How to Easily Meal Plan for an Entire Month

Alright, let’s break it down.

An Overview of How to Meal Plan for a Month

First up, take a good look at what you’ve got in your kitchen & gather up some recipes of your family favorites. You can even add recipes of different things you’ve been meaning to try. I know you have a ton stored on a Pinterest board somewhere! If you have physical recipes, it’s a good idea to keep them in a recipe binder so they’re always at hand. And that way, as you work through your month of meals each week, you’re not losing time trying to find the recipe every single night.

Next, get real with your wallet & check out your monthly calendar for any big events. But you should also remember the routine things that happen that might not be as big to put on a calendar. Like how every Tuesday night you need to be ready to get up & goji right after dinner so you can make it to choir practice.

In the winter, that might mean Sunday night is the time you enjoy a full on spread so that by Tuesday, you’re cleaning out the last of the leftovers & not having to spend too much time in the kitchen. In the spring, that might mean tacos – quick to make, quick to eat.

Then, it’s onto the grocery list. Jot down everything you’ll need for the entire month – even though you might not buy it all at one time. Last but not least, be ready to roll with the punches. Life happens, plans change, we all know it. You need to be flexible but with a solid plan in place, you’ll be ready to tackle dinner time like a boss!

Benefits of Meal Planning for a Month

Now, let’s talk about why this method is a game-changer right? Because we need some heavy hitters under our belt for when things get a lil crazy crazy. 

Meal planning for an entire month; it’s a massive feat. One that’s not without numerous benefits though!

Time 

Budget

Yes, meal planning for a whole month helps you stick to your grocery budget. But forreal forreal how that happens is because doing so allows you to make better use of ingredients & groceries you already have on hand & just maybe forgot about.

In that light, you’re going to inventory the 4-corners of your kitchen (the fridge, freezer, pantry/cabinets & any extended storage areas) to see what pantry staples you already have. These are the base of every delicious meal any day of the week so regardless of anything else you have, keep these stocked. That way you’re never far off from home-cooked meals.

Knowing what you have on hand & can use to substitute means your shopping lists should be sorted for the entire month in less time than it usually takes you. You’re not only saving time here but the substitutions help slash that grocery bill, ensuring your grocery budget stays intact.

Meal Variety

Now a month’s worth of meals will primarily be made of your favorites. But you can also enjoy a variety of meals based on new recipes too. Having a monthly plan in place is how you inject some serious variety into your meals. Cozy pizza nights one month to healthy brown rice bowls the next. And hey, who doesn’t love a good date night? With your meals planned out, you can pencil those in on your Google Calendar with confidence, without missing a beat. 

Speaking of variety, you’ll also have the chance to switch things up weekly. Toss in some ground beef for a classic shepherd’s pie or add some fresh fruits to breakfast for some healthy meals. Oh, & let’s not forget the perks of having freezer meals on standby for those crazy days (which might be everyday sometimes ahahaha). That alone is worth its price in gold. 

This variety also shows up in the fact that better use of ingredients means you reduce food waste too. In general, when you think about the meals you want/plan to eat in advance, you can make better choices to eat healthy food. Or healthier than you’ve been eating. So whether you’ve got some calorie level you’re trying to hit or a weight loss plan you’re on, you can align the meals to meet those daily totals. 

I think meal planning for a month is an easy way to have a whole nutritious dinner. Or even just a few side dishes to go with some classic mains like baked chicken. Whatever your dinner plans, or your chicken recipe, monthly meal planning is a great time to see what’s on the schedule.

You might be putting together a list of meals for the next few weeks, but it’s not like it has to be solidified that way. Doing this sort of prep actually offers flexibility to plan meals using a different theme or catered to special occasions. That pizza night that usually crops up because you don’t know what else to do can become something you & your family look forward to! It’s a great way to start off the beginning of the week or to wrap one up. 

Monthly meal planning over weekly meal planning gives you the opportunity to use fresh ingredients too. Whether you buy all your ingredients at the start of your own meal plan or not becomes almost irrelevant. When you go to make a meal, you’ve essentially created a meal bank that you can pull from based on the status/condition of your ingredients.

If you see the carrots are starting to get away from you, you can slide up a meal from next week to tonight. Or if you didn’t get to the dish from last week, you can use it tomorrow. This sort of flexibility with menu items allows you to enjoy your foods as much as you can. It’s a meal routine, without the routine part ahahah

Preparing for Monthly Meal Planning

#1 Inventory

The first step in monthly meal planning is to take stock of what you already have on hand. Remember, proper inventory checks is a key kitchen management system. And it needs to be running like a well oiled machine if you plan to stay the course. Depending on your family size, you may have more food than most & so you really should be keeping tabs on what’s going on behind closed doors.

