The Best Way To Meal Plan To Save Money And Time

If you’re trying to learn how to meal plan to save money and time you’re in the right place!

In this article I will break down every single aspect of meal planning, what it is, what benefits it gives you, the way I meal plan, how to create a perfectly efficient meal plan, how to stick to it, what alternatives you can use, and more!

So grab a cup of tea or coffee because it’s a long one and let’s dive right in!

What is meal planning?

Meal planning is when you ask yourself “What are we eating today?” only ONCE a week, instead of 7. 

It’s an amazing way to avoid being overwhelmed, plan your meals for the entire week, effectively create shopping lists, save time and money, reduce food waste, and more!

What are the exact benefits of meal planning?

There are a lot of benefits of meal planning and I will never stop talking about them!

1. You will save time with meal plans.

It’s very stressful coming home from work ( especially if you had a long tiring day) and not knowing what to cook. Then when you finally come up with what you want to cook for dinner you find out that you don’t have the ingredients that you need. You have to drive to the store or end up dining out. 

It’s the same for stay-at-home moms and dads, coming up with the meals, checking if they have all the ingredients, looking for the recipes, and cooking itself every single day takes so much time!

That’s where meal planning comes in. 

You worry about it once a week and that’s it! This is one of the main reasons I absolutely love it. 

I look at my weekly meal planner and see exactly what I’m cooking tomorrow. Do all the necessary preps like taking out the meat I’ll be using, maybe cutting some veggies in advance, and so on. 

Meal planning helps you take control of your time. 

2. Meal planning will save you money

If you’re wondering “How can meal planning save me money?” I have a great and simple answer for you.

First of all, you will spend much less because you will know exactly what food you need to buy. Meal planning will get you organized with your shopping lists.

Just imagine, once a week you take 30 minutes of your precious time (it takes me even less than that!), grab a pen and paper/ notebook/ my template, and start batching your meals for the entire week. You know exactly what you have in your fridge and pantry, and you know exactly what you need to buy in order to cook the meals you wrote down. So you create that perfect grocery shopping list. 

Once you’re in the supermarket you have it with you, so you don’t buy things that you think you might use because they seem like a great idea at the moment. I used to do it all the time! 

Another way meal planning can save you money is by eating out much less! 

We all have these temptations to stop by a restaurant or order food simply because we don’t want to cook and the idea of coming up with WHAT to cook stresses us out. Let’s admit it. 

It’s much easier to stick to eating at home when you have your meals planned. 

Another way it will save you money is that you will spend less on gas driving back and forth to the grocery store because now your grocery lists are well-thought-out and efficient. 

3. Meal planning will help you stay sane.

Let’s be honest, 40% of the stress comes from thinking about what to cook for dinner, at least for me. But after I started planning out my meals every week I noticed that now I feel less stressed. 

I can finally enjoy my weeks spending more time with my family and not stressing about the idea of what to cook. I do it only ONCE a week for less than 30 minutes. Sometimes I can make adjustments throughout the week as well but they’re minor and I’m prepared for them.

I finally don’t have “Oh no, we don’t have onions!” moments because everything is planned out. 

Nothing is as valuable as your sanity, trust me. 

4. Meal planning will reduce food waste.

Did you know that The United States is the global leader in food waste, with Americans discarding nearly 80 billion pounds of food every year (40% of food)?

This amount of food thrown away each year by one family equals $1600. That’s what you’d be able to save just by planning your meals. How crazy is that?

That’s why as you create your weekly/daily meal plans you buy the exact amount of food and cook as much as you and your family can eat. 

It helps reduce food waste. 

Don’t tell me that you’re still not convinced that meal planning is a great idea! 

Let me give you one more reason to start. 

5. Meal planning helps you eat more healthily.

That’s true. When you don’t know what to cook and you don’t even want to think about it you’ll be more likely to eat out or grab some junk food to fill your stomach.

By having control over your meal plan you will be able to make healthy meals for you and your family. This will help you achieve your body goals and feel good and healthy overall. 

How to meal plan to save money and time?

1. Take 30 minutes to meal plan before starting a new week. 

Usually, it takes me about 30 minutes every Saturday or Sunday to create my meal plan for the entire week. Batching my meal plans leaves me with a nice feeling! 

2. Download this Weekly Meal Planner Printable or use any notebook. 

Grab a pen and paper, a laptop, or your iPad, or download this very helpful Weekly Meal Planner Printable that I created for you. I love both the printed version and the digital one for my iPad. 

3. Discuss it with your family.

Ask your spouse and kids if they have any specific meal requests. Ask if they also want to eat the meals that you do. If you’re splitting cooking responsibilities make sure that your menu aligns with your partner’s menu. 

