Materials & extras
Downloads
Handouts, flashcards, and note cards from your instructor. Print any of them.
HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Meal Planning on a Budget — Week One
You don't need new gear to do this. Most of this you already own. I'm listing it out anyway because half the battle is not standing in your kitchen at 5:30 realizing you're missing the one container you needed. Super avoidable.
The Actual Must-Haves
A written template. Paper, whiteboard, notes app, whatever. The point is it exists outside your head before Sunday is over. We'll build yours in class.
A grocery list you bring into the store. Not a mental list. Written. This is the whole game, honestly. I fought this for years because my mom never shopped with a list and I figured I didn't need one either. First time I brought one in, I spent about 30% less and got out in half the time. I was almost annoyed at how well it worked.
Storage containers, any kind. Glass, plastic, old cottage cheese tubs, I don't care. You need somewhere to put leftovers so flex night has something to flex into.
A working freezer. Not a chest freezer, just your regular one. You're going to freeze bread, meat you bought on sale, and the occasional double batch.
Basic pans you already have. One skillet, one pot, one sheet pan. This class is not going to ask you to buy a Dutch oven.
Budget Tier vs. Nice-to-Have Tier
Budget tier (start here) Nice-to-have (add later if you want) Paper list + pen Meal planning app Existing containers Matching glass set Costco rotisserie chicken Whole raw chicken you roast yourself Store-brand pantry staples Specialty brands One sheet pan Instant Pot / air fryer Reusable grocery bags Insulated cooler bags If you're deciding where to spend money first, spend it on food, not gear. A $12 pan does the same job as a $90 one for what we're doing here.
Shopping Notes, Local-ish Version
Buy the rotisserie chicken. I know there's a whole crowd that says roasting your own is cheaper. Sometimes it is. But that chicken from Costco covers three dinners if you're strategic about it, and the win isn't the per-pound math, it's that dinner happens without you deciding anything twice. I felt like I'd cracked a code the first time I figured this out. Told Jaden about it like I'd invented fire. He was less impressed.
Consider splitting a bulk buy. A friend and I do a monthly chicken-and-ground-beef split, divided up in a church parking lot with a cooler. Sounds ridiculous, saves both of us real money. If you've got a neighbor or sister-in-law who also meal plans, ask them.
Shop with a list, once a week if you can. Every extra trip is an extra chance to buy stuff that wasn't on the plan. If you're doing a Macey's run, go in with the list and don't wander the aisles you don't need.
Buy produce for three days, not seven. I don't do fancy produce management. Herbs die in my fridge no matter what I do. Buy what you'll actually cook this week and don't pretend you'll get to the rest of the bag.
Stock a small pantry base and don't overbuy it. Rice, pasta, canned beans, canned tomatoes, oil, a couple sauces you actually use. That's it. You're not building a bunker.
One thing that isn't on this list: a meal-kit subscription. I tried one for a month. Loved not deciding, hated the price and the packaging. Cancelled it and just built the "not deciding" part myself, which is basically this whole class, for way cheaper.
Bring whatever containers and a notebook to session two. We're filling out the template live.
HandoutHandout 2: The Cheat Sheet
Handout 2: The Cheat Sheet
Print this, stick it on the fridge, ignore the rest of your notes. This is the whole system.
The Template (fill this in every Sunday)
Day Dinner Notes Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat FLEX NIGHT leftovers or eggs, no plan needed That flex night is on purpose. Don't fill it in. It's insurance for the week somebody gets an ear infection or you get invited to something. One bad Tuesday shouldn't wreck the whole plan.
The Three Rules
1. Plan the meals your family actually eats. Not the Pinterest ones. If your kid only eats rice, put rice on the template. Every week. Forever. I'm not kidding, this is a real line item at my house. A boring meal that gets eaten beats an impressive one that goes slimy in the crisper.
2. The list is the whole game. You already know how to cook the handful of things your family eats. What gets people is deciding at 5:30 with nothing thawed. Fix the list, fix the panic, fix the budget. Most of your grocery overspending isn't bad choices at the store, it's no plan walking in.
3. Cook by look, not by the clock. Recipe times are written by someone who isn't at 4,600 feet with our dry air. Ground beef browns slower up here than the recipe says. Learn what "done" looks like instead of trusting the timer, or dinner runs late and everybody loses it.
The Shortcuts I Actually Use
- Rotisserie chicken, every week. Costco or Macey's, doesn't matter. Dinner one: as-is with sides. Dinner two: shredded into a soup or enchiladas. Dinner three: chicken salad or quesadillas. One chicken, three dinners. I know the "homemade is cheaper" argument. Sometimes cheaper isn't the win, sometimes the win is dinner happening at all.
