My meal planning hacks to save time and money came out of resentment. Constantly hearing, “What’s for dinner mum?”, every evening started to really grate on me. I mean come on, how the hell was I supposed to know what’s for dinner. In my head I’d be thinking, “I’ve just stepped into the house and haven’t even taken my coat off. Do you think I’ve been at work all day thinking of culinary delights to cook up and serve tonight?” But the reality was – my kids really thought I had! And what’s more, their faces were always waiting for me to respond with something exciting, delicious and served up on their plate within 30 minutes.
This question would really get on my nerves for two reasons. Firstly, it was their expectation that I always had an answer straight away. Secondly, it was my own mum guilt of not having an answer! The guilt would always result in ordering a takeaway, just to see the excitement on their face and pretend that was my plan all along.
But the start of my debt free journey meant I could no longer charge my takeaways to my credit card. I had to find a solution that would feed my family AND give me back the time I was spending in the kitchen on the days when I was cooking.
That’s where meal planning came in.