Meal planning can feel like a big task, but it’s one of the best ways to save time, money, and reduce stress during the week—especially when you have children. With kids, meal planning helps ensure you’re prepared with meals that everyone will enjoy, 
preventing last-minute chaos or the temptation to grab fast food. Whether you’re trying to eat healthier, avoid the daily scramble, or simplify your routine, meal planning is a powerful tool. In this post, I’ll share why meal planning is worth the effort and how I organize my meals each week to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible.
Why You Should Meal Plan
- Saves Time
When you plan ahead, you avoid the daily scramble of figuring out what’s for breakfast lunch, or dinner. With a pre-set plan, you’re able to quickly gather ingredients that you already know you have and start cooking. You also know ahead if you need to pull something out of the freezer to begin thawing. Or dump a slow cooked meal in the crockpot earlier in the day. - Saves Money
Meal planning can have a significant impact on your grocery bill. When you plan out your meals for the week, you’re able to create a precise shopping list, which helps avoid
impulse buys and unnecessary purchases. By knowing exactly what you need for each meal, you’ll only buy the ingredients required and avoid purchasing items you already have in your pantry. Plus, meal planning encourages you to use up what you already have, preventing food waste. Additionally, when you plan ahead, you can buy in bulk or take advantage of sales on items that you know you’ll need, making it easier to stick to a budget. Over time, these small savings add up, and you’ll find that meal planning not only saves you time but also helps keep your grocery expenses in check. By the end of the week my refrigerator is rather bare 
and that’s great because that means we use everything I bought that week and nothing went to waste. (It also allows me to do a quick and easy wipe down of the fridge at the end of the week). There are some compelling statistics that back up how meal planning can save money.- Reduced Food Waste: According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the average American household wastes around $1,500 worth of food each year. Meal planning helps you avoid purchasing unnecessary items and can significantly reduce food waste by ensuring that everything you buy is used efficiently.
- Grocery Shopping Efficiency: A survey by the Food Marketing Institute found that people who meal plan spend 13% less on groceries each month. By sticking to a meal plan, shoppers are less likely to make impulse purchases and more likely to only buy what they need.
- Better Budgeting: A report from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) found that 61% of people who plan meals ahead of time spend less money on groceries. The more organized your shopping is, the less likely you are to overspend or make unnecessary trips to the store.
- Healthier Choices
Planning your meals means you can focus on balanced, nutritious meals rather than relying on processed food or unhealthy fast food options. As a gardener and someone who preserves my harvest, planning meals also allows me to think ahead of how I can use those home canned or even fresh vegetables each week. - Reduces Stress
Let me tell you this is a GAME CHANGER in the area of stress! With a plan in place, there’s no more guesswork, and you’ll feel more organized and in control, which lowers meal-time stress. Anyone who has toddlers knows that dinner time can quickly become absolute chaos! The last thing a mamma needs is to be stressing over the decision of what to make these little tornados for dinner.
How I Meal Plan Each Week
- Review My Week Ahead
I start by looking at my schedule for the upcoming week. Do we have any busy days or family activities? I also consider the weather. This might seem odd, but if it’s nice enough out, I know I can pull out some elk steaks to throw on the grill or make venison cheese burgers. This helps me decide on easy-to-make meals for those days.
- Choose Recipes
I usually choose a variety of meals to keep things interesting—some quick meals, some with more prep time, and a mix of familiar favorites and new recipes to try. Especially in the winter time I like to stick to a routine. For example; Mondays are my easy meals like tacos or cheeseburgers, Tuesdays are the days I try new recipes, Wednesdays are my slow cooker days, Thursday are soup night, Fridays are homemade pizza, Saturdays are roasts or steaks, and Sundays are family spaghetti nights. I will follow similar routines for breakfast and lunch as well. However, the breakfast schedule relies more on our schedule and whether we need to get out of the house quickly or not. I love to scroll through Pinterest for meal ideas and save new recipes to try out. I recently heard that ChatGPT will put together a meal plan for you. You can even tell it specific diets, foods to avoid and a grocery budget. - Make a Grocery List
I love to use this meal planner notebook. It has magnets to easily display on the refrigerator where I can see what I have planned for each meal. It also has a great section for groceries. After I’ve picked out my recipes, I make a detailed grocery list. I check my pantry first to make sure I’m not doubling up on items I already have. At this point in my life, with three very young children, going into the grocery store can be a nightmare. Instead, I love to sit down every Saturday night, plan out the next week’s meals, then put in the grocery order for pick up Sunday afternoon right after church. There are several grocery stores that offer this service now THANK GOODNESS! - Prep Ahead (When I Can)
On the weekend, I try to prep as much as possible—whether it’s chopping veggies, marinating meat, making a few loaves of bread, or even batch cooking meals for the week. This makes dinner time so much easier. I love this food chopper for prepping my veggies for soups, stews, or even for the kids lunches. - Stay Flexible
Life happens, and plans change! If a meal doesn’t work out, I always keep a backup meal in the fridge or freezer. If we skip a meal that week because something came up I will usually shift it down and use that meal for the next week since I know I already have all the ingredients I need.
Meal planning doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a little time and effort, it can transform your week by saving you time, money, and stress. I hope this has inspired you to give it a try—whether you’re planning for a busy family or just yourself!
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