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Simplest Meal Planning Yet!!! Minimalist Meal Planning System with Free Worksheet

Effective Living, Mom Life, Most Popular / by / 111 Comments

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Meal planning doesn’t have to be difficult! This simple meal planning system is aimed to solving these common problems with groceries and cooking:

1. Easy: Meal plan AND compile your grocery list in 5 minutes per week

2. Maintain a smaller inventory: Having cupboards stuffed with food is STRESSFUL, learn how to get just what you need and keep less on hand

3. Waste LESS: with these simple ideas, you can virtually eliminate wasted food

4. Stick with it: this system is designed for busy people, if that’s you, keep reading!!

 

THE BASICS OF THIS MEAL PLANNING SYSTEM

This system is EASY, but you’ll need to spend a few extra minutes on the front end setting everything up. Here is what you’ll need:

1. Grocery Inventory: I’m including links to the spreadsheet that I use, but of course you can make your own!

Free Downloads:
Excel Meal Planning Worksheet  
Numbers Meal Planning Worksheet
PDF Meal Planning Worksheet (unfortunately, this is not a version that can be edited)

And for those interested in my filled-in sheet, you can see that here: Dawn’s Grocery Inventory & Meal Plan

…if you have a problem downloading any version, simply leave a comment and I will get back to you right away!!

2. Populate your form: roughly fill in your grocery inventory and a set of meals that you know you can stick to (it doesn’t have to be perfect, you can revise it as you go!!

3. Marker Board: I created sections for “Use Up”, “Leftovers” and our meals for the week (mine was from the Dollar Tree!)

VIDEO MEAL PLANNING INSTRUCTIONS HERE:

 

OUR MEALS:

…and if you’re curious what I have for meals, you can see it here:

“IP” means that it is a meal that I make in our Instant Pot. I’ve really come to appreciate my Instant Pot, especially in the summer when I don’t want to heat up the whole kitchen! But year round, I love that it creates minimal dishes. I will be sure to create a video on it, along with our favorite instant pot meals, in the future!

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions (or suggestions!) and best wishes with your meal planning!!!

 

DW-Signature

 

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A SIMPLE Meal Planning System that helps you 1) Stay on BUDGET 2) East at home MORE 3) and waste LESS food! Fill in the worksheet once with an inventory of the most common foods your family consumes & a list of your common meals & just print it out week after week! To use: highlight your meals for the week, take a quick look in your cupboards & highlight the foods you need & you're done meal planning in 5 minutes! #mealplanning #system #quick #easy #onabudget #free #printable #mealprep

 

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Comments

  1. I love the simplicity of this. I just thought I’d let you know that your video isn’t embedded in this post where it’s referred to. Thanks for all the great tips.

    Reply

  3. Hi Dawn.
    I follow you on YouTube :)

    I was able to download your inventory and meal plan link, but
    I am hoping you have an excel link as this is a PDF

    Reply

  4. Links to the food aren’t working for me either. Please email them to me 😊 thank you very much.

    Reply

  5. Hi, Dawn! I guess I don’t know how to open the Numbers version IN the Numbers app on my iPhone. 🙄 Please help! Thank you! ❤️🙏.

    Reply

  6. I absolutely hate grocery stores. I get so overwhelmed at all the choices. Your video gives me hope that I can manage shopping and cooking without all the stress it creates for me. Thanks so much.

    Reply

  7. Just came across your Youtube videos and glancing through some of the website. I’m grateful for the time and effort you’re putting into this! I work 2 days a week, but aim to be full stay at home mom in the future if we can make the numbers work. We have two adorable littles – age 1 and 2.5, and I’m looking forward to all your info on toys, etc. I try to weed out but it doesn’t feel like I make even a dent lol. Meal planning gets stressful and then thrown out the window, which results in spending way too much for groceries every month. We need help and I’m excited to see what tid bits you have :)

    Reply

  8. I’m beyond late on this, but just stumbled upon your you tube channel… so many things that I struggle with align with mine… you’ve given me hope that I can declutter and this is THE BEST and easiest to follow menu planning system I’ve encountered! I can’t download, so if you can send the download I would be so grateful!
    Blessings as you share hope and joy!

