Grocery Shopping & Menu Planning | With Printable

I thought I would take a moment to share how I do my grocery and menu planning.

My personal menu/grocery list is something that I created for my own use.

There are many websites where you can find pre-made generic grocery lists – however, most of the lists I have found online I felt weren’t a “fit” for my shopping habits. They would often have lots of things listed that I would never buy, or they would omit things that I bought every time I go to the store.

So I took the idea, and using “Word” on my computer, created my own personal grocery list.

I even put the sections in the order of the aisles of the grocery store, so that I can go right down my list and not miss anything and have to back-track.

Under each section of my form, I also have a couple blank spaces, so if there is something that I don’t usually purchase, I can write it in.

On the lower corner, I have a list of numbered lines for the meal planning. A day or two before “payday”, I will sit down and make the list of what meals I will be cooking during this next period.

Being military, we are paid twice a month, and there is normally never more than 18 days between the two, so that is the number of lines I have prepared.

I will count how many days I will actually have, and list off that many meals, plus one. The reason I do a “plus one” is so I have a little flexibility, or in case I need to make a meal for a family.

Once I have the list of meals, I go through my list, and mark off all of the ingredients that I will need to prepare the meals. I go through each meal, and check my pantry to see what I need and what I don’t. This way, I know I have everything I need before it comes time to cook, and I don’t have to run to the store because I forgot something.

When I have done all my shopping, I take a pair of scissors, cut out the menu, and stick it on my fridge.

Each day, I will look at the menu and see what we are in the mood for “tomorrow.” I will take anything out of the freezer that I’ll need the next day (I hate using a microwave, and don’t ever want to have to thaw anything that way) and will cross off things as I make them.

I don’t feel the need to make my menu in a certain order, because what if we don’t feel like lasagna on Tuesday? Or what if we have a REALLY busy day, and I don’t have time for Roast Beef? I like that flexibility.

Below I have created a blank version that you can download and print, but I encourage you to create one that is suited to your family and where you shop. You can pre-print the things that you buy the most, like you see in my personal list above.

Let’s make life a little easier, shall we?