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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
You are preaching to the converted on this occasion as I LOVE meal planning. I actually do my grocery shopping on a Saturday with all my meals planned for the week and then on Sunday I cook for the week and then either freeze or stick a few things in the fridge so that when we get home dinner is ready to be heated. It saves me so much time it’s incredible!
Love the new look of the site it looks so great!! 🙂 very exciting.
Thanks Suz! I need to get on the pre-cooking bandwagon, definitely a great time saver x
I’m definitely a meal planner (which is probably no surprise to anyone!) and like Suzanne I do a lot of the cooking/prep on a Sunday. I make about 4 days worth of lunches (they go a bit weird any longer than that!) and at least 3 night’s dinners, and then plan out the rest of the week. SO much less stress and it saves both time and money. The addition of cute stationary doesn’t hurt!
I’m actually thinking of doing a series of posts on meal planning/expanding your cooking repertoire, so hopefully people will find that helpful!
That sounds really good Liz – I find we do about 8 meals on rotation so having new things to add in would definitely be a win!
Thanks Tahlia for sharing this, I must admit I am a little all over the place at the moment so meals are always made up on the spot. Will definitely try planning my meals for the week now! x
Good luck! Let me know how you go 🙂
I became a meal planner after having kids. Before having kids I didn’t feel like I needed to plan and we worked out what we wanted to eat when we got home from work. This often resulted in multiple trips to the supermarket. Since having kids there is no time for this. So I now shop online and before I do so, I plan out our meals for the week including lunches and then write my list from that. It takes much less time than in the past and so much better for our budget as well as reducing the amount of take away when we plan well. It also helps with being organised and sometimes cooking the night before for the next night.
Winning at planning Sarah! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Ahhhh, I need to get back into using a meal planner. I was doing it for a while then I started to lose interest in food and planning. But this may give me the push to get back into it! Thanks Tahlia x
You’re welcome, thanks for checking it out x
I try to meal plan but I end up going out a lot and having ‘easy’ dinners instead. I do a lot of make-ahead meals though which is a big help because I’m quite lazy with cooking during the week.
I’m SO lazy with cooking. I would employ a chef if I could afford it. I think I definitely need to have a crack at make-ahead meals and making big batches!
I’ve never been a meal planner but I’m inspired to give it a go. I’m also obsessed with Kikki K so frankly, any excuse! Thanks for the great idea. 🙂
Awesome! Let me know how you go 🙂