Does anyone else out there meal plan? I started last year after getting tired of spending every night staring into my freezer and pantry to figure out what I wanted to cook. And at times ending up with nothing but mac and cheese for dinner. Living on a night to night basis was fine when it was just me and the hubby, but when we had children old enough to also join in on the meals I realized I needed to make a change. So I finally caved last year and started meal planning. I sit down and plan out the whole month. I don't cook every night, and I work around our work schedules (my hubby works 3 12hr shifts that vary weekly). I coordinate the work schedules onto the meal plan calendar and off I go planning meals.
Let me just say this...I hate it! I hate meal planning. I love it in the long run. I love not having to worry about what to make, or do I have all the ingredients. I know what's for dinner, and that I bought the ingredients to make it. But sitting down to make that monthly plan drives me nuts. It's hard! It's harder than I ever thought it would be and I dread doing it every month. Trying to figure out what I'm in the mood to eat for the whole month just takes a long time. Can you tell I just did this? I do grocery shop for the whole month at one time too. As our family grows this might change, but for now I can make one big trip. Of course we have to make trips during the month for cereal and snack foods, but we have a great discount grocery store nearby that helps keep that cost down too.
The good things about meal planning? It saves us MONEY. I know exactly what I need to buy at the grocery store, and exactly how much instead of guessing at what to buy each month. Who doesn't like saving money? And it's stress free on a nightly basis. I know what meat I need to thaw ahead of time for dinner and how much time it will take to make it so I know when to start. It really has become a life saver and a sanity saver. It's worth the one night a month when I drive myself nuts making it.
