Meal Planning for Actual Humans: $120/Week Feeds Our Family of 4

Meal planning Pinterest makes me want to scream. Everyone's over there with their color-coded spreadsheets and mason jar salads looking Instagram-perfect. Meanwhile, I've got three kids and I just need them to eat vegetables occasionally.

Our family of 4 (two adults, three kids ages 6, 9, 12) spends about $120/week on groceries. We eat real food. The kids aren't revolting. Nobody's eating chicken breast and brown rice for every meal.

Here's my actual system: I plan 5 dinners per week, not 7. Two nights are leftovers or fend-for-yourself. This immediately reduces my stress by 40%.

My 5 dinners follow a pattern: Taco Tuesday (obviously). Pasta night (changes weekly - spaghetti, baked ziti, mac and cheese). Slow cooker something (dump it in the morning, dinner's ready when I get home). Sheet pan meal (throw everything on a pan, roast it, done). One "fancy" meal (really just something that takes more than 20 minutes).

Breakfast: Kids eat cereal or toast. I'm not a morning person and I've made peace with that. Sometimes we do eggs on weekends. Sometimes.

Lunch: Kids get school lunch. I eat leftovers or sandwiches. My partner meal preps on Sunday. We're not coordinated enough to all eat the same lunch.

Snacks: I buy in bulk. Goldfish, fruit, cheese sticks, pretzels. Whatever's on sale. The kids will eat it regardless.

Shopping strategy: I go to Aldi for basics (milk, eggs, produce, snacks). Then hit regular grocery for specific things Aldi doesn't have. Aldi alone saves me probably $30/week.

I don't meal prep Sunday for the whole week because I tried it and hated it. I prep the night before. One meal at a time. Works way better for my brain.

Yes, we eat out sometimes. Usually Friday. Budget is $40-50. It's our reward for surviving another week. Worth every penny for my sanity.

The secret? Lower your standards. Seriously. Kids had quesadillas for dinner tonight. They were happy. I was sane. Everyone won. That's meal planning success in this house.