In 2012 I made a resolution to eat more at home to not only save money, but to get healthier too. To make it simple I made a year long meal plan. It took a few hours to put together-but then I was set for the entire year. I could tweak our meals seasonally or based on what we had in the fridge or freezer but having a meal plan to rely on without having to think about it at all is a huge time and sanity saver.
I kept myself accountable on the blog by posting weekly meal plans and what worked and didn’t. I was honest about when we opted to get takeout or eat out even when it wasn’t in the plan. Even so in 2012 we saved over $4,000 by meal planning! That’s a huge savings, and it enabled us to slash our debt and contribute more to savings.
In 2013 I shared an updated meal plan and I’ve continued to meal plan and create recipes and tweak our menu plan. I sat down and tallied up our savings for 2013 and found that by tweaking our menu and adjusting things we were able to shave an additional $1,500 off our food budget! That’s a total savings of over $5,500 even while our kids (and their appetites) were growing! To say I’m hooked on meal planning now is an understatement. The savings alone is worth it, but I also really love to cook.
This year I’m making a slight change to the plan. The family is home through the weekend, and we’re going to sit down together and create the meal plan with a twist. We’ve tried this before and it works out nicely-each person will be in charge of one night each week. They will prep, cook, and cleanup. For the younger kids they will have some assistance from Mom or Dad, but for the most part the kids know their way around the kitchen and can prep and cook meals. (I always supervise the stove and take things out of the oven because of how our kitchen is set up.) We’ll still use the same template, but it will be a way to ensure they are learning a truly important life skill and I get a bit of a break. 
5 Easy Steps to Make a Year Long Menu Plan
1. Identify the meals that are easy, and well-received by your family. 
Make a list of meals that you and your family enjoy. Repetition is good in this case. Slight variations or changing up sides can make the meal feel fresh, and using seasonal fruits and veggies can change the whole meal.
Meal Planning Tip: Go meatless at least once a week for both health and cost savings.
2. Use a template to fill in the meals on a 4 week calendar. I spend some time in the first weeks of the New Year planning out the full year’s schedule as far as possible. It helps me keep our activities and obligations to a reasonably chaotic level. Meals on nights when everyone is busy should be simple to throw together or reheat if everyone is eating at different times.
3. Print it out and put it where everyone in the family will see it. Print out your menu and post it where everyone can see it. On the fridge or a family command center are great spots to have your meal plan displayed so there’s no question about when pizza night is going to be.
4. Grocery shop with a list. You can use my printable grocery list or hand write one, but having one is a MUST. The printable is helpful week after week since many of our grocery items are the same week in and out.
5. Hang in there. 
There will inevitably be weeks where you are so busy a PB&J passes as dinner or everyone is sick with the flu and no one wants to eat a thing. Don’t let an off week or a night of takeout throw you off your game. Just head back to the meal plan when you can.
Printable Meal Plan for 2014 {with Grocery List and Budget}
Download the printable year long menu plan HERE
Here it is! The 2014 meal plan is ready and waiting for you to fill it with great ideas. If you’re looking for inspiration you can find all of my meal plans (updated every week including a recap of how the meal plan went) by clicking through to the 365 Days of Homecooking category.
For recipes, you can click the Recipe category. While we have some ideas for healthy lunches like this healthy lunch ideas post and ways to pack snacks for big savings I will be making an effort to share more lunch and breakfast ideas as well, so stay tuned! Don’t miss a single post! Subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up to have my posts delivered to your email.
Kelly
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