Template for Meal Planning w/ shopping list

[Χά�ων]

Ok. I use excel for my budget and shopping lists. I keep a spreadsheet for each store with department, item, cost, and price/unit for each store I shop at. I enjoy making spreadsheets and designing my own templates.

 

I cook almost everything from scratch. I can cook almost anything. I can walk in the day before I go to the grocery store and take the sparce contents of my fridge that has survived the hungry teenage boy and somehow make a meal to feed the family.

 

But I cannot meal plan my way out of a paperbag.

 

I have looked at and tried dozens of templates. I have tried modifying one to fit. I have tried creating one from scratch (something I have done for numerous other things). I have spent more time than I care to admit to on various websites to get ideas for templates. For whatever reason, I cannot wrap my brain around it. It seems crazy since I love to cook and make spreadsheets. But putting it all together in format that is useable for me? I freeze up

[IfIOnly]

I use Plan To Eat. It is well worth the $40 annual price (1/2 off on Black Friday.) It organizes my recipes, makes meal planning so much easier, creates shopping lists at specific store, and has a nice print out my meal plan. I ♡ Plan to Eat. Lol.

[Χά�ων]

I use Plan To Eat. It is well worth the $40 annual price (1/2 off on Black Friday.) It organizes my recipes, makes meal planning so much easier, creates shopping lists at specific store, and has a nice print out my meal plan. I ♡ Plan to Eat. Lol.

Do you have to manual enter all the recipes? I do not use online recipe websites.

[IfIOnly]

I know not what you were asking for, but you can add pantry staples (food, pet food, cleanong products, whatever) or random items to your shopping lists too with Plan to Eat.

[Χά�ων]

I know not what you were asking for, but you can add pantry staples (food, pet food, cleanong products, whatever) or random items to your shopping lists too with Plan to Eat.

I have that with my spreadsheets in excel. I am not looking to add more work, and transferring everything to another platform is more work. I am trying to find a template for excel that will allow me to easily use all the information I have to create meal plans.

[IfIOnly]

Do you have to manual enter all the recipes? I do not use online recipe websites.

Yes. It's some work at first but makes things sooo much simpler and faster after the recipes are in. I've had luck finding some of my recipes online too. A friend's recipe that had been in the family for decades was actually online. I searched "meatloaf, nutmeg, sage" and found it.

[Χά�ων]

Yes. It's some work at first but makes things sooo much simpler and faster after the recipes are in. I've had luck finding some of my recipes online too. A friend's recipe that had been in the family for decades was actually online. I searched "meatloaf, nutmeg, sage" and found it.

This is a deal breaker. Learning to use a new platform that requires me to redo a lot of what I have already done is off the table.

[Χά�ων]

I use two separate excel sheets. One is a basic meal planning template that is available in excel itself. It is in fact called "basic meal planner."

 

My grocery shopping list spreadsheet however, I created myself. I can email you a copy if you like. It has tabs for the stores I use most often, it has spots for the costs, inputting a coupon if I have it, adds it all up and provides me with both a total per store and overall total.

 

The way I do it generally is...

 

I go through my freezer/pantry/fridge, and see what I have to use up, like maybe an eggplant that MUST be used soon, or chicken legs in the freezer, whatever. Then I try to figure what meals I can make with what I have first. So, that must be used eggplant, it goes into a meal on Sunday. I pull out my recipe books for both inspiration for things I know how to make and inspriation for new things. I also get input from DH, if there's a dish he's craving or something he wants to grill that weekend. While I do this, I scan the sale ads online. So, if I know that canned tuna is on sale and DH is craving either tuna casserole or lasagna, then it's tuna casserole that goes on the menu.

 

Anyway, once I get the menu done, then I open my shopping list and go back through the ingredients and add them to the list. I go through the sale ads and see which store has the best deal...so if the menu item calls for fresh bell peppers, I check to see if they are on sale at Kroger or Meijer, and stick them in the tab for whichever store is the best deal. Sometimes I plan for things that don't go on sale often, but I usually remember the prices for those. For example, DH and I have discovered that we LOVE carrots and parsnips cooked together. Parsnips are 99c a lb at my Kroger, but $1.49c a lb at my Meijer. I almost always get parsnips at Kroger, unless they are all I have to get there.