4. Check the upcoming events.

Take a look at the calendar and see if any events are coming up next week or month, so you can be prepared. 

5. Make sure the meals will align with your budget. 

This is an important part because you want to spend money on groceries within your budget. If you spend $500 a month on groceries, divide it by 4 and you’ll get $125 to spend on your weekly grocery shopping. But of course, you can always adjust it to the way that works for you! For example, if you spend less this week, you can buy more the following week. 

6. Make a food inventory.

Check your fridge, freezer, and pantry to see what you already have.

I always create my meal plans according to what meats I have in my freezer. Making a food inventory helps me come up with meal ideas and what I need to buy. Also, before creating my weekly meal plan I check what food is about to expire, so I can use it this week. 

7. Look for coupons and deals.

A lot of people neglect it but it’s a very smart thing to do. If you want to meal plan to save money, never forget about the power of coupons and deals. I know it might seem that you won’t save a lot, but if you do it regularly it adds up! 

I also wrote an article about the best cashback websites and apps, some of them allow you to find the best deals, earn points, and redeem them for gift cards and even cash. 

8. Start filling out!

After you know what you have in your pantry and fridge; after you consult your budget and discuss the menu with your family; you know what coupons and deals are available, you’re ready to create your perfect weekly meal plan.

Fill out what and when you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Usually, I write down dinners first as it’s the main meal of the day that takes the longest time to make. Then, I come up with breakfast and lunch ideas. 

9. Look for recipes.

When you run out of ideas about what to cook, you can easily go to Pinterest and find recipes you want to try based on what meats you have or will buy. 

Recently I made Baked Salsa Fresca Chicken with chicken breast and I loved it! 

10. Create your grocery shopping list.

Doing all the steps above will help you create a perfect grocery shopping list with everything you need to create a meal plan. Organize your list by sections and aisles if possible. This truly helps me to be very fast and efficient when I’m in a supermarket. 

11. Buy groceries.

Now it’s finally time to buy groceries! If you want to meal plan to save money you need to stick to your list. But in case you forgot to write something down it’s okay to pick it up in a supermarket. Make sure that it’s not a bunch of junk food that you “were going to include” in your shopping list but for some reason “forgot”. 

Tip: Don’t buy groceries when you’re hungry. If you do you will grab a lot of snacks.

8 Things To Consider When You Buy Groceries During The Pandemic

What does my meal plan look like?

That’s what my weekly meal plan looks like.

Don’t forget to put down your breakfasts and lunches as well. 

Even if you eat the same thing every morning (like I do most of my mornings, I’m a fan of buckwheat porridge, I know I’m so Russian haha) it helps you include everything in your list in the right amount. 

I use my own templates – 25 printable pages with 2 different designs of daily meal planner templates, 3 designs of weekly ones, and 3 designs of grocery list templates. 

The great thing about it is that you can download the file as many times as you need.

How to stick to your meal plan?

Meal planning is not hard to maintain for me and my family, we still eat what we want, and it is much less stressful than it used to be. I have more free time.

But if you’re struggling with sticking to your meal plan, here are some tips:

• Put the process of meal plan creation on your to-do list, so you don’t forget and always have it in your mind. It will become a healthy habit. 
• If you, like me, have the same thing almost every morning, make sure that you stock up on your favorite breakfast and lunch foods. Cereal, fruits, bread, milk, etc. 
• Save new recipes that you want to try throughout the week, so you have more ideas. 
• Create a “rule” where let’s say you allow yourself to eat out once a week or once every other week.
• Plan for leftovers. When I cook soup we usually eat it for two days. 
• Order groceries online.
• Repeat your favorite recipes in 2-3 weeks.
• Have fun planning and organizing! 

An amazing alternative that does everything for you – $5 Meal Plan

If you want to have already pre-made meal plans sent directly to you along with the grocery shopping lists to prepare those meals every single week it’s 100% for you.

$5 Meal Plan is an amazing and super affordable service that will save you time and money. Erin Chase, a creator of these weekly meal plans, helps you make each meal for less than 2 dollars per person. She makes these meals for her family of 6 for $5 per meal.

The $5 Meal Plan offers a 14-day free trial which is 100% risk-free.

Try it out yourself and see how great it is!

What other resources do I recommend reading to save money?

Here are some articles that people love:

Top 21 Amazon Must-Haves That Will Save You Money

12 Good Spending Habits That Will Save You Money

10 Best Tips On How To Save Money Fast

14 Affordable Cable Alternatives To Save Money This Year

Okay, we’ve finally come to the end of a very very long blog post. I truly hope you enjoyed it, now you know how to meal plan to save money and time. 

You can bookmark or pin the image to keep coming back to it. 

Do you meal plan or want to try one day? Let me know in the comments, I love reading them 🙂