If you are trying to get organised and stay on top of family meals and grocery shopping, this free printable monthly menu plan is a great way to start.
This monthly meal planner template will help take the trauma out of deciding what is for dinner each night!
I went to the shops almost every day last week. I hate that. It means I spend more money and time than I should, and it’s a sign that I am totally unorganised.
I aim to do one big shop a month for all the staples and non-perishables. Then I try to limit it to one shop per week for things like fruit, vegetables, bread, and milk. This works really well for us, saves us time and money, if I am organised and plan ahead. To do that, I need to use a monthly menu plan.
Find out how I meal plan for a month in half an hour here.
Free Printable Monthly Meal Planner
There are so many great options for meal planners these days, you can even use a digital planner, but I like to have a paper menu plan, and something that is really flexible.
Planning with a single sheet of paper and pencil (always a pencil so I can change things if needed!) means I can do my planning anywhere, and display it easily.
And using a planner that is undated means I can plan any time. I don’t need to get ti done before the first of the month, and when I fall of the menu planning bandwagon (because I always do now and then) I can just pick it back up again whenever I’m ready.
Our free printable meal planner template is a simple, one page, planner with enough room to plan for five weeks. You can write your own dates in each circle and there is enough room to write breakfast lunch and dinners if you like.
There is a version of the meal planner printable that starts on a Monday, and one that starts on a Sunday too.
You can download the free printable monthly menu plan (starting on a Monday) here.
You can download the free printable monthly menu plan (starting on a Sunday) here.
This printable is an A4 sized pdf file, you will need a pdf reader such as adobe acrobat to open it. If you are printing on US ‘letter sized’ paper be sure to select ‘fit’ or ‘shrink to fit’ from your printer options.
Please remember that the printables at picklebums.com are for personal use only, you may not sell, share, or link directly to these files.
Weekly and Fortnightly Menu Plan Printables
If planning a whole month of meals feels like too much, or you just prefer to plan your menu each week or fortnight, you can find weekly and fortnightly menu plan printables here.
And you can find all our family friendly recipes to fill up your menu plan here.
New, Free Printable Monthly Meal Planners, Weekly Meal Planners, and a Bonus Shopping List
Do you menu plan?
Do you have any great tips for making it work and avoiding a million little trips to the shops?
I NEED TO DO THIS!
Sorry caps excited lol.
how funny..I did a very similar thing y’day….only mine is just a list.
Great minds think alike!!!!
I think a list works really well… just cross off the meals as you have them. If our lives were a little more predictable (in terms of what days we have what on) I reckon I’d totally go with that method.
In a perfect world I menu plan … hmm I so wish it was a perfect world, I hate going to the shops so often!
just what I need!
I would love to do a monthly shop at costco, then just do a weekly top up of fresh/local stuff. That is my ideal set-up, I’m working on it : ) Currently getting by with a big weekly shop at coles but it all fell in a heap last week…fourth baby over here too! I had a good run for about 3 weeks, but then life gets in the way…at least it means I had a stash of frozen leftovers to use tonight – do NOT feel like cooking on this randomly hot Melbourne day!
your template encouraged me to dust myself off and get back into it! thanks Kate!
When our fourth was born all planning and organisation went out the window for a while… but he’s 8 months now and I’m slowly starting to get new systems going that are working for our family of 6. Give yourself some time… you’ll get there!
Oh and I’m very jealous about Costco… have plans to get a membership and make a big trip in once a while, but only when we have a new kitchen and somewhere to store it all!
Yup, I meal plan! I just introduced my Meal Plan Monday on my blog too, to encourage me to stick to it. I plan the week’s meals in advance and shop accordingly, I make sure I have everything I need for the meals plus snacks, lunches etc and usually manage to get away with just one shop and prehaps a quick trip for some fresh fruit once a week. I am just sitting down now to make this week’s plan, would love to know whats on rotation at your house!
On the menu this week…
Last night was cold chicken and salad (we had visitors and ballet till late).
Tonight I am making Triangles (https://picklebums.com/2008/03/03/cheap-and-easy-beef-and-veggie-triangles/)
Tomorrow pizza.
Thursday Special Spag bol made by my lovely friend and popped in my freezer while my DH was in hospital.
Friday – Scrambled Eggs and Toast
Saturday – we are at a wedding
Sunday… I have no idea!?!? LOL
It sounds like you and I do almost exactly the same thing – except my menu plan is weekly. But I have a list of meals we’re currently enjoying and swap around the meals/days at need. I work part-time, so I need to have nearly-instantaneous meals ready for the kids (at least) on the days we don’t get home until after 5:30. It’s much easier if I don’t have to dream something up on the way home!
Now we have another freezer and can store more, I think we should try to extend our menu to fortnightly, and see whether we can reduce our shopping trips as well.
Since kitchen renovations I’ve lost my whiteboard – your print-out calendar will be great for my fridge! We have several activities in each week, I’m going to forget one of them one of these days for sure…
I need this too! I’ve tried several templates before, but none as pretty as this one. :)
I’m hopeless though, great at writing a plan, not great at the follow-through. Maybe this time it will work!
I do menu plan, but I’ve recently changed the order i.e instead of planning before I shop, I’m trying to go to the farmer’s market, buy what’s fresh and then plan a week’s worth of meals from that. I also have limited storage so a weeks worth has our fridge and cupboards bursting!
