7 Days to Successful Meal Planning: Day 5

So now that we have meals listed out on our calendar and have inventoried the food that we already have stocking our cupboards, refrigerator, or freezer...we will need to come up with a grocery list.  I do not usually do this after I have created a meal plan because I find it easiest to do at the same time I add the menu items to the calendar and have the ingredient lists in front of me.

Take a look at the templates below to see if any of these would work for you.  The first one is rather simple, and would work best for planning one meal a day, but we all need to start somewhere.  It is graciously provided by Mindfully Frugal Mom:

 
I am a little more detailed in my meal planning and use a different template such as the one listed below provided by The Jones Family, I like it because it is very simple and provides you area to plan for 3 meals a day and includes a snack!  I also like that it gives you ample room to list out your groceries.  The only thing that I could think of to make this better would be to add a category list in the right hand section to make your shopping easier:

Here is yet an even more in depth tool that would capture even more of the art of meal planning and using first what you have and then with a shopping list area by ecoMomicalMe, I personally dislike having to much paper around or to many calenders to maintain, so this would be a bit to much for me, but all in all it has great substance to it as far as meal planning and design goes:

Finally for all you tech savvy readers, all of these listed above are great tools to use, but for those of you who have a smart phone or prefer paperless, I personally have found the app "Buy Me a Pie" to be the best solution.  I plan out my meals on paper, but add my grocery list items to my app to keep them at my finger tips.  The app allows me to create shopping lists in my phone and add items to each list by color category, making grocery shopping with three small children much easier.  Seeing that all of my groceries are color coded by produce, dry goods, meats, etc. I am able to shop each area of the grocery store quickly and effectively and hopefully without forgetting an item.   Better yet, you can use this app for free for the simpler version, but if you would like the full app that is totally worth it, there is a small fee to upgrade.  You're also able to create multiple lists in this app, because maybe you're like me and you have different stores that you go to for particular items.  Or you think to yourself, next time I go to Target I really need to pick up "...".  Create a list to make it even more user friendly.  I have had great luck with this app and believe me I have tried my fair share of grocery shopping applications.  But this one by far has my vote.  I have included a little snap shot of the screen for your viewing pleasure:

Finally prior to closing up this blog post before I have lost your attention from all of my ramblings...by the way this is my blog and I'm the rule maker on here, so I am free to do that...let's discuss grocery shopping a little bit.  So you now have this wonderful grocery list that is color coded and mapped out, now what?  I know, it's pretty logical, we are going grocery shopping.  I personally prefer to grocery shop on Tuesdays.  Why you ask?  Well, I am not exactly fond of waiting in line and prefer fully stocked shelves of the items I need and have prepped for prior to running to the store.  I find that if I shop on Saturday, it's just mad chaos with people trying to get all of their errands out of the way.  The shelves are picked over and the options are limited...but Tuesdays, grocery shopping is a breeze.  The options are endless as the trucks have been delivered on Monday and the stock is fresh and replenished from the weekend rush.  The isles are far less crowded and my time is far less consumed.  If you are really lucky and are able to do this in the morning on a Tuesday you have your work cut out for you!

I'm sure you're thinking...okay day 5 out of 7, what could possibly be left...but trust me you don't want to miss out so come back to find out what's left to create the most effective meal plan from start to finish.