Not so long ago, my evenings used to go something like this:

Get off the tram, thinking about dinner (Do I have anything at home? What do I feel like? Do I have all the ingredients for that meal?) with one of two outcomes:

  • too hard, off to Maccas,
  • 20 minutes wandering around the supermarket, buying everything for a meal plus junky snacks because I was starving RIGHT NOW plus a crappy tabloid magazine and maybe some lollies. Then I’d eventually make it home only to discover I had half of those ingredients already, so I’d wasted my money and I’d end up throwing out all the extra food at the end of the week.

Fail.

So when my sister mentioned she uses a meal planner I scoffed at her nerdiness (because maturity) but I agreed to give it a go.

Guys, I’m hooked! And not just because it was an excuse to visit Kikki K. Here’s why:

  1.  It takes 10 minutes to plan dinners for the following week and do a shopping list. Add in checking the fridge/pantry and ordering online, and you’re at 30 minutes max. You can even get really excited and plan up to a month at a time, with short trips to the shops or a market each week to top up on fresh stuff.
  2.  During the week I don’t have to think about it. Get home, consult the planner, and get cooking. Plus I already know I have all of the ingredients on hand so there’s no mid-week dashes to the supermarket. No one wants that at the end of a busy day.
  3. I’m saving money – going in with a list means I get exactly what I need and nothing more. And I’m spending less time in the supermarket – I think our record is less than 25 minutes for a week’s shop. And don’t even get me started on the wonders of online grocery shopping – huge fan!
  4. I’m wasting less food – there are fewer dead veggies hiding at the bottom of the fridge because I bought and am using just what I need for each meal.

The only downside for me is I often forget to take things out of the freezer in the morning, but I’m pretty good at the ol’ microwave defrost without turning things to rubber.

We use our planner just for dinners, but you can plan out your breakfast, lunch, and snack for each day too. Less to think about = so much mental energy saved every day!

Ready to give it a go? Because I love any excuse to grab new stationery, I’d recommend popping down to your local Kikki-K store (we use this handy planner that goes on the fridge and includes a shopping list, or this custom notebook might work for you) but of course any old pen and paper will work. Make some time in your week to sit and think about the week ahead, jot out some meal ideas and a list, and you’re good to go.

 Do you use a meal planner? Tell me in the comments why you love it, or if you’re not on the bandwagon yet let me know what’s holding you back.