Meal Planning Binder Series: Weekly Menu

After Don had his cancer surgery, things were tight money-wise.  One of things I did to save money was to create a weekly menu plan and base my grocery list off of what we were having to eat for the week, rather than go willy-nilly at the grocery store.  Since then, I have completed a meal plan each week and used it for grocery shopping.  Now that we are eating healthier, I decided to start a Meal Planning Binder for the kitchen – complete with meal planning sheets, grocery lists, and recipes.

I wanted to share this Meal Planning Binder with my readers – FOR FREE.  I will be sharing a new printable each Friday until you have your own Meal Planning Binder for yourself!  Along the way, if you want certain sheets – let me know, so I can create them!  You might need a certain section that I haven’t even thought of… so, share your thoughts!  Of course, you can use these printables by themselves also!  Today’s Meal Planning Binder Printable is…

Weekly Menu Planner

This section of the Meal Planning Binder is pretty self-explanatory.  You will use this worksheet to create your menu for the week.  Breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners.  If I am using a specific recipe, I usually jot down a little note on the specific day with the page number and cookbook name.  Depending on how organized you want to get, you could reuse these on a rotation – once a month or what have you.  Personally, I just keep them for meal ideas when I am stumped for something “different” or “new”.

To create your own meal planning binder, you will need the following supplies:

• 1″ ring binder
• Divders with tabs
• Hole punch (I recommend a three-hole punch to make it easier)

Setting up your binder is easy!  Print several of these weekly menu planners and punch holes to fit in your binder.  Create a divider labeled “Weekly Menu”.  Place the divider and your weekly meal planners in your binder.  Your first section is done!

Next Friday, I will be sharing a grocery list printable.  You will use your weekly menu planner to create your grocery list, focusing only on items you need to make your various meals.

This week, I challenge you to give weekly menu planning a try.

Click here or above to get your free weekly menu printable.

See you next week!

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