 

After I do that, I go back through the ads and put anything on my list that we might NEED that isn't part of the menu, like TP, or dish detergent, or even snacks for DH's lunches. Those things are based purely on what is on sale. Fruit for snacking is whatever fruits are on sale for the best deals

Thanks, I will look for that template and if I cannot I will PM you my email. :)

 

I have no clue if I have looked at that specific template or not.

[cjzimmer1]

I cook almost everything from scratch. I can cook almost anything. I can walk in the day before I go to the grocery store and take the sparce contents of my fridge that has survived the hungry teenage boy and somehow make a meal to feed the family.

 

 

 

Honestly, with this skill do you really NEED to do meal planning.  Because I find I do much better without that added stress.  My weekly grocery list includes the same things such as I don't even really write one anymore.  Milk, eggs, fresh produce, and assortment of frozen veggies, occasionally I buy pasta. My freezer is stocked with meat (I buy 1/2 of a cow and a pig so I never really shop for meat) and so I "wing" it most days.  I can't plan a meal because I don't know what I will feel like eating that day, I don't know in advance if I will be worn out from the normal mayhem or I will still be going strong come supper time,  etc.  So as long as I have an assortment of meats veggies and starches in the house, I can put together a meal that meets my mood most days.  And if I lack inspiration, there is always frozen pizzas and spaghetti as a fall back.  

[Χά�ων]

Honestly, with this skill do you really NEED to do meal planning. Because I find I do much better without that added stress. My weekly grocery list includes the same things such as I don't even really write one anymore. Milk, eggs, fresh produce, and assortment of frozen veggies, occasionally I buy pasta. My freezer is stocked with meat (I buy 1/2 of a cow and a pig so I never really shop for meat) and so I "wing" it most days. I can't plan a meal because I don't know what I will feel like eating that day, I don't know in advance if I will be worn out from the normal mayhem or I will still be going strong come supper time, etc. So as long as I have an assortment of meats veggies and starches in the house, I can put together a meal that meets my mood most days. And if I lack inspiration, there is always frozen pizzas and spaghetti as a fall back.

I am looking at it because everything I read talks about saving money by doing it. My grocery expenses have almost doubled in the last few months.

[Χά�ων]

the biggest reason it saves money is because less stuff gets thrown out. So the question is, are you generally a growing out a lot of stuff?

Nope. I am finding the fridge is empty several days before the next scheduled run even spending more and more each time.

[cjzimmer1]

I am looking at it because everything I read talks about saving money by doing it. My grocery expenses have almost doubled in the last few months.

I think the reality of that statement depends on how you shop/cook.  If you don't have a plan are you likely to run to the store and buy a prepackaged meal.  Do you buy ingredients and throw them away if you don't have a plan because they spoil?  Do you splurge on lots of treats/snacks/prepared items when you are grocery shopping if you don't have a list? Do you make a special trip to the store to get a specific ingredient or forgotten item?  I think a person's shopping habits are more indicative of whether or not planning saves money.

 

 Many people will go buy a heat and eat meat or some other convenient but more expensive option if they are tired and don't have a plan.  I'm more likely to grab random ingredients out of the fridge/freezer than run to the store (I hate shopping) so all the odd bits always get used up at my house.  My kids know that at least once a week we have what I call a "Dabs and Doodles" meal.  No two people will end up with the exact same food on their plate but everyone will get fed.  

 

So if you tend to just buy basic ingredients when you shop, cook with what happens to be in your house and improvise when you are out of something.  I don't think actual meal planning will save you money.

[cjzimmer1]

Nope. I am finding the fridge is empty several days before the next scheduled run even spending more and more each time.

I would attribute that to rising food prices and children's growing appetites more than a lack of meal planning.  But you might have to consider the costs of ingredients that you keep on hand if you want to lower your cost.  My biggest cost savings is to use lentils instead of ground beef (or mixed with ground beef if your family won't eat straight lentils) for almost any recipe that uses ground beef.  My family can still eat all their favorites but it's a lot less expensive and I'm no longer rationing out taco meat for example because lentils are cheap enough to let them eat their fill.  Many people use beans but my family doesn't care for them much but are fine with lentils.

[poppy]

Six O'Clock Scramble.   Give you recipes and what to buy. http://www.thescramble.com/. 

[Plink]

I love the Big Oven app. There are pre-entered recipes, or you can add your own. You can schedule any recipe for any day, and you can quickly create a categorized shopping list from your selections. If you don't need something on the ingredients list, just uncheck it before adding the recipe to your shopping list. Easy Peasy!