    Reply

  9. Hi Dawn. I love this concept. I was not able to open the numbers meal planning. Can you send that to me. Thank you. Karen

    Reply

  11. Could not download. Would you please send me the link to this fabulous and useful Numbers Meal Planning worksheet?

    Reply

  12. Thanks for sharing this meal planning doc! I’m gonna see if I can tweak it for our needs, the issue I’m mainly facing is that there are a ton of different places we shop as they have a better deal on a specific product than our core supermarket does. These places are also located in different areas so we tend to shop there at different times of the week when we’re passing by. So currently the spreadsheet is filling up fast for me!

    Reply

    • Love you videos.
      I can open the Meal planning excel sheet but not the Numbers Meal Planning worksheet. Can you send that to me. Thanks,

      Reply

    • I know I’ late to this party but I love and need your worksheets! But I’m not able to open the link. I just changed to the Keto Lifestyle and menu planning is a must. Your Numbers Menu Planning worksheet is genius and much better than the notes page on my cell! Would you please send me the link?

      Reply

    • Thanks Julia! I couldn’t get the other links to work, but yours does! Much appreciated! And thanks to you too Dawn for sharing your ways!

      Reply

  16. Hi Dawn!

    I was wondering if to go along with the meal plan you use, if you also had the recipes that go along with it? I am interested in trying out a lot of new recipes!

    Thank you!

    Reply

  18. Can you email me the meal planning sheet please? Just found you on YouTube and enjoying learning from you. Thank you!

    Reply

  20. Hi Dawn! The Excel Meal Planning sheet and Numbers Meal Planning sheet aren’t downloading. Could you please send them to me? By the way, I love your YouTube channel! You’ve inspired my family and I to become more minimalistic. The change has been extremely positive! Thank you so much!

    Reply

  22. Hi Dawn
    I’m not sure why so many months later your worksheet linked files still don’t work, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out. I love your tips and have spent some time trying to get the downloaded files to open for me. I tried all the formats with no success. Hoping to get hubby on board with this ingeniously simple system too. Wish I’d thought of it! Great work! Thanks

    Reply

  23. Hello! I think we could be friends! My husband and I have been reducing our load for the last several years and yet my pantry and brain have continued to be stressed over food. I finally looked at him exasperated and said, “There HAS to be a way to apply minimalism to our food the same way we have to our lives without eating the same thing every day. We don’t wear the same outfit.” His response, “google it”. So I did. After a few disappointments I stumbled across your video and was so excited! You are me. And you shop like we do. And you have a workable system. I was literally bouncing up and down on the couch while you explained your system.
    I just wanted to say “thank you” for taking the time. We are just now coming our of our survival years with our oldest being 5 and our youngest turning 3 this summer. I want to establish this pace so that they can see the joy in cooking and eating and not the stressed look on mom’s face when they remind me that they are hungry. again.

    Reply

      • It took me just over two months but I have a workable spreadsheet in place! I tend to go overboard when first doing something and then scale it back but overboard this time turned out to be a blessing. I made a complete inventory of anything and everything we purchase within a year. In the past two months my husband’s job relocated us and this list was invaluable as I was able to highlight the things I would need to purchase once we moved to restock basic inventory, etc. Now that we’ve settled though I have simplified it more to how you had it laid out, including meals listed. I’m always challenging myself with budget goals, especially with groceries where I have the most control, and I’ve already found this to be beneficial with the budget. Our current apartment also has a pantry that is 15″ wide. That’s it. And not that many cabinets. So having a limited “stock” has been incredible.
        So thank you again. …Have you considered doing a podcast?

        Reply

  24. Like Diane, who posted on 2/16/19, I am unable to download “Numbers Meal Planning Worksheet”
    I would enjoy a copy.

    By the way, this is my first video that I have watched of yours….needless to say I’M IN LOVE with your videos! Very thorough AND realistic! Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge!!! :)

    Reply

    • I just emailed the sheets, so sorry for the delay and THANK YOU for the kind words, I greatly appreciate it!!!

      Reply

  26. I LOVE this! Where were you about 15-20 years ago? I am now an empty nester, but this is better than any system I came up with when my children were younger. I had a grocery list entered into Excel, but it was much more complicated. Even being an empty nester (but still working), I can adapt this to my needs. THANK YOU!

