I know it sounds weird when someone says how can meal planning be linked to saving money? It could also be funny to link food/cooking to personal finance. But the kitchen is the place where most of your money is spent, whether it is for groceries or cooking or eating. That’s why one can manage and control the spending in this area by managing their meals.

Let me explain to you about meal planning first. I have started making a meal plan from the past year, during the pandemic, and now following it regularly.

Initially, there was slight discomfort in following the plan due to the habit of making meals with the stuff that would be found in the kitchen/fridge. Also at times, I couldn’t make the meal as planned, because some ingredients were missing. But after a few months, I am quite used to it and it is making my life much easier, manageable, and has reduced stress.

Along with the meal plan, I am also making a list of items needed to follow the plan. It not only helps me to buy items that are required for the plan but also to reduce the purchase of random items. Next, it helps me reduce food wastage. Planning your meals and groceries accordingly is a great way to avoid frustrations too.

Generally, I write down the plan on a piece of paper and plan our meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) every Friday for a week, (excluding Saturday for eating out/dining) and then plan for my shopping. The next step is to do some preparation over the weekend. Once you have a meal plan, you can just keep reusing it with some changes.

Meal planning is helping me to make my life easy. Planning for lunch/dinner with my husband and kids, ahead of time every Friday, definitely helped me with managing my home chores and the stress of cooking. Making family members join the meal planning process, making sure that the food will not go to waste and they will be prepared to eat the meal even if it is not their favorite (better to be prepared than unexpected). We know exactly what we are going to eat and when. Such a time-saver, not to mention a headache saver!

But, meal planning also needs a lot of commitment, skill (to be creative and with many ideas), and patience :). Repeating the same meals over and over again can be annoying and can make you feel like you have failed in the plan. Also, this extra work on weekends can be time-consuming, especially for working couples/people. But with some creativity, and a search on Google or Youtube can help you. With time, meal planning skills will improve which can help you to stick to the meal plan. 

How is ‘Meal planning’ helping me in my savings?

1. Due to planning for meals, I know exactly which grocery/food items I need for my meal plan. This automatically helps me to cut down on unnecessary grocery shop visits.

2. It limits unnecessary purchases, which then help to lower my expenses on groceries.

3. It has automatically put the limitation on eating out, food delivery, which also means less spending.

But, this ‘Meal Plan’ may not be suitable for everyone, such as couples who are very busy with their work, families with toddlers/elders, for a single person, or some other reasons. In conclusion, planning your meals ahead of time, can reduce expenses on groceries, and can help you manage your time better.