I’ve been meal planning for a couple of months now. I started to save money but now, I find it easier to plan our meals out. It keeps me on a schedule and I pretty much always know what I’m making for dinner that day.
But it isn’t always easy.
And I mean that in a good way. There are definitely things that I love and hate about meal planning and I’m happy to share them with you. So you can make up your own mind.
Personally, I like to do weekly shopping.
This does mean that I’m planning once a week. While I haven’t tried to spread out my shopping, I’ve attempted in the past to do more than a weeks worth of shopping at a time. It didn’t go well. I ended up making more side store trips then I wanted to. For me, it is easier to do weekly trips.
I try to add a new recipe every week.
This is good and bad. While I enjoy trying new recipes, I decide what day I want to make them, then never plan correctly so I have to change the day. Great recipes get added to my favorites and get made whenever I have the chance. Others are for special occasions.
I still forget things on my shopping list.
This is especially true when it comes to things that I always buy. I never write them on my list (because I always buy them!) and every once in a while, I forget them. That makes for extra trips. Or I just grab whatever it is when I make a target trip.
I have a love/hate relationship with couponing.
While I love saving money with coupons, I hate clipping and I hate when I can’t find a coupon I need right away. I also have a bad habit of trying things that I have coupons for but I might not even need. So, I’m still working on the balance on that.
There is always a day that I just don’t feel like cooking.
I plan for the week then end up having one of those busy days where I just don’t have time to cook. Or, I just don’t want to, I want to relax. The way I meal plan, I don’t really have a set day to eat leftovers or anything. And I always wait til the last minute. Lol! So it’s usually pizza.