    Reply

  29. Unable to download any of the documents. Could you please email them to me at the email below? Thanks!!

    Reply

  30. HI, I just found your channel and I’m loving it. Thank you! I was able to download the excel sheet, but was curious how you use the Walmart and other stores section. For example, I had TP in my other category, but I sometimes get it at Walmart. Would you just list things you get at Walmart or Dollar Store sometimes, then highlight it each week where you plan to buy? I hope that makes sense. Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Good question! If we NEED it and I’m not going to Walmart I’ll just hand write it into a section for Aldi :)

      Reply

  34. I love the beginning of the video that brought me here where you talk about how every item in our home is inventory that we must manage. This is something I’ve realized in the past couple of years and I wish my husband and children could understand this the way I know it. Not that they are fighting my goals to simplify, but I know they aren’t experiencing it from the same mentality. Please email me the excel version? Courtneykaase@gmail.com Thank you!

    Reply

  35. Dawn, Do you have recipes for your meals? Also, I noticed you have CK Parm on there twice, is that 2 different meals? What do you consider quick? Something you still have to make or something you can grab out of the freezer? How do you determine the sides that you make with your dishes?

    I really love this system. Right now, its only my husband and I, with a baby on the way, but notices that we wasted so much food or come back from the grocery and notices we already had some stuff that I just bought. I am trying to do anything I can do declutter and make space for baby.

    Reply

  36. I love your YouTube videos! Thanks so much for sharing so many tips. I’ve benefitted from them so much. I noticed that some of your recipes in the “longer” column for meals could be made in a pressure cooker, like stew. Just a suggestion if you wanted to move them into the weeknight category. :)
    Thanks again!

    Reply

  38. Hi!
    Can you email me the numbers download.

    Thank you!
    Looking forward to using your meal planner!
    Maureenie

    Reply

  39. Could you please e-mail me the list. I just found this and I love your channel and your videos. TY

    Reply

  41. Good morning Dawn,

    I was trying to download the following file “Numbers Meal Planning Worksheet” in this article and it won’t let me upload. It says that there is a problem with the file. Is there any way you could email this to me, please?

    My email address is naomi_alvarado@yahoo.com.

    Thank you and have a blessed day.

    Best regards,

    Naomi Alvarado

    Reply

  42. Thank you SO MUCH for the free downloads without even asking for email addresses and signing us up for a list! <3

    Your channel is terrific! Now to explore your website. This 65-year-old gramma has loads of experience with all sorts of cooking, cleaning, housekeeping, etc however since menopause and retirement, my ADD has gotten noticeably more troublesome. I suspect a lot of us who need help with home organization either have ADD or just didn't acquire the organizational skills when we were younger. Sometimes we have the skills to handle our own personal lives but when we add in multiple kids and a spouse and a home and a job … it can be a bit much! Thank you for helping us bridge that gap.

    One question … what is Alice Springs Chicken??? Maybe I missed it somewhere but that sounds intriguing.

    Reply

  43. Hi Dawn, I love your channel! I can’t seem to get the downloads. Can you please email them to me?
    Thanks, Kim

    Reply

  44. I love your meal plan, but could not open either download. So excited to add to my 2019 life. Could you send link by email that I can click on & print. Thanks you for your ideas & guidance.

    Reply

  45. I would love to use your inventory/meal plan sheets. Can u please send the link yo print or download?

    Reply

  48. Please email all meal planning charts. Wasn’t able to download the links ?
    Loving all your suggestions!

    Reply

  50. Hi I would love to try your system for meal planning but I can’t seem to find the link to download. Can you please email it to me?

    Reply

  52. Hello Dawn,

    I’m a 34 year old mom to a beautiful toddler and a pastor’s wife and I was browsing YouTube for frugal living and living on a budget and came across your channel.. I binged watch and got most of them… so much info.. Thank you so much I can’t wait to get start it on this journey… I couldn’t download the numbers meal planning one could you please be so kind and email them to me? Thank you so much and God Bless…

    Reply

  54. Hi Dawn,
    I found you through YouTube and traced you back here.
    I’m excited by your plan and ideas for how to make things simpler.
    My DH will not eat what I eat ( lean protein and low fat, low carbs) and I really don’t care to eat his less healthy
    choices.,
    So I am currently preparing meals in quantity to be eaten as leftovers or frozen for later. Luckily he is ok with it.

    My other challenge is that I spend several days/week with my elderly Mom in her home about 100 miles away.
    Her dietary issues and preferences are different than either of ours. I think the board on the fridge will help all of us. If you have suggestions, I’m all ears! Thanks.
    I think the system could help me keep track of the

    Reply

  56. Hi! Loving your YT channel! I think your system is one that will FINALLY work for me. Yay! I’m unable to download an editable version. Any chance you could email it to me? Thank you!

