Free Printable Weekly Meal Planning Template With Grocery List

What is a Meal Planning Template?

We’re all busy and most days when everyone is home the last thing you want to do is ask yourself or your husband “what’s for dinner?” After a long day, this can become stressful. Meal planning can help change that.

I’ve created an easy template with a grocery list that you can use as your weekly meal planner printable. It makes meal planning so easy and it’s free just for you.

Pin your meal planner on your fridge so the whole family can see what the week’s dinner plans will be and everyone can help out with dinner time.

Why You Need to Meal Plan Weekly

I hate figuring out what to make for dinner each day. I loath it. After working all day and running around with the kids it’s the last thing I want to do when I come home. So one day I tried meal planning. It wasn’t easy at first but now I’ve got it down to a science I find it saves me time and money because I’m not running out to the grocery store or ordering takeout when I forget an ingredient at the store.

Weekly meal planning can be a life-changing skill. It might seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s chat about how we can easily meal plan, how to make a meal plan work for you and your family, and how to stick to meal planning. Getting into a good routine of meal planning is an excellent way to save you time and money and stress.

I’ll also show you the best meal planning app that I’ve found so far that helps you find meals and download a grocery list for that specific meal. It also allows you to choose your diet and add any food intolerances you might have.

How Does Meal Planning Help You?

Having a meal planning system has so many great benefits to your health, your budget, and your emotional well-being. Let’s break down.

Meal Planning for Your Health

Planning out your meals ahead of time allows you time to think about what your health goals are. When we try to come up with a plan for dinner an hour or so before we feel rushed, tired and we’re probably not motivated to cook. Feeling like this can lead us to make poor dinner choices because we just want to get it done. You could be more likely to order in or make something unhealthy from your freezer. ( hint: stock your freezer with Evive Nutrition to help avoid that problem.)

Save Time With Meal Planning

How much time do you spend thinking about what to make for your meals? If we don’t have a meal plan it can take up a lot of your time. If you do grab the meal planning system I’ve put together for you, you also have access to printables that you can use to keep a list of freezer meals, your family favorite meals, and some healthy meals you already know you love.

Having lists like this is a huge time and money saver because you know exactly what your family enjoys and you can keep picking from meals you know they’ll love.

Save Money With Meal Planning

How many times do you stop at the grocery store in a week? My husband and I were so bad for this. We’d do groceries without a meal plan and then we would have to go back to the store multiple times a week to pick up ingredients we didn’t have for a meal we wanted to make.

We all know that when you go into the grocery store, for one thing, you walk out with many items that we’re on your list and you spend a lot more than you wanted to.

Meal planning makes sure that you have everything you need for all your meals. You’re going to feel great knowing that you don’t have to worry about what to eat all week.

By using a meal planner that also has room for your grocery list you are making sure you get everything you need for those meals. In and out and you won’t need to go back to the store until next week.

Plan a Month in Advance

Meal planning can sound tough, especially if you have kids. Some will love each and every meal others will complain, and that’s life. So, when I sit down to meal plan I take that and other factors into consideration (what is in season, what we can stretch into two meals, and what the kids won’t protest about too much.)

Week by week I make it a point to schedule time where I can sit down and plan my family’s meals. One great tip is I like to keep my previous weeks’ meal plan and once a month or so I might recycle a week or two, so I’m not constantly trying to come up with new meals to make.

It’s hard to scour Pinterest for meals because there is so much to choose from, so instead, I take one day on the weekend (usually Sunday) to sit down and write out my plan. My weekends are all about relaxing and still being productive.

Also, take that time to assess what we will need for each. Condiments, sides, meats, you name it I take an inventory and I go once a week to buy. As you meal plan keep the grocery list printable handy so that you can write anything you need while you’re grocery shopping, this way you are meal planning and getting your grocery list going at the same time.

Why a Meal Planner with a Grocery List is a Must

I love a meal planning printable system that allows you to add your grocery list to them. This way everything is in one place and I’m ready to go as soon as I plan my meals. Once I’m done I add the meal planner to the fridge so everyone can see it and I know where to look if I forget what I had planned that week. I created this meal planner template so that it was convenient, saved time, and made sense.

Don’t forget to download yours for free before you go.

Using a meal planner helps you feel organized and you can stay motivated to eat better, healthier which will also make you feel great.

Need Some Quick and Healthy Meal Planning Ideas?

Sometimes even though you’re meal planning and organizing your meals for the week you still find yourself wanting some quick and easy meals to plan for the week. My favorite meals to add to my meal planners are from Evive Nutrition. They offer frozen smoothie cubes and frozen lunch cubes that are so healthy! Everything they offer is so healthy, their ingredients are so clean, they’ve vegan and so good.

Right now they have 4 lunch options, Golden Curry, Ban Chili, Mac Squash, and Tom Thai. You can make these dishes for lunch or dinner and they’ll only take you 10 minutes. Save hours cooking these amazing meals. I’ve given you a full Evive Smoothies review, check it out if you’re interested. Don’t forget to check out their smoothies, you don’t even need a blender. So fast, so easy, so healthy.

This will also help you make sure you have everything you need for the meals you’re planning this week.

Sometimes, if I’m feeling brave I will shop and plan two weeks ahead. It works for us, and if you are busy with work, daycare, and schools like me, this will help you more than you probably realize. Once you download this weekly meal planner template, let me know what you think!

Meal Planning Summary

Meal planning can be tricky to get into the hang of doing but once you do it for a few weeks it becomes second nature. It will help you save money, feel more organized and you will save time because you are only making one trip to the grocery store a week. Starting out with meal planning can be tricky, but I hope that this post and the free printable meal planner with a grocery list will help you get started.

If you’re not already following me on Instagram( @motherhoodlifebalance ) I’d love to have you! On there I share more tips, tricks, and motivational quotes to help calm the chaos in motherhood. See you there!