Free Printable Grocery List + Meal Planner

Simplify meal planning and grocery shopping with this free printable grocery list and menu planning set.

Many things in life can be uncertain. But, after 30 years as a homemaker, I can say one thing is always certain: The family needs to eat.

Every. Day!

Over the years, I’ve developed a system for grocery shopping and meal planning.

And, today, for the first time ever, I made my own printable grocery list and meal planner set.

I wish I would have done this years ago!

This is the exact way I’ve put together lists – but up until now, I started from scratch with plain paper. Hopefully this will simplify everything – and I welcome you to use them, too.

Let’s have fun getting meal time organized in our homes!

How to Use the Free Printable Grocery List + Meal Planner

Print off your free printable meal planner template + printable grocery list

I’ve put 5 free printables together in this meal planning & shopping list set. It includes:

• a printable grocery list
• printable grocery list by category
• weekly meal planner 
• monthly meal planner
• list of freezer meals

You can access the whole set through the VIP printables library. Click here and enter the VIP password to get find it.

If you are not yet a VIP newsletter subscriber,  click here to become a VIP newsletter subscriber (or click the button below). By doing so, you’ll get instant access to the password!

Start with meal planning first

I find the easiest way to put together a grocery list is to start with the meal plan first. Depending on how you prefer to shop and cook, I’ve included both a weekly meal planner and a monthly meal planner.

Since we were newlyweds, I’ve mostly planned meals by the month. I did that for 2 reasons:

• It meant less trips to the grocery store (which was a bit of a venture in our rural location).
• It saved money and stress in the long run!

Now that it’s just the two of us and our pantry space is more limited, I tend to do weekly grocery & menu plans more often now. 

Plan with freezer meals in mind

I absolutely love doing bulk cooking and putting away freezer meals to use later. 

With that in mind, I’ve included  a printable freezer meal list -if you’d like to record meals you put in the freezer, along with the dates you put them in.

I also put them in categories – as that’s how I do it.  If you want some ideas for great freezer meals, here are a few:

Soups & Crock Pot Meals:

• Taco Soup
• White Chicken Chili
• Sausage & Tortellini Soup (don’t freeze it with the tortellini in it)
• Sweet & Sour Sausage
• Creamy Carrot Soup (but don’t freeze it with the cream!;)

Casseroles/ One Pan Meals:

• Chicken Tortilla Bake
• Lasagna
• Meatloaf

Mexican/ Pasta

• Beef Burritos
• Chicken Chimichangas

When I do freezer meals, I tend to make more than one each at a time, so there can be lots of meals tucked away!;)

Take stock of your pantry and refrigerator as you make your grocery list

Once I have the menu planned, I start making my grocery list.

For years, I’ve created categories in my grocery list based on the layout of the store I shop at the most. I’ve included that exact category list as a printable, if it helps you, too.

If your store is arranged differently, though, I included a blank printable grocery list that you can put your own categories in.

When we were in a hurry grocery shopping for the month, my husband and I would use the 2 cart shopping method. I would cut the list in half. He would start at one end of the store. I’d start at the other, and we’d finish in half the time! It worked like a charm…

Want some help with home organization and decluttering?

I’ve put together a free Home Organization series just for you! Included in it are:

• Simple 15 minute organization tasks for each day
• Additional resources and ideas for more specific spaces – like organizing kitchen cupboards, pantry organization, and how to organize small closets.
• FREE printable checklists 

Click here or the button below to get started today.