    Reply

  57. Hi Dawn!

    I just found your youtube channel and have become such a fan! Still such a work in progress, but we are getting there one room at a time. Thank you so much for all the work you put into making these videos. They are such a blessing!

    Would love it if you emailed me the edit-able Numbers version of the grocery inventory spreadsheet?

    Thanks again so much and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
    Tami

    Reply

  59. HI Dawn! Love this video! I have not been able to find a system I can stick to that is quick and easy, but I feel like this might be the ticket! A few question though…. he food items listed, are those foods you keep on hand at all times for just breakfast, snacks, lunches, deserts? Or does that include things for dinners as well? I’m finding as I make mine that things I only use for dinner meals are popping into the list, but looking at yours, I am having a hard time being able to tell. Do you keep your quick meals on hand at all times too? If you do, would those items be listed in the food categories? Or do you plan on certain days being quick meals? Sorry for the questions! Love this plan!

    Reply

  60. Hello Dawn,
    I came across your videos on YouTube and was fascinated! You touched on so many topics that I’m dealing with.
    This menu plan in particular looks genius! Can you please send me the links for them? I tried opening the ones provided, but they wouldn’t work for me. I tried downloading them several times with no luck.
    Thank you for all you do!
    God bless~

    Reply

  61. I end up wasting a lot of food. I think your management documentation is a great idea. I had trouble as well downloading the numbers file. Would you be so kind to e-mail it to me? Thank you so much!

    Reply

  62. Love your blog and your Youtube channel also! I was able to find some of these recipes in your post 10 Quick & Easy Week Night Dinners You Haven’t Tried Yet. Those are wonderful! Any chance you could provide recipes for the other meals on your planner? Also, what you prepare for side dishes to go along with them? Thanks for all of the great info!

    Reply

    • Good question! I talk about them in this video: https://youtu.be/NVkzbXhDzVY but mostly it is egg-muffins (pioneer woman recipe–I added the link in the video description), breakfast tacos and scrambled eggs that we cook in the microwave, or breakfast sandwiches (we like the sandwich rounds from Aldi and then we cook an egg in a bowl in the microwave, it comes out the perfect size for the sandwich rounds and then we add any combination of cheese, ham lunch meat, sausage patties, bacon– that I had cooked over the weekend, and mayo). After they have had something with protein then they can have cereal if they are still hungry :)

      Reply

  64. What is the numbers file? it doesn’t seem to have a correct extension on it. I can’t open it. Is it suppose to be an excel file? thanks! You’ve inspired me. My sheet is much bigger than yours but it was a great start.

    Reply

  65. I would love the excel version of your already filled out list as well. Aldi for the win!
    If you had the recipes that would be even more magical. :) thank you.. new fan! Joni

    Reply

  67. Hi! Sorry for sounding so rude and blunt!!!! Please email me your grocery list. I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL.

    Reply

  68. Hi Dawn! Thanks for this, I just discovered your YouTube and I subscribed and loved! WHat does ck mean in your list of meals?

    Reply

  69. Hi Dawn !
    I found your video on YouTube, some amazing content that you frequently share.
    I just put a magnetic board on my fridge today an idea that I got from your website. I just added 2 more columns under use up and leftovers, that say to freeze and stock up with things I need to put on the freezer later on or my more.
    Btw I tried to download the file on my phone but I couldn’t open it.
    Would you mind sending it to email?
    I’d highly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

    Reply

  70. Hi Dawn! I can’t download this file either on my PC – would you be able to email it to me?
    I love idea and can’t wait to use it with my family!

    Reply

  71. Hello! Thank you so much for these downloads! I really appreciate it :) I am having a problem with downloading the number meal planning worksheet. Everything else is fine. Can you email it to me? Thanks!

    Reply

  74. Would you mind posting a download for the grocery inventory with all the items you have added? I know your list will be different than mine, but I think it would be a helpful starting point. Plus, from your video, I’m guessing you shop at Aldi. Since I also shop there, I think a lot of my food items would be in the same aisles as the food items on your list. Thanks for sharing your meal planning system. It looks like it could really simplify meal planning for me and my family!

    Reply

    • Good morning Erik! I’m going to work on these file downloads some more, but in the meantime, I did email the excel version to you, will you let me know if it works? Thank you! Dawn

      Reply

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