Tags: budget budget friendly Cook Food health healthy eats meal plan meal planning meal prep menu paleo dinner save money
Reasons to Meal Plan
I meal plan for pretty simple reasons. The first reason I meal plan is that it helps me stay organized. If I know what I am making for the week, I can organize my grocery list more easily. It also ensures that I buy everything I need at the grocery store the first time I go. The second reason is that it helps me save money. I am only making one trip to the store each week, and I am only buying what I need. It also allows me to plan meals around what I have at home, in my pantry and in my refrigerator. This helps me avoid wasting any food, and therefore any money. I can also make sure that I use any leftovers this way, too.
How I Do It
My meal planning process is pretty simple. I list the days of the week, and figure out dinner for each day. I tend to keep breakfast and lunches pretty similar most of the time, so I don’t really worry too much about those. Once I have figured out what I am feeding my family for the week, I come up with my grocery list. A lot of the time, I will even do this at the same time. If I am looking in a cookbook, for instance, I will write down the recipe name and where I found it on my meal planner page. Then I will write all of the ingredients on my shopping list. Then, when I have finished my plan for the week, I can compare my list with my pantry and remove any items that I already have.
Meal Planning Pages
Click the meal plan below for a free printable page. Not your style? Check my etsy shop for more!
If you need some recipe ideas, please check out my recipes here.
2 COMMENTS
Jess, this is a great way to do it! Before Covid I’d just plan two or three days at a time and go to the store much more frequently than we do now. My husband has been doing the grocery shopping through the pandemic and he goes just once a week, so I have to be very thorough with my planning and grocery list. I’m sure anyone with a big family will notice all kinds of benefits from handling it the way you do.
Thank you! I think Covid threw everyone a curve ball with how they shop. I think having a solid plan really helps me keep our budget in check. I can’t put extra things in the cart at the store if I’m not at the store all the time. š