Meal planning help

[skinnybaby]

Hi all, do any of you dibbers do weekly meal planning and stick to it? If so, where do I start?
I've recently moved into a new home on my own and I want to be careful with my money as im paying the mortgage on my own. Usually I would just buy whatever I fancied while I was in the supermarket but I need to change that for my new circumstances.
I already shop cheap at aldi and such anyway, just wondering how to do a meal plan for a week for 1 person.
Thanks

[Smilesonfaces]

I am always trying to meal plan but it never seems to happen !
I would imagine it is quite difficult cooking for one. I would have thought you would save most money by batch cooking and freezing meals. Set aside an afternoon to cook and you will save time as well as money.

[Lmjenk]

Easiest way i have found is to plan for 7 meals BUT I don't then plan the exact days we eat them.
You DO save money rather than just guessing what to have. I write them down in a list, stick them on the fridge then the night before or that morning just look and choose what we will have from the choice available depending on what type of day we are having and what we fancy. i then cross it off and you know what meals you have left. This seems to really work for us as I still need lots of flexibility, I cannot be that rigid as things don't always go to plan but also want to be on budget with the grocery shopping and have the stuff to hand without constantly popping to the shops

[pandanne]

I would work out a menu over 7 days, then buy and batch cook/freeze - things like, bolognaise/chilli/curry/casserole. Also quiche/cold meat + salad. We shop in Aldi/Lidl and have cut our shopping bills in half

[Custancia]

When I lived alone, I decided on 7 meals, but then ate them in the order I fancied (or that things needed eating up). I tried to include a mix of some “cooking” meals and some quick meals eg pasta and sauce. If I was making a cooking type meal, I’d make enough for 3/4 portions and freeze the rest (then that might be a quick meal in a week or two). After a few weeks, I rarely needed to do “hard cooking” unless I felt like it, as I had quite a few meals in the freezer.

Good luck with your meal planning!

[kansaskitty]

We are two adults two toddlers and I meal plan for seven days, trying to batch cook an extra portion and freeze when I’m cooking a meal such as bolognese/chilli so that’s one night next week I can just defrost and reheat rather than cook.

We used to have things like spaghetti bolognese, chilli, cottage pie, lasagne, sausage and wedges, sausage casserole etc but are now trying to cut out red meat so have replaced a lot with quorn or turkey mince! We shop at Lidl or Aldi which we always find much cheaper. Good luck!

[klr15]

I do a meal plan with my other half each week since we’ve bought our first home and it works really well. For example a week could be:

1. Chicken soup
2. Pasta sauce with homemade garlic bread (homemade sauce)
3. Jacket potatoes and beans with salad
4. Chicken fajitas with homemade sweet potato wedges
5. Homemade chilli and rice
6. Homemade pita breads with salad
7. Chicken stir fry with egg noodles.

If it’s just you on your own you could either make smaller portions of the meals, so buy a 250g pack of mince and split it in half and freeze half. Or you could freeze the leftovers and use them as meals for work or meals for days you don’t get time to do much cooking.

We find it loads easier to make a meal plan and write everything on the list that we need. Makes our food shopping really cheap.

[Kd0758]

I’m better at meal planning in winter but it definitely saves us money.

I also keep a spreadsheet because we’re both so fussy there aren’t a lot of options so I can check back a few weeks and get inspiration.

[2019DisneyEvans]

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I use this to plan my meals and shopping list each week, I find it helpful and I really like doing it, I find it therapeutic. Batch cooking wherever possible helps save money and if you don’t mind repeat meals you could maybe have a 2 week rolling plan to take some of the planning out of it

[DisneyDaffodil]

My DD has asked me to help her with this for when she goes to uni next year. She knows I meal plan at home as I find it saves time and is more cost effective than just deciding day by day.

I have suggested she plans a few days ahead as it will avoid waste. For example, 6 sausages in a pack can be used 1 day for sausage pasta meal, then the other half pack of sausages used for sausage and mash or sausage sandwiches the following day. Likewise, freezing portions is sensible, so make a spaghetti bol and freeze half for another day. Buy a small chicken and make a roast dinner one day, chicken sandwiches for tea and maybe a chicken stirfry or curry the next day. All of these ideas provide good meals and less waste.

So, an example week:
Sunday: roast chicken dinner chicken sandwich tea
Monday: chicken stirfry with leftovers
Tuesday: sausage pasta
Wednesday: sausage and mash
Thursday: chilli and rice (freeze portion chilli for another week)
Friday: ham and cheese omelette and salad
Saturday: ham toastie or ham salad filled pitta (ham from packet used Fri) lunch. Evening meal, salmon or tuna fillet (frozen pack take out portion one at a time), jacket potato and salad