- Cap your prep at 45 minutes. If Sunday meal prep is eating your whole Saturday, you're doing too much. I lost a perfect hiking day to "getting ahead" once and I don't do that anymore. Set a timer, when it goes off you're done, whatever's left gets simplified.
- Split a bulk buy with someone. Chicken and ground beef split two ways is cheaper per pound than buying small. Find a friend, split it in a parking lot if you have to, freeze your half. I do this monthly now.
- Write the list before you leave the house. Not from memory, not in the parking lot. From the template. This one change alone cut my grocery bill by a third and got me out of the store in half the time. I was almost mad at how well it worked.
What This Isn't
- Not a nutrition plan. "Balanced" here just means a protein, a vegetable, a starch, most nights. I'm not calculating macros for anybody.
- Not 14 freezer meals on a Sunday. That burns people out in three weeks flat. Five easy dinners beats one heroic cooking day.
- Not a fix for herbs. Mine die in the fridge regardless. Buy what you'll use in three days and don't pretend about the rest.
Before You Leave Today
Fill in at least four rows of the template with real meals your actual family eats. Not what you think you should make. What gets eaten. That's the whole assignment.
WorksheetHandout 3: Your Week, On Paper
Handout 3: Your Week, On Paper
This is the whole class, honestly. Everything else was just me explaining why this piece of paper works. Fill it out now, while I'm here to bug you about it, not Sunday night when you're tired.
---
Step 1: Who are you actually feeding?
Write down what your people actually eat. Not what you wish they ate.
- Names/ages:
- Foods that are guaranteed wins:
- Foods that are guaranteed fights (skip these, don't fight):
- Anyone with a "just eats rice" situation right now? That's fine. Write it down and plan around it.
Step 2: The week grid
Seven lines. Don't overthink any of them.
Day Dinner Uses what's already in the fridge/pantry? Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun One of those seven lines has to say "FLEX." Leftovers, eggs, cereal, whatever. That's not a cop-out, that's insurance. Somebody's getting an ear infection this month. Build the gap in now instead of letting a bad Tuesday take out your whole week.
Step 3: The rotisserie chicken math (optional but do it once)
If you're buying a chicken this week, plan three uses before you buy it:
- Dinner as-is:
- Shredded into something (tacos, soup, salad):
- Bones/scraps into stock, or skip this one, I usually skip this one:
You don't have to be a chicken-stretching genius. I just want you to see it can cover more than one night.
Step 4: The list
This is the part that actually saves you money. Not the recipes. The list.
Go line by line through your grid and write down what each dinner needs. Then check it against what's already home. Don't buy what you have.
Produce: _______________________________________ Meat/protein: ___________________________________ Pantry/dry goods: _______________________________ Dairy/fridge: ___________________________________ Anything for the flex night: _____________________
Bring this list. Don't shop without it. I did the no-list thing for years because my mom did it, and the first week I actually brought a written list I spent about 30% less and got out of the store in half the time. I was almost mad about how well it worked.
Step 5: The reality check (answer honestly)
- Does this plan match a week I've actually had before, or is it the week I wish I had?
- Is there anything on here that needs a candy thermometer or perfect timing? Cross it off. Not my class, not your Tuesday.
- Total active cooking time this week, rough guess: __________ If it's more than 45 minutes a night on average, cut something.
---
Last thing. If you're buying meat in bulk, this is a good week to text someone from class and split a Costco pack. I do this monthly with a friend from church. We meet in a parking lot with coolers like we're trading something illegal. It's just chicken. It works.
Take this home. Tape it inside a cupboard. Fill out a new one every Sunday until you don't need the handout anymore, just the habit.
HandoutHandout 4: Troubleshooting Guide — When the Plan Falls Apart
Handout 4: Troubleshooting Guide — When the Plan Falls Apart
Every plan falls apart at some point. That's not failure, that's Tuesday. Here's what usually breaks and how I fix it in my own kitchen.
---
Problem: You planned meals nobody wants to eat. Fix: Stop planning for the family on Pinterest. Plan for the family you actually have. If your kid only eats plain rice, put rice on the template as a permanent line item. I did. It's not sad, it's just accurate.
Problem: You made the list, then went off-script at the store anyway. Fix: Bring the actual written list and don't deviate. I resisted this for years because my mom never used one, then finally tried it and cut my grocery bill by something like 30% the first trip. I was almost mad at how well it worked.
