Monthly meal planning is a great way to save time and money, but you may be surprised to see that it also helps you have better variety too!
I didn’t realize it at the time, but meal planning became an integral part of my life back in childhood.
As a single parent, my father had to do everything he could to maintain a sense of normalcy and predictability. Menu planning was one way to do that. Plus, it helped him manage the chaos of parenting while also staying on a single-income budget
Our weekly meal plan was up on the refrigerator like an old friend. I always knew what to expect, and sometimes even helped pull dinner together. (shocking, right?)
[clickToTweet tweet=”What happens when you start monthly #mealplanning? Hint: It might just be life-changing! #family via @PlayDatesParty” quote=”What happens when you start monthly #mealplanning? Hint: It might just be life-changing! #family via @PlayDatesParty”]
As a young adult, I adopted meal planning into my normal routine. With long commutes into Washington DC, and my own tight budget, meal planning became an integral part of my weekly routine…long before getting married or having kids.
Fast forward several years, and two kids later. Suddenly that weekly meal planning session was getting too difficult. And instead of looking forward to deciding what to cook next week, I dreaded it.
Then, one day, not long after our second child was born, a coworker mentioned the concept of monthly meal planning.
The idea seemed preposterous and exciting all at the same time. Now that we were paying daycare bills for two, plus extracurricular activities for our oldest, the family budget was getting strained again.
So I gave it a try. And I fell in love.
Why Should You Plan Meals for a Whole Month?
Save Time.
Planning meals for an entire month doesn’t take much more time than it does to plan for a single week. But it saves a great deal of time throughout the month. Let’s say you spend an hour meal planning for each week. That’s roughly four hours each month dedicated to meal planning.
When I first started monthly meal planning, it took about two hours to put a plan in place for the month. Now that I’ve developed a system and a bank of trusted recipes, it takes less than one hour to plan a whole month of recipes. That alone is a savings of 3 hours each month!
Save Money with Less Waste.
Planning meals for a whole month means you can do a better job planning to use the leftovers you already have, or will likely have after a meal is complete. This information helps you make better decisions about what to buy in bulk. And after a while, you’ll develop a bank of recipes that helps you adjust your meal plan during the month, if necessary.
Encourage Variety by Seeing the Big Picture.
The Husband and I enjoy a wide variety of cuisines and we want to pass that appreciation down to our children. And I like to make sure that we include meals not only for the kids, but some special meals for him, too.
Having a whole month of meals planned at once helps to see how varied (or not varied) our meals really are. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at our menu plan and realized we had too much of one type of food (usually pasta).
This way I know we won’t get bored.
On the other hand, knowing which meals you like to plan over and over can help you decide which cookbooks and recipe sites are working best for your family.
Does Monthly Meal Planning Feel Boring Restricted?
Let’s get one thing straight: You are in charge of your meal plan.
If you implement your monthly meal plan well, then you don’t have to be bored at all. And you definitely don’t have to feel pigeonholed.
If you’re left with too many leftovers after one week, you can easily push back the meals planned for the following week. Or you can see which recipes you already had planned that might be adapted to use up your leftovers.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing all the tips and tricks I’ve learned from four years of monthly meal planning. This includes:
- Strategies to ensure that no one in the family is ever bored,
- How I plan an entire month of meals in as little as 45 minutes
- How to maintain a meal plan that you can access anywhere
[clickToTweet tweet=”Time to ditch the weekly #mealplanning for something better. ? #food via @PlayDatesParty” quote=”Time to ditch the weekly #mealplanning for something better. ? #food”]
Even though our family doesn’t share the same challenges as my single-parenting father did so many years ago, meal planning has been crucial to keeping our family organized over the last several years. Making the switch to monthly meal planning has saved countless hours, and nearly eliminated one major source of stress for our family.
Now, it’s your turn
Whether you’ve been meal planning for weeks, years, or never, try monthly meal planning just once. You may be surprised to fall in love with it too!
Looking for more information? Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing the tips, tricks, and tools we use that make monthly meal planning a total sanity-saver. Don’t forget to come back regularly. Or subscribe to the newsletter to get posts sent straight to your inbox every two weeks.
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Candace Playforth says
I love this idea, Leslie! I’ve been doing weekly planning lately but am definitely going to give monthly a shot. I completely agree with all of your great reasoning behind it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Deedra says
Hi, I found you off of the Mother2mother blog. I just can’t plan that for ahead of time. I did try it once but I too felt like I was just doing the same foods over and over. I believe it was chicken and pasta. ha ha ha It is a awasome way to save money and I am going to see if I can’t find time time to do it again. Have a great day.
