If you are new here, Welcome to my blog! Today’s post is all about how to use our digital meal planner. Given that I am a mom of four, who also homeschools, I need things to be simple, straightforward forward, and organized! Planning our meals and preparing our grocery list was one of the things I needed to streamline. So, I asked my husband to create something to simplify this part of my life. After lots of trial and error, he masterfully created this Google Sheet document and I know you are going to love it! If you are struggling with meal planning and the time it takes to plan your meals, then this product is for you! Visit my Etsy store OurCharmingLifeStore.Etsy.com to purchase yours today!
What is a Digital Meal Planner?
A digital meal planner is an online planner that provides you with complete accessibility at any time and from anywhere, with just a FREE Google account. The meal planner is intuitive and syncs across all devices in real time. Our digital meal planner functions as both a meal planner and a grocery list, all in one place! You can use it to plan your meals for a week or a month and auto-generate your grocery list, saving you time and preserving your sanity. It’s an excellent solution for busy people who want to stay organized and on top of their meal planning.
Who Would Benefit from Our Meal Planner?
Our meal planner is suitable for everyone, including busy parents, meal preppers, dieters, singles, and families of all sizes. By using our meal planner you can stay on budget and save time. It’s essential to understand how much time and money you can save by planning your meals accordingly.
How to Use Our Digital Meal Planner
The first step to using our digital meal planner is the Grocery Items List. You can fill in the Categories, Units, and Items in this tab. We have already pre-loaded some categories and units, but you can customize them to your preferences. You can also add multiples of an item and give them different measurements and names. For example, Parmesan cheese can be measured in a cup but comes in a block. You can list “Parmesan” with a unit of “cup” and “Cheese – Parmesan” with a unit of “block”. Our Household Items list is for everything unrelated to a recipe, such as cleaning supplies, bath essentials, makeup, skincare, medicines, vitamins, and pet care items. Our planner comes fully loaded and ready to use instantly!
Plan your meals
Discover the secret to effortless meal planning with our Meals tab! This feature enables you to input your favorite meals, snacks, beverages, and desserts, which form the foundation of your personalized meal planner. With over 60 meals pre-loaded, you’ll have plenty of inspiration to get started, but don’t stop there! Add all your go-to recipes and family favorites to the mix for even more variety.
Adding Dish Ingredients
Next, it’s time to add the ingredients for your dish. Go to the “Ingredients” tab and add every item from each recipe. First, select the meal and then enter the ingredients. The unit will automatically appear, so you just need to add the quantity (qty). Keep in mind that Google Sheets cannot calculate fractions, so you must enter the quantity as a whole number or a decimal. You can use a conversion calculator to find the right decimal. Additionally, there’s a note section available for you to use as you please. You can add notes such as whether you need to double the recipe, make a meal for friends, or a holiday meal. Don’t forget to add all your holiday recipes as well; this will help you stay on budget!
Time to Plan Your Weeks
After entering all your recipes on the dish ingredients tab, you can start filling in the weekly tabs. Here, you can add any meals you want to buy ingredients for. You can add as many meals as you like; there’s no need to have a recipe for every meal slot. As you enter meals for each day, your daily grocery list will automatically appear below. We have also included a section for other items and household grocery items such as cleaning supplies, personal care items, and makeup. Don’t forget to add items like foil, saran wrap, and sandwich bags as well. Your final grocery list will compile the items from each week, as well as those from the other items and household items list.
Your Month at a Glance
The monthly overview tab is auto-populated for you, you will not make any changes directly to this tab other than typing in the month. Once you plan your meals for each week they automatically appear in the monthly overview. If you would like to plan and shop for the entire month you can easily print out the month overview.
The Final Grocery List
Our last tab for our meal planner is the final grocery list. This is what we’ve all been waiting for! No more sitting down with each recipe and calculating how many onions you need, it’s done for you! This tab has revolutionized my life! Everything is auto-populated from your daily list and the “other food” and “household items” list. You only need to check the box for which week you wish to shop and the grocery list populates! Already have an item? Check the “have” box, a line will appear through it letting you know it’s already been purchased. The best part is that your meals are planned and your grocery list is ready within 20-30 minutes!
Now that you have learned how to use our digital meal planner, please visit my Etsy shop and select your favorite color from our fun color collection. We have created them in Burgers and Fries, Watermelon Mojito, Espresso, Fruitylicious, and French Toast (color shown). I am eager to hear about your experience with our meal planner. Please share some of your favorite recipes with me so that I can add them to my own list! In the meantime, follow the links for Haystacks and Silvia’s Soup, two of the pre-loaded recipes on our digital meal planner.
How to Simplify Grocery Shopping Even More
I have taken it a step further and simplified my life by using Walmart+. While the kids are doing school (we homeschool) I can plan my week of groceries, order them and have them delivered next day. I plan my week of meals and order my groceries all within an hour or two, talk about a time saver! Walmart+ has been wonderful for us and I know you’ll love it too! Use my link below to start your Walmart+ subscription.
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