How to create a meal plan in five easy steps and save money too!
Wellness is just one of the three pillars MeVest is built on. When we’re in good physical and mental health, this pillar stands to have a positive effect on your wallet and your work, too.What you put in your body affects your physical and mental health and meal planning is one way to keep you on track, not only for your wellness goals, but for your financial goals too.Meal planning is the act of writing out exactly what meals you are going to cook for the week and creating your grocery list.Meal planning has many positive effects including being less stressed when you complete your workday because you’ve already laid out a plan for dinner success. You also eliminate the need to go to the grocery store (in-person or digitally) every day and you spend your money smarter by going just once.We have five tried and true meal planning tips for you:
Book a time in your calendar each week that is non-negotiable (we find Sunday or Monday’s work best) and sit-down to plan your meals for the week.
From your list of meals, create your grocery list for the week and take that list with you when you shop. This helps to decrease the amount of unnecessary items that do not fit with your meal plan.
Involve your partner, friends or family and make it fun! Create a habit of sitting down together (a safe distance or digitally) to create the meal plan list and use it as a time to get creative, perhaps trying new recipe ideas.
Start your meal planning with some of your favourite ‘go-to’ recipes. ‘Go-to’ recipes are those that you love or your family loves; these meals are easy to make and they do not take too much time. If you don’t have a list of go-to meals, simply start one with a single piece of paper posted on your fridge and use it as a resource for your meal planning each week.
Track your grocery receipts each week. You can start to see which meals are cost-effective and also which meals should only be prepared once-and-a-while. This will go a long way to sticking to your household budget as well.
Our very own Jessica Kostka, from MeVest, has an established cooking blog and offered to share her meal planning template with us. Download your Meal Planning Template for FREE by clicking here.
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