Organization Exploration

One of my goals in my new organized lifestyle is to plan my meals every week. I think this practice has many benefits, but the two biggest benefits I am looking for are a intentional, healthy diet and reducing the number of restaurant/fast food meals and therefore helping my budget. Also, if I meal plan and only buy groceries I need, I will lose less money on spoiled, unused food.
So today I made my first official meal plan. I created a new calendar in my Google Calendar and created the events "BREAKFAST:" & "LUNCH:" & "DINNER:" for each day. These will sync to my phone calendar so I will alway have access to them. I found a few new, easy recipes to try and filled every meal for Monday through Friday. (Maybe I'll post and share the best recipes.)
Then I made a grocery list based on my recipes and the ingredients I need or have in my pantry.
And just for bonus points, I went to my favorite coupon match-up website (http://www.savingwellspendingless.com/) to see what is on sale this week and what coupons I should bring for extra savings.

I think today's meal planning took more time than it will in the future because I created/set up my system and went back and forth a few times about what would be the best solution for me and my routines. I spent about 1 hour setting up, planning, and making my grocery list, but I think it could take as little as 10-15 minutes. Having access to my meal planning online and on my phone is great because I can work on my meal planning at home or in a waiting room or at my boyfriend's house.

Do you meal plan? Do you have any go-to recipes? Leave me a comment or a meal planning tip below!!

♥