Meal Planning Made Easy – With Free Meal Plan Worksheets and a Check list

Putting a little time and work into a Meal Plan can be time-consuming! I know because I am planning for a family of 7.  However, if you do it right, meal planning really pays off in the end.  Especially when you have a fairly large family or you’re on a tight budget. If it’s done right, meal planning can save you a ton of money and alleviate the “dinnertime stress”.

You know, when you’re trying to figure out what’s for dinner with a 2-year-old hanging on your leg? How about the nights when you need to prepare dinner in an hour before you gotta take your teen to baseball practice, but you have no idea what to cook! Then there are the nights when you’re just so exhausted; you have no brain power left to whip anything up so ordering takeout is just easier! Yes, I have been there! More times than I’d like to admit.

After tallying up how much money we were spending on groceries and eating out, I knew something had to change. That is when I came up with a plan! A plan that would save money and time!

Yes, it is possible to plan out your meals, save money and kick dinnertime stress out the door! You can do it. Here is how!

Don’t forget to print out your free Meal Planning worksheets and checklist before you go!

 

HERES HOW TO MEAL PLAN SAVE MONEY AND KICK DINNERTIME STRESS OUT THE DOOR 

FIGURE OUT YOUR BUDGET

One of the many reasons for meal planning is to save money. If you don’t know how much money you can spend on groceries this week or this month then it’s going to be difficult to decide on what to purchase and what not to purchase. Your budget is going to be different than mine, you may have more income or less income. Only you can figure this out. If you don’t know what your budget for groceries is, I suggest writing down your monthly income and expenses so you can get a good idea of what you can spend.

GATHER RECIPES

Grab the cookbooks, surf the internet, find some awesome recipes that you think your family will enjoy.  Write down or print out dinner ideas that you know your family loves. In my house, my kids could eat tacos every single night of the week and be perfectly satisfied. The kids can have tacos and hubby and I can have a yummy taco salad. So, tacos in my house are always on the menu.

TIP: Grab a 1-inch binder and some page protectors to put your printed recipes in. This makes them easy to gather together whenever you meal plan.  Toss the recipes that you tried and will never make again and keep the ones you just can’t wait to cook again!

DO SIMPLE THINGS FOR BREAKFAST

Simple grab and go breakfast ideas:

• homemade blueberry or banana muffins
• homemade buttermilk biscuits
• french toast sticks

Make a few batches ahead of time and freeze them. Serve with a glass of Water, Milk or OJ.

MAKE A LIST

Make a list of all the items you will need to make the meals that you have decided on. Even if you think you already have it, put it on the list. Every ingredient should go on the list.

CHECK YOUR PANTRY

Then check your pantry and the fridge. If you have the item on hand already check it off the list. This prevents an item from not being put on the list and keeps you from having to go back to the store because you forgot something. (yes this has happened to me many times.)

PLAN OUT YOUR MEALS

Now that you know what you’re going to be cookin’, it’s time to set a date for each meal. This is just a guide and a visual of what you have. You can change it up later if you want.  I am a huge fan of the Happy Planner, I use it for everything! They come in three different sizes, Mini, Medium, and Big. I am currently using The Big Happy Planner. I love it!

WHERE WILL YOU SHOP?

We have several grocery stores around here. Typically Aldis and Wal-Mart are the cheapest. However, if Giant is running a sale on spaghetti sauce or something, it could end up being way cheaper. To help me with this, I use the Flip app on my smartphone. This is a pretty awesome app. You can get and search pretty much every circular flyer for every store. All you have to do is put in your zip code, check off your favorite stores in your area and the flyer will just pop up. You can type in the search bar what item your looking for and it will search every flyer and give you the best deal! This makes meal planning and finding the best deals a breeze!

CHECK GROCERY APPS FOR CASH BACK DEALS

Once you have a list of stores and what items you’re going to be purchasing you need to check Ibotta and Checkout51 for cash back deals. Two apps you can quickly download onto your phone and they will save you money and money is important! Sign up through this link to get a $10 bonus after you cash in your first coupon deal!

CHECK COUPONS.COM FOR COUPONS

If you like money, coupons are something you should try using. You can go on coupons.com and match coupons with the items on your list. Some stores will actually double the face value of your coupon. If your not sure if your store doubles, you can check their website for their coupon policy. Just do a quick google of your (store + coupon policy).  Our Giant Food here doubles coupons up to .99. That means if a coupon says .75 cents off, at Giant, it is actually worth $1.50 off!

Once you match up your coupons with any items on your list, print the coupons. Then go to your shopping list and put a capital C next to the items on your list that you have a coupon for.

TIP: Use a white envelope to store your coupons in. Write the name of the store you will use those coupons at on the outside of the envelope.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR LIST

Always double check your list and make sure you have everything you’re going to need. You don’t want to go to make the meal you have planned out for the day and then realize you forgot something. This has happened to me several times, so I now double check and make sure I have everything written down on my list.

PLAN YOUR SHOPPING DAY

Meal planning and shopping on the same day is a little exhausting for me. Maybe you can handle it? I homeschool my 3 little ones so, going to the grocery store without planning it could lead to a disaster. Especially if I know I will be there for more than 30 mins. If I have to take them all, I like to go after naptime and lunch.

Another thing, I like to set up a Crock Pot meal on grocery day too, so dinner will be ready when I get home! Crockpot meals happen to be my favorite! There is just something about throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pot and it magically being ready around dinner time that just makes me happy! 🙂

 

Are you ready to kick dinnertime stress out!? These are simple steps that could save you so much money! Oh, and to make it even simpler I have included some free worksheets for you along with a Meal Planning Check List! You can download them below. 🙂