Three years of meal planning

Soon after my wife Anastasiia and I moved in together, we encountered a surprisingly common problem: deciding what to cook often took longer than cooking itself.

We would forget to defrost the meat, realize halfway through a recipe that we were missing an ingredient, or postpone dishes we genuinely wanted to make because a trip to the store felt like too much effort. More often than not, dinner became whatever was easiest at the time.

Three years ago, we decided to plan our meals in advance and buy groceries in bulk. It took some time to get used to, but before long, it became an integral part of our lives.

Today, meal planning saves us a significant amount of time and helps us avoid food waste. Our meals are more balanced, our grocery spending is easier to control, and deciding what to cook no longer feels like a daily challenge. Whenever we come across a recipe we’d like to try, we simply add it to the next menu we haven’t planned yet. By the time the week arrives, the ingredients are already on hand, and the decision has already been made.

Will it work for you?

If you notice that:

1. A few days after shopping, you feel like there’s nothing left to cook.
2. You struggle to decide what to make and often end up ordering takeout.
3. You spend a lot on groceries, yet your meals still don’t feel healthy and balanced.
4. Ingredients sit unused in the fridge until they eventually go bad.

Meal planning might be worth trying. Even a simplified plan for a single week might reveal patterns in the way you shop, cook, and eat. Take the first step and try meal planning for a week. In the next article, I’ll share approachable strategies and practical tips to help you get started and make meal planning part of your routine.