We haven’t always planned our meals. On the contrary we have gone very much last minute on deciding what to cook for dinner.
Well, when furlough kicked in we decided it was time to go back to meal planning. Since the cash income had become lower, it gave us a chance to actually budget and check our spending.
It was the best choice the three of us have agreed on in ages, for a few different reasons.
First of all, you know what you are cooking every day. And trust me, it’s much more helpful than staring hopelessly at your fridge.
Second of all, as I said before, the financial reason. We have cut our food spending by almost half. We shop weekly for vegetables at our local farmers market and bi-weekly for dry goods and meats. So let’s say that instead of spending an average of £400 a month on food, we now spend a little more than £200 for three of us. Not an accurate figure, but you see what I mean.
Thirdly, it gives us variety and follows seasonality. Instead of eating over and over the same thing, we have decreased our meat consumption and tried more foods and recipes this way. Basically, we have put all those cooking books to good use.
Sounds good right? Well let me tell you how we do it.
This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. We would only recommend products we use and love ourselves, and all opinions expressed here are our own. Please read our Privacy Policy here. Thank you!
Before you even look at the calendar, you need to gather your cooking books and some index flags. You can use one color for all, but the freak in me has planted a color system that divides meat dishes, vegetarian ones and sides. So when you look for things you have an idea of where to go.
Once you have gathered them all, read them through together with whoever you are going to cook with/for and decide what you want to try.
Read the recipes through. It’s essential, as it will give you an idea if it’s doable and the difficulty of it.
After you have all your recipes down, get your calendar and start planning. There are 3 of us, and we all have different cooking skills. We also take consideration of working days. You wouldn’t want to end up cooking lasagna after a 10-hour long workday.
To name some of our favourite books: Slow from Gizzie Erskine, Flavour from Ottolenghi & Ixta Beltrage and A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones.
We also alternate veggie/vegan days to meat days. So if on Monday you have a meat-based dish, you will go veggie on Tuesday and so on.
Normally, we try to meal plan for the whole month. Realistically, we plan for about 2-3 weeks at a time. And you want to plan at least a couple of weeks before the month starts, so you have time to shop ahead for dry goods.
If you meal plan, do you have any favourites? And if you don’t meal plan, is it in your plans?
This is such a good idea, I really need to plan our meals. We spend half the day checking the cupboards to see what we can eat! It will also mean we waste less food and I’m trying to be really environmentally friendly, so it’s a must! Great post!
Literally, I couldn’t recommend it more! I don’t remember if I mention it, but it’s good to do an inventory of the dry goods you have before starting.This way you can maximise what you have and minimise your spend!x
My boyfriend and I love meal planning. If we don’t meal plan we find that we’re more likely to get a takeaway, as it’s easier than trying to throw something together xx
Hannah | https://luxuryblush.co.uk/
Us too!I am so glad we switched to meal planning. Xx
I definitely need to get into meal planning properly. We spend so much money on food each week, its crazy.
I know, we literally halved our spending! The only things we bulk buy is like essentials that don’t expire and we use often!x
I love this, great post! Meal planning is so important, especially to save money. I love to map out all my meal ideas at the beginning of the week to make a shopping list and then there’s no worry to what I’m going to eat xx
Thank you Della!Do you have a favourite recipe/book that you use?x
I love meal planning! It saves me so much time overall, especially on weeknights. My favourite meals are sheet pan meals since they are so easy and mess-free 🙂 Thanks for sharing your method xo
Oh yes! We normally make loads, so we can lunch with it the day after. Seriously never going back to no meal planning.
I’m not quite at your level of meal planning yet but I’ve been noting the expiry dates of food on our calendar for the last couple of years and I’ve found it’s a useful way of making sure we use food by their expiry dates. So we know what we’re having for dinner most nights now, which is a huge help!
That sounds like a perfect solution!As long as you have a system that won’t make you waste food, why not!x
I’m definitely going to take your tips on board when I move into my first home. There’s nothing worse than getting home from work with no idea what to cook for tea. I love how you shop locally too, saving money and supporting small businesses!
