How To Meal Plan & Stick To It Each Week

Ready to kick butt this week, mom? Let’s learn how to meal plan and actually stick to it through out the week!

Let’s face it we can talk about meal planning, meal prepping and just about all the other supposed time (and money) savers when it comes to our weekly dinners, but it’s totally different when it comes to putting them into practice.

I’m going to share with you my practical tips and advice for how to meal plan. But the best part, I’m sharing the secret sauce to sticking to your meal plan each week.

Check out today’s video with super secret trick and what’s worked for us to stick to our meal plan week-after-week. You can watch it online or down below.

Click to tweet

Here’s a breakdown of our top tips on how to meal plan and then actually follow it:

STEP ONE: SET ASIDE TIME

To be effective with your meal planning you need to schedule it. Set aside time each week or every 2 weeks to meal plan. It doesn’t have to take forever, but just know that it needs to get done at that time.

We typically meal plan on Sunday right before we grocery shop. It helps keep it fresh in our minds and makes grocery shopping a breeze!

STEP TWO: SEE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE

Take inventory of what you have on hand in your pantry, fridge and freezer. Try to use what you already have in your house. That will help you save money at the store each week.

STEP THREE: CREATE YOUR MEAL PLAN

Now is the time to create your plan. Here are a few tips to follow:

Try to include some of the staples that you already have on hand
Keep your ingredients list low so you don’t have to prep a ton
Make sure you’re using tried and true recipes (see the video for my tip on keeping your recipes in one place)

STEP FOUR: GO SHOPPING

You have your meal plan so now is the time to go shopping. Make sure to go through your recipes for the week to write down all the ingredients that you need, but don’t have. Don’t rely on memory or force yourself to look at each recipe while at the store. That’s how mistakes are made, items are forgotten and the wrong stuff is bought. To save even more money at the store be sure to follow my list trick to help you save about 20% each week.

STEP FIVE: PREP THE NIGHT BEFORE

Make sure you remove all excuses for cooking dinner. Try laying out your ingredients on the counter the night before (except those that need to be refrigerated or kept frozen). Gather everything together including your baking dishes so that it’s ready to go when you get home from work.

BONUS TIP: For my super secret bonus tip on sticking with your meal plan each week, be sure to check out the video. It’s the easiest idea and solves the biggest problem for so many families. You won’t want to miss it!

For the resources mentioned in this video, check out:

Our meal planner and grab our free download

Want more help?

Check out my perfect Meal planner and grocery list over in the shop! This one-stop guide will help you know what you have on hand, what meals your family loves and will give you guidance to create the perfect meal plan each week.