Meal Planning...Who Knew?

I'm beginning to subscribe to the thought that being organized actually saves you time.  And more time = guilt-free lazy!  So, who knew that the 20 minutes it took me on Saturday to meal plan and create my grocery list would make such a big difference in my time every evening of the week?

It all started because I found the cutest desk calendar for under $10 at OfficeMax.  I think they must have discontinued it because I can't find the product online anywhere and it wasn't in the store last time I visited.  But the calendar is part of the Carolina Pad Simply Chic line with this fabulous pattern:

This calendar has 52 sheets and horizontally lists the days of the week with lots of lines for writing.  I believe this is meant to be a desk accessory, but it's perfect as a meal plan calendar!

I used the 3M Command Velcro picture hanging thingies to put it on my fridge.  The best part is, because of the miraculous power of Velcro, I can take the calendar down each week for my meal planning and then pop it back up on the fridge for constant viewing during the week.  (Seriously, are y'all using these Velcro strips?  I'm loving them.  I used them to hang canvases in my office at work as well.)

Here's the finished product:

This was such a simple change that A) eliminates "what the heck are we going to eat" conversations each night, B) saved time (and money!) at the grocery store by allowing me to know exactly what I need for the week, C) prompts me to take the necessary meat choice out of the freezer the night before, and D) makes me happy because it's cute!  I've been cooking more since doing this too.  And because there are 52 pages, I can just rip it off at the end of every week and start fresh! 

Since it appears to be discontinued, my plan  for once the pages are gone is to laminate the last sheet and then just use a dry-erase marker each week. 

Can you tell this makes me happy?  Super-duper happy.  In fact, I think my next easy project will be to create a 'recipe repertoire' folder containing all of the recipes that make our regular dinner rotation.  That way I can just flip through on meal-planning day for inspiration.  :)  I promise y'all, you should do this if you're not already!  Anyone have any good meal planning tips they want to share?