Another reason I love meal planning

I love meal planning.

It helps me with my grocery shopping and it is easier for me to keep my grocery bill down. I am able to keep my shopping down to once a week and this prevents me from making as many last minute or spur of the moment purchases. I can also use the sales for the week to plan my meals.

But there is another reason I like meal planning. On Monday I was going to make a simple chicken and rice dinner. It would not have taken long and everyone would have enjoyed it. But I forgot to defrost the chicken. Without meal planning I might have been tempted to either go to the store for something quick and easy or I might have gone the quick and easy route of take out dinners. Both are hurtful to my budget. Because I meal plan I was able to look at my menu for the week. I looked for another easy dinner that did not need any of the ingredients defrosted. It was an easy swap. We stayed on budget. I didn't need to make any last minute trips to the grocery store. And everyone was happy.