Okay friends, if you know me in real life, you most likely know that I’m a sucker for a good printable. I seek out free printables for anything and everything: packing checklists, Sunday prep, holiday shopping lists.You name it, I’ve used it. So today I’m super excited to share with you my latest free printable: a monthly meal plan template for every month in 2019.
It’s kind of funny to think how far I’ve come with meal planning since getting married, buying a house, and having kids. I still remember so clearly the days of living in New York City. Luke and I both at work. It’d be 6 or 7PM and we’d exchange texts about when each planned to leave work.
“What time are you planning on leaving?”
“Hopefully in the next 20-30 minutes.”
“What should we do for dinner?”
Hmm, Thai food on Seamless again?”
“Sounds good. Order me the usual.”
We’d both arrive home from our respective commutes, usually in time to meet the delivery man in our lobby. If not, we’d swing by the doorman’s desk and grab the bag with our name on it. Within minutes we’d be plopped on the couch, eating Thai food from our favorite restaurant, laptops open, still working.
We did this… probably 4 nights a week. Takeout. Decided at the last minute. No thought. Easy peasy when you’re 20 or 30 somethings living in New York with no kids and relatively little life responsibilities.
Flash forward 5 years, and here I am with a husband and a house in the suburbs. Add in a talkative toddler and we’re full on #adulting. We track our finances daily, plan social outings months in advance, and yes… we meal plan for our family. If I’m being honest, meal planning has changed my life as a mom and wife, and I don’t know how I survived before this handy homemaking habit.
I’m assuming it was a couple years ago that I begin at least meal planning for the week. But during this past year I’ve focused more and more on creating healthy habits and routines for our family and household. And in doing so I made the big transition from creating weekly meal plans to monthly meal plans. You can read more about why it’s so important to me to create a monthly meal plan here.
My Monthly Calendar Templates for Meal Planning
Initially I just printed a blank calendar from Word or Google Docs, wrote in the right dates, and went for it. But quickly I realized I wanted something a bit more fun.
So I created this series of 2019 monthly meal planning templates. I’ve been using them since the fall, but finally finished the 2019 calendar year. Within wasting another month, I had to make these available to my fellow meal planning mamas!
My monthly meal planning calendars start on Monday, but if you download the pack you’ll find a blank month available to you that begins on Sunday if that’s more your jam.
Without further ado, here you go: click the image below to download your free monthly meal planning template for each month in 2019!
After you’ve downloaded the templates, be sure to tell us what you think. Are you going to start meal planning a month at a time? Or do you need more convincing?