Problem: Dinner runs late and everyone's melting down by the time it's ready. Fix: Stop trusting the recipe timer. Up here at our elevation and with our dry air, things brown and simmer slower than the recipe assumes. Cook by look, not by clock. Learn what "done" actually looks like once and you're set.
Problem: You scheduled every single dinner and then real life happened. Fix: Build in one flex night on purpose. Leftovers, eggs, cereal, whatever. No plan needed. I learned this after scheduling a week down to the minute and having it collapse by Tuesday when a kid got an ear infection. The flex night is insurance, not cheating.
Problem: You're exhausted from batch-cooking all day Sunday. Fix: Cap prep at 45 minutes. Batch cooking is a little oversold, honestly. I once burned a whole Saturday making freezer meals and regretted it by noon staring out the window at perfect hiking weather. Most people quit the 14-freezer-meals thing in three weeks anyway. Easy beats heroic.
Problem: Produce goes bad before you use it. Fix: Only buy what you'll actually cook in three days. I'm bad at managing extra produce, herbs die in my fridge, so I've stopped pretending I'll get to that second bunch of cilantro. Buy less, buy more often if you need to.
Problem: Groceries are still too expensive even with a plan. Fix: Split a bulk buy with a friend. I do this monthly with a friend from church, chicken and ground beef, split it right in the parking lot. Also: buy the rotisserie chicken. Yes, making it yourself is technically cheaper. But that chicken gets you three dinners with zero decision-making, and sometimes that's the actual win.
Problem: You're bored of your own rotation. Fix: Don't fix what isn't broken. Boring and eaten beats impressive and rotting in your crisper. Swap one meal a month if you want variety. You don't need a whole new template.
Problem: You did great for two weeks and then fell off completely. Fix: Make it easier, not more motivated. Consistency isn't a willpower problem, it's a friction problem. If Sunday planning takes 20 minutes and the list is already half-built from last week, you'll keep doing it. If it takes an hour and starts from scratch every time, you won't. 🥲
Problem: You feel like you should be doing more, macros, meal kits, the whole thing. Fix: You don't have to. I tried a meal-kit subscription for a month, hated the price and the packaging waste, and just rebuilt the "not deciding" part myself for way less. I'm also not a nutritionist and I'm not going to pretend to be one here. A protein, a vegetable, a starch, most nights. That's balanced enough.
If your plan isn't working, it's almost never a cooking problem. It's a deciding problem. Fix the deciding and the rest gets super simple.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 1
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —and that's the thing, right, you didn't even set out to become a meal planning person.
MARISA: No, I got dragged into it. I was mad. That's the origin story. I was mad at 5:30 every single night.
JESS: Okay for people just joining us, this is episode one of the podcast for Meal Planning on a Budget, I'm Jess, I produce these for Utah Community Learning, and this is Marisa, who's teaching the class.
MARISA: Hi. I'm super not a chef, just so that's out there in episode one before anyone gets the wrong idea.
JESS: You say that like it's a disclaimer you're legally required to give.
MARISA: I kind of am. People sign up thinking I'm going to teach them technique. I'm going to teach them a spreadsheet, basically. A paper one. It's about deciding, not cooking.
JESS: Say more about that.
MARISA: Okay so, my whole thing started because Jaden would text me "want me to grab something" like three times a week, and the math on that got embarrassing fast. And I kept thinking the problem was I didn't know how to cook enough stuff. It wasn't that. The problem was I was making the same decision every single night, at 5:30, which is the worst possible time to make any decision. Kids melting down, I'm crashing, nothing's thawed.
JESS: So you fixed the decision, not the cooking.
MARISA: Right. I sat down one Sunday and mapped out a week. That's it. That's the whole secret. It's not glamorous.
JESS: You have an anecdote about this, actually, about your mom.
MARISA: Oh, the list thing. Okay so my mom never shopped with a list, ever, her whole life. Just wandered the store and grabbed stuff. And I swore up and down I'd never do that. Then I did it for years anyway. 🥲 Just, out of habit, I guess, or laziness, I don't know.
JESS: What changed?
MARISA: I finally wrote an actual list before a Macey's run, on paper, categories and everything, and I spent thirty percent less. Same store, same week basically. And I got out in half the time. I was almost annoyed at how well it worked, because it meant I'd been doing it wrong for years for no reason.
JESS: Thirty percent is not nothing.
MARISA: It's not nothing. That's real money. That's the difference between "ugh we're tight this month" and not. And it cost me zero dollars to figure out. I just had to write things down before I left the house instead of hoping I'd remember.
