One of the easiest ways to eliminate last minute trips to the store, eating out due to desperation, avoid throwing away food and using your food storage is to plan your meals.
I plan 1-2 weeks at a time and pull the recipe cards from my recipe box for the dinners and side dishes we're making. I go through all the ingredients I will need and make a shopping list for the week. I set all the weeks' recipe cards in a little bin affixed inside a kitchen cupboard door and then I use magnetic clips to hold that day's recipe to my stove hood as I cook.
I try and plan 1-2 fish dishes (cheaper meals include those based on tuna, frozen tilapia you bought on sale, canned salmon, etc), 1-2 meatless dishes (for us this is often Asian stir fry and egg drop soup, pasta, quiche or other egg dish, a beans-based Hispanic meal, breakfast for dinner, veggie soup, etc.), a lean meat meal (often chicken, ground turkey meatloaf or burgers, pork loin) and at least one night of leftovers (so all that good food doesn't go to waste). Friday is always homemade pizza night and a video at our house so that's a given! Dr. Phil's family always had a taco night. Make it easy on yourself and choose something similar if you like.
There are lots of commercial sites that offer all the planning for free and I did start with one of those called 5 Dinners in One Hour. I'm not saying you have to spend money on such a service, but it did get me started on the system I use now. You can find some of her recipes at http://www.5dinners1hour.blogspot.com/, along with a free trial recipe. She actually prepares all the week's dinners on one day (theoretically in an hour) and then just cooks them and prepares the side dishes on the night of. It would be an easy concept to implement on your own with your own recipes.
So, once you have your dinners planned out, shop for any missing ingredients and stick to the plan. If any of your recipes are easily doubled and frozen - do it! Not only are they great to have for yourself but they are wonderful to take to a friend who need a last minute meal. Do the same with cookie dough, quick breads, brownies, and side dishes like mashed potatoes.
Lunches are simply leftovers or tortilla wraps/sandwiches, quesadillas, salads or whatever your family likes.
For breakfasts, one of the best ways to save money is to limit the amount of cereal breakfasts you serve. They don't tend to be filling and they are EXPENSIVE! Whip up some scrambled eggs and toast, prebake eggs in a muffin tin and assemble egg sandwiches to freeze and heat later. Do the same with scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, cheese, eggs and salsa for breakfast burritos. Make a BIG batch of pancakes and freeze or refrigerate the rest for later. Use your crockpot to make oatmeal or breakfast casserole overnight. Make your own instant oatmeal mix and divide it into baggies for your older family members to make themselves in the morning. Make granola and have yogurt parfaits with fruit. Again, planning is key. Do a little work the night before or on a less busy weekday or weekend and you'll be so grateful!
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