Menu planning is an organization tool that can save you both time and money as well as being beneficial for the environment and your stress levels!
What is menu planning?
Menu planning is the process where you sit down and plan 1 week of meals in advance.
I do menu planning every Saturday morning. This helps me plan a range of meals for my family and use up the same vegetables in a week so that there is no food wastage.
From this plan, I then gather all the recipes required and develop a shopping list.
I include all other general food items for the week, such as bread, milk and cheese, and do one shop with this list.
By following this process you are only having to think about dinner planning once a week rather than every day, and only doing shopping once rather than potentially daily.
This saves a lot of time and also stress. If you shop to your list and don’t get tempted by other groceries you will also save money both by buying less and by reducing food wastage. If we want to get down to the nitty gritty you will also save money on petrol due to fewer trips to the shops!!!
The reduced food wastage is also beneficial for the environment both by reducing emissions when less food is disposed of and also by using less packaging if you are purchasing less.
To be honest, my main motivation for menu planning is to reduce my stress levels, but everyone has different values and priorities so it is about what works for you.
About the Author – Sally
Sally is a home organisation and budgeting expert with a passion for helping families take the stress out of everyday tasks by creating simple, efficient and cost-effective processes. Her strategies can result in more time and energy being available to spend time doing what you love. Sally is a quiet budgeting queen, home organisation specialist, wife, mother, animal-loving mathematician and so much more.
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