JESS: Okay so if someone's listening right now and they're never going to take the class, what's the one thing they do tonight.
MARISA: Write the list before you go, not while you're standing in the store. That's it. That's the tip. Doesn't even have to be a meal plan yet, just write down what you actually need before you walk in, because the store is designed to make you decide things you didn't come in to decide. Every impulse buy is a decision you made standing up, tired, next to a display. Make the decisions at home on the couch instead.
JESS: Cook by look not by clock is not the tip today, I notice.
MARISA: No, that one's coming, don't worry, we've got a whole session on why recipe timers lie to you, especially up here. Elevation, dry air, all of it. Today's just the list. One thing at a time or nobody does any of it.
JESS: That's very you. Don't overload people.
MARISA: I overloaded myself once, scheduled every single dinner down to the minute, felt like a genius on Sunday. Fell apart by Tuesday because my son got an ear infection. You can't plan-proof a household with small kids, so I stopped trying and just built in a flex night. One night a week, no plan, it's just leftovers or eggs. Turns out the flex night is doing more work than any of the fancy dinners.
JESS: I like that it's basically insurance.
MARISA: That's exactly what it is. One bad Tuesday doesn't wreck your whole week if you already left room for it.
JESS: Okay, what's next session, give people a reason to come back.
MARISA: Next time we're building the actual template, the one I use every week, and we're talking about why I buy the Costco rotisserie chicken and don't feel bad about it. Some people in the cheaper-to-make-it-yourself crowd are going to fight me on that and I welcome it.
JESS: A controversy.
MARISA: A mild one. Bring your own opinions, bring what your kids actually eat, not what you wish they ate. That's the only homework.
JESS: Perfect place to stop. Thanks, Marisa.
MARISA: Thanks for having me argue about chicken.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 2
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —and I feel like that's the part nobody tells you, right? That the list is the actual hard part.
MARISA: That's the whole class, honestly. I could stop right there and it'd still be worth the two hours.
JESS: Okay but keep going, because last session you had people building templates and I want to know if it stuck.
MARISA: Some of it stuck. I got a text from someone Tuesday like, "I did the thing, I brought a list to Macey's, I don't know what happened." In a good way. She said she was out in like half the time.
JESS: That tracks with the thing you always say about your mom.
MARISA: Yeah, my mom never shopped with a list, ever. And I swore I wouldn't be that person and then I was that person for like a decade. First time I actually wrote one down and stuck to it, I spent maybe thirty percent less and I was almost mad about it. Like, it worked too well. I could've had this back.
JESS: I want to talk about the flex night thing today, because people keep asking me about it after class.
MARISA: Oh yeah. So the flex night. This came out of a week where I had every single dinner scheduled down to like, this is Tuesday's protein, this is Tuesday's side. Super tight. And then James got an ear infection Monday night and the whole thing just fell apart by Tuesday morning.
JESS: Because you're not cooking, you're at urgent care.
MARISA: Right, and then I'm behind for the whole week and I'm mad at a plan that was never the problem, the week just did what weeks do. So now there's one night, every single week, that's just leftovers or eggs. No plan. That's it.
JESS: It's built-in permission to not have it together one night.
MARISA: It's insurance. That's how I think about it. You're not failing the plan, you planned for the gap.
JESS: Okay, practical tip, because I know people listening aren't all signed up for the class. What's one thing they could do tonight?
MARISA: Rotisserie chicken from Costco. If you're not doing this already, start. One chicken, you shred it, that's dinner tonight, then it's chicken tacos Wednesday, then it's in a soup Friday. Three dinners, one purchase, basically no effort past the first night.
JESS: You've told me this like it's a life hack you personally discovered.
MARISA: I told Jaden the same way, honestly, like I'd invented fire. He was very unimpressed. But I don't care, it works and I still do it.
JESS: Can I tell the meal kit story? I love that one.
MARISA: Go for it.
JESS: So Marisa tried one of those fancy meal-kit subscriptions—
MARISA: For exactly one month. I loved not having to decide what we were eating, that part was genuinely great. But the price was rough and the packaging, oh my gosh, so much cardboard and ice packs, I felt terrible every week putting it out on the curb.
JESS: So you cancelled it.
MARISA: Cancelled it and just built the "not deciding" part myself. That's actually kind of what this whole system is. You can pay someone else to remove the decision, or you can spend one Sunday afternoon removing it yourself for basically free. I picked free.
JESS: Okay, before we wrap, what's coming next session? People want to know if they need to bring anything.
