9 Meal Planners that will save you money

Regular readers will know that I’m a HUGE advocate of meal planning as a way of saving HUNDREDS of pounds every year. When we plan our meals ahead, we really do save an absolute fortune on our shopping bill. Those frequent trips to the supermarket without any idea of what we’re going for lead us to overspend and buy things we don’t actually need.

There are LOADS of different ways you can plan your weekly meals. But writing out the meals you plan really does make a difference.

Sit down once a week and write out at least 5 meals for the week ahead. Then, you have the basis from which you can go ahead and write your shopping list. Don’t forget to include all three meals each day, snacks and drinks. Then once you’re shopping, make sure you stick to the list!

Give it a try. I guarantee you’ll save money.

9 Meal Planners that will save you money

Writing out your meals really is the key to success with meal-planning. When you’ve got a busy life, you need to keep things simple and writing it down means you won’t forget what you’ve planned!

1. Instant Download Meal Planners

These are perfect if you want something that you can print off and use again and again. Paper planners are also really handy to take shopping with you too.

2. Magnetic White Board Fridge Calendar

When you’re meal planning, you’ll ideally want to use up whatever you’ve still got left over in the fridge and the cupboards. Having a meal plan stuck on the fridge is great as you can quickly check what you’ve got, then write out a few meals based on those ingredients, before moving on to plan the rest of the week.

3. Meal Planner Book

I’m a big fan of planners and notebooks. I have a few different ones, each with a different purpose. I love this diary-style meal planner from Busy B.

There are various different planners available, but I’m a fan of Busy B planners so I’d definitely recommend this one!

It comes with:

• 2 magnets
• weekly meal chart
• shopping list
• coupons pocket

4. Chalk Board

I love the look of this slate chalk board!

I’m a big fan of natural products, they can look so lovely in the home.

5. A simple notebook

As I mentioned earlier, I LOVE notebooks. I have about 4 on the go at the moment, each full of various plans and ideas. I like notebooks with pretty covers, I find they just motivate me more to use them and actually get things done!

You can use a simple, lined notebook to write about your meal plan AND your shopping list, killing two birds with one stone.

There are loads of notebooks out there, ranging from the really cheap, to luxury paper. It’s entirely up to you what you go for.

6. Food Diary – great if you’re trying to lose weight

If you’re trying to lose weight as well as meal planning, then keeping a food diary alongside your meal plan is a great way to keep yourself on track.

Often, when you write things down, it makes you take action.

Writing every single mouthful of food down in a diary really makes you realise what you’re putting into your body.

 This Foody Diary is really pretty and is 100% compatible with the Slimming World Diet.

I’d suggest writing out your meal plan within each day and then adding in what you actually eat as you go through the week.

7. Personalised Recipe Book

Whilst this isn’t strictly speaking a meal planner, it will help you to take control of your meal planning and to save money.

One problem I often have when I’m planning our meals is lack of inspiration. I often turn to the same meals over and over again which becomes incredibly boring!

Having a recipe book is a great way to add some variety into your cooking. Spend some time looking up recipes and writing them out in one place, then you can quickly refer to that when you’re planning your meals!

8. Laminated Meal Planner

Laminated products are great. They wipe clean, stay looking like new, and they can be used over and over again.

You can find loads of laminated meal planners on eBay for really low prices.

9. Meal Planner Notepad

This is such a cute pad!

This notepad has 50 sheets, so nearly enough for a full year. It even comes with magnetic tape so that you can stick it to your fridge!

However you go about planning your meals, it really will save you money.

I love using bright, pretty things to help me achieve things so for me it’s always worth spending a little on something that will keep me motivated along the way.

So which planner do you prefer?

I’m taking part in the Monday Money linky with Lynn from Mrs Mummy Penny, Faith from Much More With Less and Emma from EmmaDrew.Info.