Grocery Shop with Me! How I Plan Meals for the Week

Grocery shopping is one chore that I always dread doing.

But in the past few months, I’ve developed a system that I actually like. It’s straight-forward and simple and so easy to implement. Looking to change up your routine, too? Here’s the step-by-step process that I’ve been using.

Step 1: Take inventory of current ingredients.

This sometimes involves cleaning out expired food, tossing leftovers, etc.

Step 2: Write down any meals (or sides) that include current ingredients.

This ensures that partially-used things don’t go to waste!

Step 3: Now, write down any familiar recipes to repeat.

I only shop for one week at a time, that way ingredients don’t expire before we can use them. On a notepad, I start with seven spaces for Sunday through Saturday.

Step 4: Chose one night for “eating out” based on any upcoming plans.

Little healthy eating tip: having a night in the books for eating out makes eating well during the week so much easier.

Step 5: Research 1-2 new recipes through cookbooks, Pinterest, and apps.

I try to save interesting recipes during the week as I come across them, that way this portion goes a bit faster.

Step 6: Create grocery list from dinner ingredients. Add lunch, breakfast, and snacks until budget is met.

Since Paul and I work separate jobs, we both individually plan for our lunches. Breakfast foods and snacks are pretty straight-forward, so I find it doesn’t need much planning!

Step 7: Send grocery order to store for pick-up.

My grocery-shopping saving grace has been online ordering! Without the roaming involved, I find that I stick to budget and save so much time. Currently, we grocery shop at Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Costco.

Step 8: Create small separate list for Trader Joe’s.

After sending our main order to Walmart, I create a separate list for Trader Joe’s and pick those things up on the way. (Costco is more of a once-a-month thing).

Step 9: Pick up groceries!

Sunday is usually the day of choice, but depending on how many leftovers we have… I might push it into the beginning of the following week (Monday-Wednesday).

Step 10: Assign recipes to days on our menu board.

I wait until the groceries are home and unloaded before I assign meals to days. The reason being is that sometimes the grocery store will be out of certain items and plans will have to shift. That very thing actually happened this week: Walmart was out of the rosemary lamb that they usually carry, so we got Indian food at Trader Joe’s instead.

And that’s it! 10 easy and simple grocery shopping tips. The entire process is probably a 1-2 hour time commitment and it’s been so effective so far. We waste less food and save time throughout the week trying to plan and plot dinner ideas.

We’re not super rigid with it, though. If something sounds tasty on a day it isn’t scheduled, we just swap recipes around a bit. But I definitely like the system and I hope it continues to keep us eating healthy, planning creative meals, and treating ourselves every once and a while.

If you try it out, I hope it serves you well too!