5 Reasons why you Should Start Meal Planning

Meal planning is something I always thought sounded smart and organized, but I worried that it would take too much time to plan each week. It has actually made our life so much easier! I’ve got 5 good reasons why you should start meal planning too! ;)

A few weeks ago we forgot to meal plan and boy was our life a mess! We ended up calling that week “college experience week” because we just dug around for ramen noodle, mac and cheese, and other quick easy meals. By the end of the week we were missing real, healthy food! So that next Sunday my husband and I pulled out our meal calendar and planned everything out per usual.

Our meal calendar is nothing too fancy. It’s a simple blank calendar that we keep in a cheap dollar store frame with no glass. I have seen meal planning apps, as well as chalkboard “what’s for dinner” signs, but I prefer paper copies so I can look back on what we ate in the past. Meal planning is something my mom has been doing for a couple of years and so naturally I started doing it when I moved out.

Here are 5 reasons why I think you should start meal planning too:

1. Meal planning saves money.

Because we know exactly what we need for each meal, my husband and I know what groceries we need to buy each week. This helps us to avoid buying lots of extra sweets and snacks because we know we will have enough food at each meal throughout the week. We rarely have to make a last minute run to the grocery store or borrow ingredients from neighbors because we already have everything on hand.

2. Meal planning helps us use ingredients wisely.

This is also along the lines of being frugal and saving money. When we plan out our meals we usually have a could we already know we want to have. When meals require special ingredient, we find other recipes that also need the special ingredient so that we don’t waste as much food. For example, we love making air fryer spring rolls. The recipe includes cooking with cabbage. So we often have a salad later in the week with cabbage so we can finish it off before the cabbage goes bad.

3. Meal planning makes shopping quicker and easier.

As we plan out our meals, we look to see what ingredients we don’t have and put them right on our shopping list. We like using Alexa so that when we finish off ingredients we always have on hand like flour, condiments, or spices, we can add them to our shopping list so we don’t forget to pick those up from the store.

4. Meal planning makes meal prep easier. Because we know what we’re eating for dinner, it is easier for us to remember to thaw frozen meat, marinate ingredients, etc. ahead of time. We love having a reminder from our Alexa each day at noon to pull meat out of the freezer to thaw. Meal planning also helps us make things pie crusts ahead of time, or let a Jello salad chill for a few hours so that everything will be ready to eat all at the same time.

5. Meal Planning helps us eat healthier.

Because we meal plan, we feel less inclined to go out for dinner. We always make extra food from our meals to eat the next day. Now I do believe that some meals you can’t really reheat (box macaroni and cheese is one of those things for me). But most homemade dinners make great lunches for the next day. This helps cut down eating out at lunch time as well.

As you can see meal planning has had so many benefits for us in the short and long term. If you would like a free copy of the blank calendar I use for meal planning head over to my meal planning page. To add the lemon print in the background, I print off a picture of lemons and then put the paper back in the printer and print the calendar over the top.