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Do you plan your meals ahead of time? I’ve been meal planning for a few years now. And recently I’ve started planning a month of meals instead of weekly.
Planning a month of meals really helps me save a lot of time and money. I love knowing what’s for dinner every night and having a plan.
I’ll show you how I make a monthly meal plan and what we’re having this month.
My Monthly Meal Plan for February
Meal planning saves a lot of time since you know what to cook each night. When dinner time rolls around, you know exactly what to make.
And, you save a lot of time at the grocery store since you know exactly what ingredients to buy for those meals.
You won’t waste as much food or money, since you are only buying what you know you are going to eat.
If you don’t meal plan at all, you can start with weekly meal planning to get the hang of it.
Read The Complete Guide to Meal Planning here.
If you have been weekly meal planning, give monthly meal planning a try and see how much more time you can save!
Why monthly meal planning?
I love doing all the planning at once. Then, I know what deals to be looking for at the grocery store.
Here’s the pros and cons of this style meal planning:
Pros to Monthly Meal Planning:
Planning a month of meals means you only have to do this 12 times a year.
You can plan for leftovers. Make a large batch of spaghetti sauce the first week, and freeze 2 more servings for later meals.
You have more time to shop for deals on ingredients for your meals.
Cons to Monthly Meal Planning:
When you plan a month of meals there is the possibility of things coming up and changes to the plan. That’s totally fine – just skip to the next day or push everything back.
It takes more time to plan a whole month, but you won’t have to worry about it again for another month.
You don’t know what foods are going to be on sale. By shopping grocery deals, you can find deals to make your menu plan around. You can always shop ahead and freeze ingredients and meats.
Related Post: The Complete Guide to Meal Planning
How to make a monthly meal plan:
Making a monthly meal plan is very simple!
I love to use these free blank calendars I make for you guys on the blog here. You can find these under Fun -> Free Printables.
Here is the free blank February calendar.
Helpful things to have ready:
- Blank calendar
- List of favorite family meals
- Planner to check activities and events planned
Related Post: The $300 Grocery Budget Challenge
Make a monthly meal plan:
- Write any events or activities you already have planned for the month that you know you won’t need to cook that night.
- Plan meals using ingredients and food you already have in the fridge, freezer, and pantry.
- Fill in the rest of the days with meals from our list of family favorites.
You can add these meals into your daily planner so you always have it handy and know what to make each night.
I write our menu on a chalkboard in the kitchen so I know what meat to thaw each night.
My monthly meal plan for February:
I have a goal this year to make 3 new recipes a month. Those meals are starred so I know to pull out the recipe book.
I have also planned a week of Instant Pot meals thanks to My FreezEasy.
Related Post: A Week of Instant Pot Meals
The rest of the meals are using food from the freezer, and some of our favorite easy meals.
Making a monthly meal plan is not complicated. Of course, things come up from time to time and meals get moved around.
Having a plan for the whole month helps me to know when to stock up on a great deal at the grocery store.
And, I can plan for new meals and change things up instead of eating the same thing every week.
That’s how I make a monthly meal plan and what we’re eating this month!
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