Do you meal plan for a week or more in advance?

[slw123]

I really should be doing this!  I shop the sales, so I always have food on hand, but it seems like every afternoon I am thinking "hmmmm, what am I going to fix tonight??"

We also have very hectic schedules, so honestly having a plan for at least the week makes perfect sense.

Advice?

[sarahjones79]

I always plan our meals at least a week in advance.  It makes grocery shopping so much easier and I know what we are having for supper everyday!  I can get meals prepped and made ahead of time.  Our schedules are busy as well so having everything set is such a life saver!!

[katiebug840204]

I plan a week in advance.

[andrea96]

I plan a week at a time, usually Saturday through Friday. Well, my goal is to plan a week at a time.

[michiganmom116]

You know me...I plan anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks at a time, usually however long I go between shopping trips.

[The_Doodle]

I plan in the sense that I get enough meals to last until our next paycheck. I also plan with my WIC vouchers, i.e., the week I get beans is lentils tacos, the week I get veggies is veggie lasagna.

 

Here is my advice and it's been pretty handy:

-Leave a notebook out at all times to list dinners on it. If you or hubby (or kids if they're big enough) are jonesin for a certain type of dinner, write it in a list. If there is enough ideas (and feel free to just write down some easy/fast meals as well), pick some that have a simliar ingredient (chicken, for example) so you can buy a bigger amount and save some money. This is also good with hectic schedules because hubby can still have an opinion on some meals even if he's not there.

-Get a range of difficulty with meals. Have a few made from scratch, a few that are semi-fast, and some that doesn't even require meat to thaw.

-Always have basics on hand that you will definitely use before it goes bad. For example, I always have some sort of pasta, milk, cornstarch, and cheese. So, if push comes to shove, I can make a homemade cheese sauce with pasta for dinner. Plus, they are basics that if I keep on hand, I won't have to buy every single week.

[August07Mom]

I plan for two weeks at a time.

[Terri441]

I do 2 weeks at a time but if I were you I'd do a week a couple times and see if you find it really helpful (insure you will though)
I plan a crockpot dinner for my daughters dance days.
Other than that I do 2 or 3 chicken meals. 1 red meat, and 2 or 3 vegetarian meals per week and plan for a day of leftovers.
I've made a list of meals that go over well and always try a bit of new stuff to add to it so we're not repeating. That makes meal planning and grocery shopping easier.
I also take an inventory of my pantry and freezer so I can know what I have to draw from when I'm making my grocery list. :)

[MyGiftsFromGod]

I do my shopping on Friday nights. Sometimes that has to be moved to Saturday night, but that's okay. I always have my meal plan for the next week made by Friday. I am usually working on my list for two weeks out, but I might be making changes for the closest upcoming list up until the Friday I shop. I base it on making sure we have variety in meats, veggies, and ethnicities. Then I might switch things around before my shopping day depending on when I MUST use a crock pot because of somewhere we have to go, or based on company we have invited over, and the quantity and time involved in that. I take my inventory by Friday, add everything up that needs to go with each meal, and get it.

[TwinSoccerMom]

I generally do at least a week in advance.  We are pretty busy especially this time of year so I plan my meals based on what we have going on and how much time I have to cook.  I use my crockpot a lot also since I often don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal and don't want to eat out.  I also add a couple of quick extra meals in case our schedule unexpectedly changes and I need to make a quicker meal than originally planned.

[jessicasmom1]

I do it weekly, but think more about the second week as well.