The deceptively simple way to make meal planning easy.

Hi reader, Every time I work with someone on reducing their grocery budget, I can see it all over their face. We get to the topic of meal planning and they look: Overwhelmed. Frustrated. Exasperated. Confused. Guilty. They think that meal planning has to be complicated. That they have to account for every meal for every day and consider every single morsel of leftovers and ensure that every drop of sauce or marinade is used up, leaving absolutely zero waste at the end of the week. Oh, and that every meal is perfectly nutritionally balanced, that every person in the family will give glowing reviews about the meals you picked, and no one will complain at the dinner table. Well… let me tell it to you straight. That will never happen. If you think this is what meal planning looks like, then I have some news to share: You might be making meal planning harder than it needs to be. How do I know? Because this used to be me. I used to think that if I had any leftover dressing – ANY AT ALL – that my meal plan was a failure. If I didn't know what to do with the half banana my toddler didn't eat, I wasn't good enough. If my family ate more chicken at dinner than I planned for (leaving me without chicken for the next night), I was officially "the worst meal planner ever" and would practically throw in the towel and swear meal planning off forever. I've been consistently meal planning for over 8 years (that's 416 weeks) and NOT ONCE has any of my meal plans been "perfect" or even followed exactly as written. And I can pretty much promise that no one else's meal plans are flawless either. So… if you've been stuck on meal planning because you think it has to be perfect? Consider yourself unstuck! But that still leaves us with the burning question of, "How can I make meal planning easier?" That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Well, after 416 weeks (and counting) of making meal plans, I can tell you my number one secret for making meal planning easier: Keep it simple. At its core, meal planning is nothing more than simply writing down what you're going to eat, ahead of time. So if you know you're going to have spaghetti tonight, then write it down. If you know the kids are going to have oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow, write it down. If you're going out for pizza on Friday, write it down. There's no need to make it any more complicated than that. Just write down the meals you already know you're having, and call it done. Now… that might sound a bit TOO simple and it might create more questions than answers. After all… What if you don't know what you're going to have for dinner tonight? (let alone this Friday) What if you think oatmeal is fine for breakfast, but the kids throw a fit and whine and complain and you have 15 minutes to come up with something else before they leave for school? (which happens ALL the time) What if you come up with a pretty solid meal plan for the week, but then as the week goes on, you don't really feel like making anything you've planned? (anyone else need motivation?) I hear you – oh MAN do I hear you!! - and I have a couple more tricks up my sleeve to help you get through the real life side of meal planning. Actually… do you want to know the second secret to successful meal planning? Hit "reply" and tell me if you can relate to what I'm talking about, and I'll share the second secret! ♥ Tiffany PS – You KNOW meal planning is an awesome tool for saving money (and time, and energy, and stress!!), but what if you don't feel like you have time to make the meal plan in the first place? I'll share my number two secret soon! I respect your time and inbox, so if you no longer want to hear about Meal Planning Bootcamp, just click here to opt-out and you will still receive the weekly newsletter. Or you can unsubscribe from everything using the link below.

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