Is meal planning part of your New Year’s Resolutions?  If you feel like you don’t really know where to start, here are some beginner’s tips for starting to meal plan that will help you make this life-changing, money-saving change in your life.

Meal planning is exactly what it sounds like.  You plan the meals for your family in advance to prevent the “what’s for dinner” discussion that so many of us go through nightly.  Not only does this save money, but it also saves a tremendous amount of time and stress.  It’s awesome!  If you are ready, check out these tips and let’s get started:

• Grab a spreadsheet or notebook
• Pick your meal planning timeframe (I have found that a month is ideal, but you can choose a week if the month seems like too much)
• Bring the family together to discuss meals that you all like and put those on the calendar (I do not recommend 30 different meals, definitely put some meals on repeat)
• Shop for ingredients (be sure and go through your pantry and freezer first to see what ingredients you already have)
• Prepare your meals (I like to do a freezer cooking session once a week to save even more time during the busy weekdays)
• Don’t be afraid to leave a day or two in your month blank for a pizza night or leftover night.  It’s totally ok and will help break up the monotony!

Meal planning is awesome!  If you are looking to mix up your life in the new year and save yourself in both money and time, meal planning can do just that! It also creates much less stress during your days when you don’t have to stress about what will be made for dinner that day because you already have it planned out.

I promise you that if you plan your meals and you stick to your meal plan for the month you will save money on your grocery bill.