Exactly! Plus with the pandemic fruit and veg have become so expensive! With £20-£30 a week we can feed the 3 of us no problem!
Such a wonderful post on meal planning, I do this too as it says so much time and most of all food! I like prepping too 🙂
Ohh I love prepping in the morning, and the all I have to do is finish to cook! Plus in the morning I am more likely to be willing to cook! Ahah
I absolutely love meal planning and swear by it. I save so much time, money and it helps so much with decreasing my daily decision fatigue!
So glad so many people love it too! Xx
I really enjoyed your method for meal planning! I have done this in the past but no longer do (I don’t know why?). Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, we did the same too and then at lockdown we decided to start again. God knows why we stopped but we surely glad we did again!
During lockdown I’ve been trying to plan my meals better as this means I have to go to the shops less!
I love that swap out veggie/ meat days – it’s a really fab thing to do x
Thank you Kayleigh! It has helped so much in these times and the million lockdowns we are on. It makes cooking so much easier and we have had a bigger variety of dishes instead of the same ones!x
I have never planned my meals in advance, but I’ve been seeing more people do it. Perhaps, I should try it out. Thanks for sharing these tips, Cristina! 🙂
You are most welcome:)
I love meal planning! It makes it so much easier knowing what you are going to cook for the rest of the week!
I know right! I don’t think I am ever going back!
This is great! Well, I can’t decide last minute unless I got distracted but I always plan meals at least 3 hours before haha. This is going to be helpful. Thank you for sharing!
You are most welcome! I can’t decide on the day, otherwise we’ll end up getting take outs!
This sounds like a great plan. I don’t meal plan because we get Hello Fresh delivered once a week so that is our weekly meals. Before we had Hello Fresh I was so unorganised so dinner was normally something you could easily put in the oven.
Hello fresh is great too! They basically do the meal planning for you, and if you enjoy it, why not!
I’ve been a meal planner since having kids, I found it so much easier to juggle work life and family with one. Now they are older I’ve not done many and notice how much food goes to waste without one.
Such a simple yet very effective tool. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 💜
Thank you for Fiona! Yes, it is so much easier in so many ways:)
I have just started meal planning my lunches! Wish me luck!
https://www.emilyclareskinner.com
Ahh, amazing! So happy for you! First is lunches, next is dinner!x
Wow this is so cool! You must try so many new recipes! We plan a little so there’s no food wastage, but only a few days in advance!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
That is a first step! Once you get the hang of it, it all clicks in:)
I never plan my meal plan before because I live with my mom lol I definitely need this when I live alone or after getting married 😀 Thank you for sharing this x
Aha, no problem! 🙂
We just started meal planning, so I loved reading this today ! We love trying different cuisines and flavor profiles, we so enjoy a wide abundance of cookbooks to get ideas from. My favorite aspect of planning, though, is knowing exactly what I am making on any given day. 🙂
I know, isn’t that PERFECT? No headaches or stares at the fridge hopelessly!
I need to get so much better about meal planning (and shopping) so I have a variety of options to choose from
We normally make a list of our favourite dishes and then plan those out first. Best thing of meal planning is that you become more aware of what’s seasonal. Here in London you can buy any fruit and veg at any time, so it’s a great way to reconnect with farming!
I should plan my meals out more as well! Although I did do it when I was trying to lose weight I lost the habit along the way, but maybe I’ll start it up again after reading this. Thank you for the inspiration!
Yes, why not Lisa! It definitely helps us with our eating habits. You are most welcome and I am glad I could help!x
I always find it funny when my 4-year-old granddaughter opens our fridge to see if there is something she might like 🙂
Ahah, does she do it to check what’s for dinner?x
These are some really helpful tips. I try to meal plan as much as I can but my partners shift work makes it tricky. It does save lots of money though.
It really does! If any of us work, we prep the meal before hand so we only have to warm it up!x
Ohh I love this. I really need to get into meal planning. I would love to bulk make meals too, make things much easier in the week for myself.
If you bulk meal it’s perfect, because you can freeze what you don’t eat and only need to warm it up the next time! X