#2 Inspiration

Then, get a lil inspiration to see what sort of creative ways you can put things together without needing additional items. Start with your own recipes first, but always be gathering new recipes & meal ideas too! You should incorporate a few new things every so often to keep people on their toes. This strengthens your basic cooking skills too as you work with new ingredients or in a new way. 

Set a realistic grocery budget for the month, keeping in mind the cost of ingredients for your chosen recipes. If you don’t know what something costs & can’t find it online, through the store catalog or circular overestimate the amount you think it is. Or the amount you’d be willing to spend once you get to the store.

Creating a Monthly Meal Plan

Then it’s time to take that inventory & meal ideas & create your monthly meal plan. Use a calendar or spreadsheet to map out your meals for the entire month. You can be as detailed as including breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks. Or you can leave it a little simpler & just plan dinners. This is what I prefer to do because our breakfasts tend to be the same things. Oatmeal, grits/eggs, waffles/muffins/banana nut bread style options. As long as I keep the staples on hand, I never have to think much about breakfasts.

Just be sure to leave some flexibility for eating out or spontaneous meals that maybe aren’t on this list but that end up sounding good as the month wears on.

Now everyone has that dish you make that they either really love or hate. If it’s your first time making something, get a gauge on how it’ll go over by reading the ingredients list first. Taco meat not a thing for your family? Use the recipe in a different way, subbing chicken instead or shrimp.

If you’re ever uncertain, ask them! Meal time is not the time to find out that your husband really despises those little corns & water chestnuts that come in the vegetable medley bag. #AskMeHowIKnow ahahaha

Writing a Shopping List

Once you know what you have, you know what you can eat & want to eat, then you make a grocery list. And lemme just say, it needs to be as short as possible if you want to save more money on groceries than you did last year. Your grocery list should really be more of a “fill in the gaps” sort of list & not the “we need everything” sort of list.

Organize your list by grocery store sections to make shopping easier & more efficient. Then check over your pantry & fridge inventory once more for any items you already have on hand. This is what’s called shopping from home first. You then examine all the other items that remain to see what you can sub. And you sub with…you guessed it – what you already have on hand! That’s a meal prep tip for you right there. After these rounds of review, add the rest to your list. 

Remember that grocery budget we set earlier? This is the final step of writing the list. You need to stick to your grocery budget to avoid overspending & impulse buys. But if you look back at the amount you set & compare it to the should-be-short list you have & it doesn’t look like it’s gonna cover, continue pruning your list. Maybe this monthly budget isn’t the place for trying 5 new recipes. Maybe next month.

Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep

To successfully complete meal planning for a month you might need to do some grocery shopping. Whether your monthly grocery planning starts at the beginning of the month or on the 10th, schedule a day to do your shopping. Multiple days or the same day each week if you plan to shop periodically.

I like the in-person, DIY feel of grocery shopping, but you can easily shop online these days. And that’s an added convenience for a lot of women. I jokingly told my husband once that drive-thrus were made for moms. Because I never feel like hopping out but especially if it means unloading the whole kit & kaboodle of kids hello. 

Just leave a sticky note on the fridge or counter for those who forget to check the Google sheet!

Storing & Organizing Meals

After meal prep, store your ingredients & meals properly. Airtight containers with clear labels (of the meal name & date). Airtight because air is one of the biggest causes of food spoiling. Then arrange your meals in the fridge or freezer in a neat (or neat-ish) way. This gives you have easy access throughout the month. I personally like the file cabinet organizing system. It’s where I lay all my bags to freeze as flat as possible so I can stand them up like folders in a file cabinet. Consider investing in meal prep containers or reusable bags to reduce waste & save space but it’s not mandatory obviously.

Adapting & Adjusting to Meal Planning for a Month

Remember we talked about this! Up top!

Now, this system builds in a lot of flexibility but you need to be flexible too. Adapt as needed. If you have leftovers from a previous week that aren’t going away, incorporate them into the next day’s menu to reduce food waste. Don’t be afraid to swap out recipes or try new meals if you get tired of the same old routine. Monthly meal planning is all about finding what works for you & your family.

Meal planning for a month is a great tool. Taking the time to plan your meals for an entire month mean you unlock so much productivity. So really there’s no reason to wait. But just to sweeten the deal, I created a simple free meal plan that you can use. And if you have a weekly meal planner you love, just duplicate it 4 or 5 times. And there’s your monthly planner! I’ll bet if you start on this you’ll be less stressed with each meal. 

You’ve got this, lovely!

🌱 Start Small. Start Now. Start where you are with what you have. The rest will follow. 🌱