I love the idea of shopping the farmers market and then planning… but I am not sure I could pull it off without heaps of waste. Instead I try to work out what is in season at various times of the year, what is growing in our garden and plan in advance that way.
Oh and I so hear you about the bulging cupboards, we have no storage either and end up stacking things up in very strange spots, like the linen cupboard is full of pasta LOL
I use to be good with menu planning but these days…..
Actually the whole being organised needs some work.
I try to do a big shop once a month then get top ups once a week, but it doesnt always work out like that.
Thanks for the menu plan
Thank you! Brilliant!
I, too, am good at list making, but suck at follow-through… life usually gets in the way, resulting in constant trips to the shop, although I am getting pretty good at buying for two or three days at a time so I don’t need to shop every day…
Oh I’ve been looking for a cute one just like this! Thanks!
I’ve been following your blog for awhile, but I had to leave a comment to say thank you for the meal planner! I make a weekly meal list/shopping list and stick to it. But this will be so much prettier on my fridge than the scrap paper that is stuck up there right now. Love your blog Kate!
Annie
Maybe I should do a weekly version? What would you include on a weekly version? space for each meal? a place to write notes/shopping list?? I’ll have more space to play with on a weekly version.
I’d still have a calendar week plus a fair bit of space to write the list. I like to have the meals on the same sheet as the list so that while I am at the grocery store, I can look at the meals and make sure I haven’t forgotten everything. Otherwise, I forget what I even planned on making!
I’ve loved the idea of one of these ever since seeing something similar in Kikki K’s, however the tiny cupboard storage space in our kitchenette and tiny fridge means I tend to shop every week for perishables and keep a minimum non-perishable food on hand anyway.
Our list lives on the side of a fridge (old A5 pad hung with magnetised mini-pegs, thanks to MSB) and we add stuff we run out of during the week and I try to think up 7 day menus (minus social commitments) when I come to check the list before heading out shopping, then add fruit, breakfast and other healthy snacks,subtract things i know are in the freezer or cupboard to round the list out.
A weekly plan sounds like a great idea kate can’t wait to see what it looks like :-)
What a cute template you’ve made. My 7 year old daughter says she loves the colors I’m a Mom of 7, with 4 still at home, and I love having a menu plan. I don’t always stick to it, but it helps to plan ahead, then have the option of changing things around if I feel like it. When I realized I was out of my usual blank calendars, I googled blank menu calendar, and I’m so glad I did, because I found yours. Thanks for posting it. I look forward to following your blog.
Sounds like you menu plan just like I do… a rough idea of what’s going to happen with lots of room to move and change!
I’m glad you found the printable useful!
Living on a farm I am not able to make multiple trips to the shops, so some sort of plan is critical to avoid beans on toast every fourth day. I dislike menu planning because our local shop doesn’t always have all the ingredients required. And when I try to menu plan while shopping, distractions by the Darlings make this nearly impossible. I end up coming home to make lasagne and realise I forgot the lasagne sheets! But you are so right, menu planning saves money and stress.
Okay so I’m probably ages late on this but it’s just so pretty and simple! Perfect. :)
Kate, this monthly menu planner is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I like to have a calendar page (just like this one) to work out which meals we’ll be having for about two weeks at a time. (It goes along with our pay schedule.) Once I’ve settled on the meals and which days we’ll be eating them, I go to my graphics program and make a fun, customized menu that I post on my refrigerator. This template is a fantastic working model for me to pencil in my meals and erase them and move them around if need be. Love…love…love it!!!! Thank you so much! Marla
Hi- I was looking for new ideas for my monthly meal plan and found your site. I like it. Once a month I surround myself with cookbooks and magazines, and make a list of the meals I plan to make, along with the location. I try to keep the dishes seasonal, for example:
Grilled Flank Steak with Yellow Chile Sauce & Peruvian Mashed Potatoes – CAH (Cusine at Home Magazine) 6/11 (month and year) p39
Chilled Carrot Soup with Cumin and Lime- BA (Bon Apetit) 8/98 w/Crab and Tomato Quesadillas BA 8/98
Reuben Sandwich CIA p 137
Tortilla Chip Chicken with Dip and Cole Slaw CAH 8/05 p 35
Pasta w/Peas and Lemon RSMME p40
I keep the books/magazines I’m going to use that month in the kitchen for quick reference. The menu is just a simple word doc and I add cute pictures relevant to the month or my activities for the month. For example for July, the title is in yellow and I have a picture of flip flops. (It’s a bit cheesy, but fun) I print it out in color and post on the fridge. Then once a week, based on my schedule I choose a few dishes and write up a list and head to the store. In general I keep a grocery list going as I cook each day and add to it. Eventually I do one large shop and then go back every 7-10 days.
My menu is mostly dinner entrees, but I want to start adding more side dishes, snacks, lunches, baked goods, drinks etc….but maybe not, too much planning is stressful. Sometimes it fun to wing it.
Hi, this is the exact kind of template that I was looking to use this year. THANK YOU for making it available.
Happy New year!
Thankyou so much for the planner Kate – exactly what I have been searching for.
My daughter in law, a friend and I are going to get a single membership between us at Costco and ‘make a day of it’ and divvy up our purchases so the storage is not such an issue, maybe a couple of mums nearby could think of doing the same?
I love this calendar template! It’d be even better if it was in high quality.
If you click on the link you can download a print res pdf of the meal planner