Episode 29: Why Meal Planning Will Save Your Sanity!
Why Meal Planning Will Save Your Sanity!
WHat You’ll Learn
What can meal planning do for you and your family? (00:45)
How can meal planning save you money? (01:04)
How can meal planning save you time? (06:09)
How can meal planning save you stress & anxiety? (09:45)
How can meal planning save you from decision fatigue? (17:15)
How can meal planning bring my family together (If I so choose)? (19:07)
Recap. (20:20)
Invitation. (20:38)
What can meal planning do for you and your family? Hint: more than you think! When you’re done listening, come follow Brittany on Instagram @thedeliberateday and send her a DM with the word “meals” for your link to sign up for the “Meal Planning Made Easy” kit. While you’re doing all the things, hit subscribe and give us a rating too (5 is our favorite)!
What can meal planning do for you and your family? (00:45)
Meal planning does A LOT of things! It saves you money, time, stress and anxiety, decision fatigue, and it brings every member of the family into this monumental task! 21 meals a week can take a lot of time and energy to plan and prepare!
How can meal planning save you money? (01:04)
The magical (not good) math of grocery shopping. . .if you make ONE trip with a $100 budget, more than likely you will get close to that mark. If you have to make 5 trips, buy the SAME things, those groceries will cost $300 minimum.
When you have a plan, you will most likely eat out much less. This will automatically save you money, and limit the suffering that can be associated from eating the (albeit tasty) fast food.
For whatever reason, perhaps because in most families they are not the designated shopper, husbands can fall prey to the grocery store. Quite often, it can be more expensive to send a husband to the store for extra trips because they may not know which products are the best value (simply because they don’t spend as much time shopping week-to-week). (This is NOT meant to detract from the husbands in our lives—because they ARE amazing and we should definitely remind them on a regular basis—but you CAN save money by keeping them out of the grocery stores).
How can meal planning save you time? (06:09)
There is a lot of time wrapped up around meals. Time for planning, prepping, shopping. . .making only one trip to the store a week can easily give you 1-2 hours of your life back!
Making extra trips can quickly add HOURS of wasted time. Drive time, extra pick-up time—and if you need to bring your kids—time to handle fits and dole out discipline in the car. . .
Sidenote: if you see a mom in the grocery store with a child having a fit, give her a little encouragement! Tell her she’ll be ok (if it’s appropriate) and tell her it isn’t bothering you. . .show a little solidarity! Just please, DON’T give the kid a cookie. Maybe grab a few $5 gift cards the next time you’re at Starbucks. . .and then hand those babies out to moms in need!
How can meal planning save you stress and anxiety? (09:45)
There’s no way around it, planning meals for your family is a big to-do! 21 meals a week is a lot!
As kids get older, they tend to have more opinions AND more requests. I will tell you right now, set a boundary for what day(s) you are willing to shop. This will cut down on extra trips, and teach your kids to plan ahead. Brittany & I both do this in our homes. Brittany also limits kids to one thing a week.
Another source of meal-time stress can be approaching dinner without a plan. Meal planning can give you the foresight to plan for nights you may not be home, whether you choose a crockpot meal that you begin in the morning, or make a deliberate trip through the drive-through, as long as YOU are making the choice (and not your circumstances) you can release yourself from the guilt and shame that can accompany an unplanned trip to a restaurant.
Posting a menu where your people can see it will help everyone in the house know the answer to the age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Maybe it’s just us, but answering this question 10 times an hour is a special kind of torture! It can also help family members mentally prepare for meals that may not be their favorite. (Like Brittany’s oldest son and his sweet potatoes).
Dinner IS the witching hour. . .so trying to use any mental space that you have left after a full day to figure out what to do for dinner, it may leave you believing that making dinner is miserable. These feelings can waterfall into your food (yes-this is a THING). We ALL want to cook for our families with love—and we want to show up at the dinner table happy to be with our husbands and children!
Meal planning saves you mental space, it saves you stress and shame from overspending, and it can leave more money in the budget for things that actually bring you joy! (The zoo, the skating rink, or even a vacation!)
How can meal planning save you from decision fatigue? (17:15)
Decision fatigue is a REAL thing for moms! The average human makes THOUSANDS of decisions a day, so let’s take the decisions out of meal time by making a plan.
You can take it as far as you want, maybe you rotate the same three meals every week. Perhaps your family has designated days for certain meals like Taco Tuesdays, Wednesday DIY pizzas, Cereal Thursdays. . . Even high performing CEO’s do this! Consider Mark Zuckerberg wearing the same outfit each day (it was just one more choice he didn’t want to have to make each day). In our circle, thanks to our friend Brittany (and her mom), we have OHIO (only handle it once).
How can meal planning bring my family together (if I so choose)? (19:07)
IF you want to invite it into your life, you can involve the entire family into your meal planning and preparing process! This can be as simple as taking meal requests, or as complex as meal mastery!
Meal mastery is something that Brittany started a few years ago with her kids where she teaches them how to cook meals to proficiency (with the idea that they will eventually be cooking on their own-giving Brittany a break). Bonus-when they eventually leave home, they will be easily cooking on their own!
In some families with older kids, each kid gets a day to cook dinner (this doesn't have to be fancy-maybe it’s toast, sandwiches, or spaghetti). It can be another great way for kids to learn life skills.
If you want or need family help,
recap (20:20)
Meal saves you money.
Meal planning saves you time.
Meal planning saves you stress and anxiety.
Meal planning can eliminate decision fatigue.
Meal planning can bring the family together in the kitchen.
Invitation (20:38)
Go to Instagram, follow @thedeliberateday, and send Brittany a DM with the word “meals” and she’ll give you a link to get the beautiful “Meal Planning Made Easy” kit she’s created!
Before you go, make sure to subscribe and give us a rating! Ratings help us to build a community where mothers feel seen, encouraged, and empowered.
