Free Printable Meal Plans & EASY Menu Planning Tips

Here are TWO done-for-you two week meal plans – one for spring/summer and one for fall/winter – to download, PLUS seasonal menus for every month of the year with main dishes AND side ideas. Never struggle with what to cook at 4:30 every again!

Click here for the Spring-Summer Meal Plan!

Click here for the Fall-Winter Meal Plan!

Menu planning doesn’t have to be hard! With my easy steps and tips you will see how meal planning can fit into your lifestyle while saving money – and your sanity – while reducing food waste.

Why menu plan?

One of the easiest ways to curb spending on eating out, as well as keeping to a grocery budget is through meal planning. I fought this for many years when my kids were small, but I always came to dread that 4:30 “what’s for dinner?” crunch.

It wasn’t until I started implementing the following five steps and simple tips that menu planning clicked for me and I started to benefit from basic planning and experience the freedom from the tedium of figuring out yet another meal.

It made a huge difference – so much so that I still meal plan to this day, even though the kids are gone and it’s just the two of us most nights! It’s just the best way to use up what you have, make the most of your budget, and still not have to deal with the “what’s for dinner?” question every day (psst – I made a menu board I fill out so I don’t ever have to answer that, ha!).

Your menus can be weekly or monthly, include all three meals or just dinner, but I’m here to testify that menu planning is your friend in the battle to embrace frugality, simplicity, and using what you have!

Meal Planning Video

Easy Menu Planning Tips

Menu Planning Tips, Tricks and Seasonal Menus

1. Get your calendar.

Download and print a free calendar for the month. Use the pretty ones you’ll find in the Resource Library or use the monthly calendars in your Flexible Planner like I do.

2. Look at your family’s activity calendar.

Note the nights you’ll be coming in late so you can plan to have quick meals or slow cooker meals on those nights. Add any kids sports or activities that happen at the dinner hour so you can plan take-along meals. Obviously, note the nights you won’t be eating at home, too!

3. Plan with what you have.

Using a paper list or a quick mental run-down – whatever works for you – look in the freezer for items to use up, including meats and vegetables.

Check the pantry, too, making a note of staples you might need to pick up (pasta, etc.). To really help minimize waste, check all the nooks and crannies of your fridge and plan meals to use up all the vegetables and any leftovers (soups and frittatas are great for this!)

TIP: Use the Healthy Pantry Staples list that’s available in the Resource Library.

4. Assign a certain theme or ingredient to each day.

This is optional, but it really helps your meal planning go quicker- especially in the beginning when you’re still figuring out this whole planning thing!

You don’t have to always plan exactly to the theme, but it can serve as a starting point for finding a meal. It’s also a really good way to stick to a goal you have for your family like eating a meatless meal or adding more beans or fish to your diet.

Here’s an example of themed menu planning:

Monday– Meatless Monday
Tuesday– International (tacos, curry, etc)
Wednesday– Beans
Thursday– Chicken
Friday– Fish/Vegetarian
Saturday– Pizza night (or alternate with Pizza and Burgers, like we do)
Sunday– Free/On Your Own (leftovers, quick meal of pasta, or eat out- in other words, flexible!)

5. Start filling in each day with meals.

My biggest tip: start with things that your family likes.

It helps to make a list of “family favorite meals” and keep it with your menu planning things, adding to it as you find new meals. Then you can just recycle through this list as much as you want!

TIP: Another way to record what your family likes and what you’ve served is to keep all your past menus in a binder. After awhile, you’ll have a great resource that’s easy to look through for ideas. It also aids in cooking seasonally, as you’ve got a record of what you ate for every month of the year.

TIP: Plan for any new recipes as well, but just 1 or 2 each week. I find it takes more time to plan with new recipes, so I plug in only a few and if it’s a busy time, there may not be any new items on our menu that week.

That’s it! Once you get your system down, it should only takes about 10 minutes to plan a week’s worth of dinners.

It may take longer if there are some new recipes you want to try or have a lot of ingredients to use up, but that’s fine occasionally- and actually one of the good reasons to have a plan!

Resources to Help You Plan

Here are two resources that will help you to plan quicker and easier:

1. The first is the free seasonal two-week meal plan – fill out the form below for it to be delivered to your inbox!

2. You can also use the monthly dinner menus linked below to help with planning inspiration and ideas- each includes recipe links to our family’s tried-and-true meals, along with side options for four weeks, plus a dessert idea.