MARISA: Bring your grocery receipt from this week if you've got it, we're going to actually build out a monthly budget number, not just a weekly one. And I want to talk about bulk buying, because a friend and I split chicken and ground beef once a month now, we just meet in a church parking lot with a cooler, and it's saved us both real money.
JESS: A cooler exchange. I love that for you.
MARISA: It's very unglamorous. It works.
JESS: That's the theme of this whole class, honestly.
MARISA: Basically, yeah. Unglamorous and it works, put it on a shirt.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 3
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —okay wait, back up, you split a cooler of raw chicken in a church parking lot?
MARISA: Every month now. Haylee brings the cooler, I bring the calculator. We buy the family pack of chicken and the family pack of ground beef at Costco, split it right there, and we both save money without either of us needing a whole extra freezer.
JESS: That's such a specific image. Two moms, a cooler, a parking lot.
MARISA: It looks a little suspicious honestly. But it works. We started because we were both buying the same stuff separately and paying more for smaller packs. Now it's just a monthly thing, we text, we meet, we split it, done in ten minutes.
JESS: Okay so this is actually a good bridge into today, because last session was building the weekly template, and I know some people are already asking about the shopping side.
MARISA: Right, because the template's only half the game. The list is the actual game.
JESS: Say more.
MARISA: Most people already know how to cook, like, five to ten meals. That's not the problem. The problem is standing in the kitchen at 5:30 trying to decide, while also being hungry and tired and somebody's yelling about something. If you fix the deciding part, the budget kind of fixes itself.
JESS: Which is what the template's for.
MARISA: Right, the template answers Tuesday on Sunday, when you're not starving and nobody's crying. Then the list comes straight off the template. You're not wandering Macey's improvising.
JESS: You told me once your mom never shopped with a list.
MARISA: Never. And I swore I'd be different and then just... didn't bother for years. Did the wandering thing myself. First time I actually brought a written list into the store, I spent something like 30% less and was out in half the time. I was almost mad about it. Like, this whole time?
JESS: 🥲 kind of, honestly.
MARISA: It's such a dumb simple fix that I avoided for way too long.
JESS: Okay give me the one thing, if somebody's listening and they're never gonna take the class, what's the one tip they can use tonight.
MARISA: Write the list off your plan, not off your head. Don't stand in the store trying to remember what you need. Sit down for ten minutes before you go, list in hand, cross things off as you shop. That's it. That's most of the win right there.
JESS: That's it, that's the tip.
MARISA: I know it's not exciting. I'm not gonna pretend there's a secret spice blend. It's a piece of paper.
JESS: Can we talk about the rotisserie chicken thing again, because people love that one.
MARISA: Oh my gosh, yes. Okay, so I figured out a rotisserie chicken from Costco stretches into three dinners if you're smart about it. Chicken tacos night one, then chicken and rice, then you throw the carcass in with some water and vegetables and you've got soup. I felt like I'd invented fire.
JESS: You told Jaden.
MARISA: I told Jaden like I'd cracked some ancient code. He was so unimpressed. Just, "yeah, that's chicken." No respect for the achievement.
JESS: I love that for you.
MARISA: I know some people are gonna say making it yourself is cheaper, and sure, maybe by a dollar. But sometimes the win isn't the cheapest possible option, the win is dinner just happening without me standing over a stove for an hour. That chicken buys me time, and time is worth something too.
JESS: Okay so next session, we're doing shopping day, actually walking through a real cart, real prices.
MARISA: Yeah, I want people bringing their actual template from this week and we're gonna build the list together, live, and talk through substitutions when something's not on sale or the store's out of it. Because that happens, and your plan shouldn't fall apart just because they're out of ground turkey.
JESS: Flex built in.
MARISA: Always flex built in. That's basically rule one at this point.
JESS: Bring your template, bring questions, cooler optional.
MARISA: Cooler very optional. But if you want to start a chicken co-op with somebody, I fully support it.
Videos worth your time
Hand-picked by your instructor, with notes on what to watch for.
- Mastering Meal Planning On A Budget: Plan B EditionThe Budget Mom
Watch for the backup Plan B strategy when your original dinner plan falls apart, like forgetting to thaw meat.
- Small changes to save money now | Budget meal planning and recipesLaura Legge
Watch for practical small changes and tips on sticking to a small grocery budget using what you already have.
- How I Meal Plan for My Big Family on a Budget (Step-by-Step)The Tex-Mex Mom
Watch for the full step-by-step process of building a weekly meal plan for a family while keeping costs down.
Practice corner
6 quizzes and 2 games. Playable by anyone, no account needed.
Open the practice corner →