing that helped me learn how much of each thing i needed and means i don't have to plan the whole month because i know the basics of enough recipes that i can buy other things without looking it up and know i can look for a recipe later iykwim?
I write them down on a scrap of paper because honestly with all the planning and recipe hunting i can't be bothered to keep a spreadsheet. Also, on the back of the paper i list the expiration dates of dairy and any opened stuff in the fridge so it gets eaten before it goes off. This way we rarely throw anything away. Having a long list also gives us the freedom to change our mind on the exact meal we might have.
I buy food online and this helps, and i add all my recipes first so if i have to take off an item if it goes over my budget i'm not left with half a recipes worth of things i can't do anything with. So i will take of the whole recipes. Then i add all the staples, pastas, rices, noddles, potatoes, wraps, then extra meat, veg, dairy and so on. I mostly cook from scratch apart from a few things i chuck in the freezer for a lazy day, we don't eat much junk food or fizzy pop and don't often buy alcohol so that reduces our bills loads. Don't get me wrong, i will still make homemade pizza, fried chicken, fried rice and bake muffins, cakes and cheesecakes etc but it's much cheaper than buying.
Also things that keep our cost down are making things like spice mixes, marinades and salad dressing. There's loads on the net and i don't usually need anything extra for them because i have a well stocked 'stock cupboard' but they cost less and usually make much more than if i bought a spice mix or salad dressing etc.
It really depends on how much time you have and what you like to eat. Me and DH love pasta/rice dishes so we eat a lot of Italian and Mexican, so when i do the shopping i know will always add the basics of what will make an italian meal and with those specific types things like peppers, chilis, tomatoes, herbs and oils i can use easily without looking for specific recipes so i don't need to list recipes for the entire month.
At the end of the month when i do my next shopping i check all the cupboards and don't buy things i don't need, again it means i don't have loads of the same stuff.
sorry that was long!
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It definitely stops me buying stuff we don't need or stuff that might get shoved to the back of the cupboard and forgotten about!
