Meal planning can seem like this super intimidating thing that takes tons of time, effort and creativity.  Which, I think it absolutely can be a time suck if you set it up that way. I am all about simple, efficient and low-stress.  This is where having a 12-week rotating meal plan has completely changed how I feel about dinner and grocery shopping.

My husband and I used to look at the $700 we had spent on food for the month and talk about how we should be meal planning.

 

Me:  “Meal planning is a great idea!  That would save us so much money.  Do you want to do it?”

Him:  “Absolutely, you making the plan?”

Me:  “Let me tell you what I don’t have the time or energy for.  I do not want to sit down and come up with a million meals and a grocery list.  It’s already a stretch for me to just make a freaking grilled cheese for myself, let alone come up with meals for a month.”

Him:  “Well I don’t want to do it.”

Me:  “Okay, well let’s just do better about eating the food we have, instead of eating out all the time.”

Him:  “Sounds great.  Alright, I’m tired.  Are you in the mood for Wendy’s tonight?”

 

I can’t even make this up.  This is the exact conversation we would have month after month.  Meal planning just seemed like so much work and I did not have the energy for it.  Then I would have to make a shopping list and go to the store and actually get all the crap, then unload it and there go 6 hours of my life.  Barf.

So instead, I would buy the same stuff every month with no plan for actually making meals.  Neither one of us wanted to get creative and come up with the meals during the week.

You know when you get home from work and you are exhausted and hangry?  That is the worst possible time to not have any idea what you should have for dinner.  This was us, every day. So we would eat out.

Logically, looking back now, I’m not sure why we would ever expect to want to come up with meals at the moment when we were tired and hungry.  Obviously, that would be the time we would be least motivated to eat the food we had at home. We are all creatures of convenience. So, guess what?  Surprisingly, when done on a rotating schedule, meal planning adds this insane convenience factor to your life.

You get home from work, look at the calendar (no thought included in this – you could be completely brain-dead and there is still a meal staring you in the face), make the meal (you have all the ingredients for it, no questions) and enjoy the fact you ate the food you purchased and didn’t blow your budget eating out.

You are a meal planning superstar!!

So how do you get there?

 

First, you need to get set up with a basic meal plan.

This is not a time to be a dinner hero.  Pick extremely basic meals that are actually realistic for your skill level and life.  Seriously, I’m talking about Mac n’ Cheese (yeah, the good stuff), frozen pizza, a bowl of cereal (yes, I totally do this, and yes, I still eat Lucky Charms because they are delicious and it provides me with a puzzle while I eat).

If you are feeling fancy then you could try some spaghetti, tacos, chili.  The point is to just have some meals that are reasonable for you to accomplish when you are home for the day.  Maybe you just want to use a Crock-pot 24/7? That will work too! Whatever meals you want to make, you are totally in charge of what you eat.

 

Second, you need to decide how you want to design your first month of meal planning.

Again, you get to make this as simple or as complicated as you want. It really depends on how much you are okay with eating the same foods over and over again.

Choose 7 meals for the week, then repeat these meals for 4 weeks.  This could look something like this:

• Monday – Chili
• Tuesday – Crock-Pot meal
• Wednesday – Spaghetti
• Thursday – Mac n’ Cheese
• Friday – Frozen Pizza
• Saturday – Brinner (breakfast for dinner)
• Sunday – Leftovers

Repeat this all month.

Choose a variation of the same theme throughout the month.  This could look something like this:

• Monday – Meatless meal
• Tuesday – Mexican
• Wednesday – Italian
• Thursday – All-American
• Friday – Crock-Pot meal
• Saturday – Meat & Potatoes
• Sunday – Leftovers

Choose your meals that fit into this “themed” schedule.  Mexican could be tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc. Italian could be spaghetti, lasagna, baked ziti, etc.  The month is your oyster!

Choose a different meal for every day throughout the month.

In my opinion, this is like all-star, super advanced level meal planning.  I am not even at this point. I just don’t have the drive to do this. If meal planning excites you, then this will probably be the most appealing option for you.

Before this next step, you should print out our FREE Monthly Meal Plan Calendar.  You can gain instant access to this by signing up below.

Third, you need to write down your meal plan.

Use our Monthly Meal Plan Calendar to write down your meals for the entire month.  This is your commitment to eating the food you are going to have in your home instead of eating out.  If you don’t like the meals that are planned you have no one to be upset with except yourself.

 

Fourth, you need to write your grocery list (I seriously hate this part).

I recommend using our Grocery List Sheet to write your list. The reason I love this is that your list is organized by category.  You will go through each recipe and write down the ingredients needed in their respective category (meat, grain, vegetable, canned goods, dairy, etc.).

I hate physically grocery shopping even more than I hate writing the grocery list so this organized list is my favorite thing.  The way the list is set up makes my shopping that much faster as I am moving through the store.

You can get our amazing Grocery List Sheet FREE by signing up below!

Isn’t this just like regular meal planning?

So far, yes, this is just like normal meal planning, but stick with me.  You are going to repeat these processes for 3 months. All you have to do is get through 3 months of this and then your life will be radically changed.

 

If you need additional meal planning tips, check these out:

Meal Planning for Beginners: 6 Reasons to Start Meal Planning Today

What’s For Dinner?  How to Easily Plan a Month of Meals.

Monthly Meal Plan on a Budget:  Less Than $100 For Dinners for a Family of Four

 

Okay, I did my 3 months, now what?

Now the magic happens!  You ready for this??

Remember those Monthly Meal Plan Calendars you have for months 1, 2 and 3?  You have to keep those around because you are now going to use them all over again!

• Month 4 is just a repeat of month 1.
• Month 5 is a repeat of month 2,
• and month 6 is a repeat of month 3.  See how this works?

Is it time to sit down and plan your month of meals?  Oh wait, you are done in 5 freaking seconds!!!! Look at you meal planning champion!!

Obviously, you can make adjustments to your month if you would like to swap out meals for different things, but the effort of coming up with all of those meals for the month is close to zero because it is already done.  Hooray!

Pro-tip:  I still print out another calendar sheet for every month and just transfer the meals.  This is just because I’m a bit OCD about the numbers and days matching up appropriately.  I keep all my months of meals for reference in case I ever am looking for a change.

 

But, what about the grocery list?

Make sure you keep all the grocery lists that you made for each month of meals.  Boom! The shopping list is done in 5 seconds!! You are a freaking meal planning genius!

Pro-tip:  I recommend using our Grocery List Sheet where your list is broken down by category.  I also recommend only writing your meal plan items on that grocery list sheet. The rest of your groceries (breakfasts, lunches, snacks, etc.) should be written on a separate list.  This makes it so your grocery list can stay with your meal plan and you can just pull it out when you are on that month. It will always be correct and then you just have to make a list of whatever else you need for the month.

 

All that’s left to do is take over the world.

Look at this meal planning extraordinaire! Did you ever think this was possible?  When you have a 12-week meal rotation, you can pretty much set it and forget it (my favorite way to live).  If you want to swap out meals here and there, by all means, this is your plan.

Keep it as simple or as complicated as you want to.  You will have the freedom to make your meal plan fit exactly your needs including your taste buds, budget, and energy level.  Are you actually taking over the world? No, but you are going to feel like it when you are living within a budget, sticking to it and not stressing out about how to set up a meal plan and maintain it.

 

Have you tried this yet?  Let me know how much you love not thinking about dinner!!

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