Harry's Honest Mummy says
At first I thought “monthly meal planning will take ages” but you are right, once you break it down I do spend about 4 hours a month planning what we are going to eat. I will give it a go. Hopefully I will stick to it! #recipeoftheweek
Kristin @ Peppermints and Cherries says
You really have an amazing blog! I found it recently through a link party and have pinned several of your posts!
Helen aka Welsh Mum Writing says
I usually plan for 2 week stints, but I might try this. You’ve inspired me! I don’t have a big kitchen or much storage so shopping for a month wouldn’t be practical, but I could at least map out what I’m going to cook. I like the notion that it encourages variety. There’s usually two recipes which feature every week, and it would be good to mix things up a bit more. Thanks for sharing. #FortheLoveofBlog
Jann Olson says
I’m sure that this is a great idea! When I had my young family I planned a 2 week meal plan, but I can see that a month would be a good idea. Now that it’s just the two of us I don’t plan quite so far out. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Sandeep Goswami says
I use to plan for a week but now after reading this, I am thinking to plan a meal for the whole month. I guess this is a good idea to plan for a whole month rather than planning for a week.
teresa says
Ugh, I’ve been meaning to switch to any kind of meal planning, but I still haven’t found a system that works for me. It’s one of my goals for 2018 and your post made me realize how important it is.
Thank you for joining The Really Crafty Link Party this week. Pinned!
Kelly k says
Great post love this idea gives me more time for others things I saw your blog on a link from fortheloveto link party thanks for sharing
Lisa @ Lisa 3D says
Meal planning is definitely something I struggle with. I’ve never tried a monthly approach before, but maybe I should give it a try!
Nichole Goodland says
I have always wanted to try this out because I do weekly meal planning anyway but it is just sitting down and doing it. I will have to try it though. 🙂 #brillblogposts
a spirit of simplicity says
I like to plan my meals as well. I find that, for us, 2 weeks is plenty. If I go much further than that, I don’t stick too the menu as much.
wrae says
I’ve been planning for two weeks. A month would be a good challenge.
Lyn says
I’m far from being a new mom – our daughter is almost 45! I have been practicing similar planning for over 40 years. I keep a notebook that I keep my grocery shopping list one one side of the page, on the back is the menu for the week. I might not plan every day for a month – but I do what I call “projecting” for the weeks ahead. Example might be if I use fresh ginger today I will make something next week utilizing fresh ginger. Nothing goes to waste. Instead of watching mindless TV in the evenings I gather recipes from my cookbooks and on-line. I even have a list of things that I will make sometime in the near future and write down what source I can find them. We eat some really fab meals, keep a handle on the dollars spent, and it’s a bit of a hobby for me as well. I also keep a fully stocked pantry with plenty of staples such as canned tomatoes, pastas, vinegars, etc. I also have a section for all my Asian foods – hoisin and oyster sauces, rice vinegar, wasabi, noodles, etc. I also have what I call my specialty foods – always have on hand – jarred artichokes, sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, shelf stable heavy cream, etc. That way I can make just about anything I want and don’t have to run out at the last minute. Same with my freezer items – frozen artichokes, mushrooms, stir fry blends, nuts. I always have chicken tenderloin pieces, pork, etc. also. It might take a while to build up a well stocked pantry, but it’s a time and $$ saver.
Mary says
Leslie I have to say that this is a radical concept for me. I usually know what I’m going to cook the night before when I have to reach into the freezer to get something. I will have to think this one through. Oh we have our staple meals that we cook once a week but I guess if I had a calendar in front of me and just added those then I could work around them. Hum… I’ll give it a shot.
The Mummy Bubble says
I really need to get into meal planning as I’m so disorganised when it comes to this and it’s wasting money and valuable time! #fortheloveofBLOG
Kathleen - Bloggers Lifestyle says
I do like your point that planning meals will encourage variety. I can see how that would happen by looking at an overview of the whole menu. Much less stress too, there is nothing worse than coming to a meal and wondering what to cook, I do that often.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Barrie Bismark says
Wow! This is such a great idea. I need to start meal planning. I just need to get myself together and actually do it.
Thanks for sharing.
Lisa Pomerantz says
We need this terribly. We get to the witching hour of mealtime and haven’t the foggiest idea of what will happen, HELP us! #brilliantblogposts xo
John Gurung | Healthylivin'Guru says
Excellent blog post Leslie! Meal planning can be a useful tool for saving time, money, and stress. Meal planning can help to ensure that you are eating a balanced and nutritious diet, that include a variety of healthy foods in advance.