Free Weekly Meal Planner Printable PDF Template
Hello friends! Today I’m going to be sharing my Free Meal Planner Printable with you because I’ve been meal planning for the past couple of weeks and it really helps me out in my everyday life.
A lot of people are living incredibly busy lives where they think they don’t have time to plan. I used to be like this. I would play it fast and loose because I didn’t want to take 20 minutes at the beginning of the week to look at my refrigerator and see what was there. But I found out quickly that my lack of planning was detrimental to my life. I was stressed when it came to dinnertime, and I was even more stressed when it came time to pack my lunch in the morning and didn’t have anything to put in my lunchbox.
Now, meal planning is one of my favorite activities. And theres good reason for that. Ever since I started meal planning, I’ve been letting less food go to waste which means I’m saving money on groceries. My trips to the grocery store are also better planned out which means I spent less time floundering around the store, wondering what ingredients I need. Because my grocery bill is lower, I’m given much more freedom to experiment with healthy meals for the entire week (and entire month, if you’re taking into consideration a monthly budget).
In today’s blog post I’ll be sharing my weekly meal plan template to help you organize your grocery shopping list. It’s been a real game changer for me. Keep reading until the end of this blog post so that you can download your own free printable meal planner.
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What is a Weekly Meal Planner Printable?
A weekly meal planner is a tool used to organize meals for the upcoming week. It typically consists of a chart or template with spaces for each day of the week and meal categories such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. People use it to plan their meals in advance. helping them save time, money, and effort by ensuring they have all the necessary ingredients on hand and reducing the need for last-minute decisions or unhealthy food choices. It can also help in achieving dietary goals or managing food budgets effectively.
What are the Benefits of Meal Planning?
By meal planning, you can benefit in many ways:
– By giving yourself extra time you can prepare ahead of time to try new foods. You may even find some new favorite recipes!
– You save so much time on grocery shopping because you know what you want to buy before you get to the store
– Menu plans help you money because you only buy the ingredients that you need, and you spend less money on the snacks section. Or last minute meals like fast food.
– By planning ahead, you can utilize different kitchen tools like the slow cooker and the instant pot to save time.
– Menu Planning is a great introduction to meal prepping. For best results you can combine the two to set yourself up for an awesome week.
What is Meal Prepping?
Meal prepping is the practice of preparing and portioning out meals in advance, typically for the week ahead. It involves cooking or assembling meals in bulk and storing them in containers to be easily reheated and consumed later.
The main goals of meal prepping are to save time during busy weekdays, maintain a healthy and balanced diet, and manage food budget effectively. By dedicating a block of time, usually once a week, to meal prepping, individuals can streamline their cooking process. It also helps to only have to clean up the kitchen once during the week, rather than every day.
Meal prepping can also help to minimize the need for frequent grocery store trips, reduce food waste, and make healthier food choices.
The first time it can seem like a lot of work. I remember after my first time meal prepping I was exhausted, because I did multiple meals at once. But it can be as easy or hard as you make it. A great way to find what works for you is to try things out and then make adjustments the next time.
Are Meal Planners Worth It?
Whether a meal planner is worth it depends on individual preferences, lifestyle, and goals. Some positive factors are that it can save time, save money, reduce daily stress, help you eat healthier, and encourage you to try out new things.
However, meal planners aren’t for everyone. Some people like to be more spontaneous when it comes to meals. So it can be a good idea to try it out, but if it doesn’t work for you then don’t worry about it.
DOWNLOAD HERE
How To Download your Free Printable Weekly Meal Planner
I upload all of my free printable templates to Google Drive. To download your meal planner , click on the link above that says DOWNLOAD HERE. Once in Google Drive you will click on the download button to save a copy to your computer. Or if you’re on an iPad or tablet you can save the file on there and open in goodnotes or other planning apps.
This meal planner is Letter Size and in a PDF format. This is for personal use only.
If you’re interested in more free downloads, you can check out the rest of my blog posts with free printables here.
In Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you find this free printable menu planner useful. One of the biggest ways I save time in my everyday life is by meal planning for the entire next week on Sunday. It helps me prepare so that I’m not stressing about what to eat on all days of the week.
xo Marian
But wait, there’s more!
If you enjoy planning and are looking for more free printables, click here. And let me know in the comments if you’d like to see my meal plan calendar or my grocery list templates, and I may share those next!
