I must confess that I used to dislike the idea of having a meal plan.  I know it is useful and good, and for years, my husband bugged me to work one out so that we don't have to think about what to cook and what to eat all the time.  But I liked to cook and I liked the flexibility of cooking whatever I happened to feel inspired to cook.  Never mind that there were also days when I had no inspiration and had no idea what to cook.  It seemed so boring to eat the same things over and over again within a short period of time.

Recently, because of the new baby, we hired a full time domestic helper to help me.  She was totally inexperienced and I had to teach her everything from scratch, from cooking to general housekeeping.  Marketing was part of her job but we usually ended up with a hodge podge of ingredients which I had to sort through and worked out how to use them.  She was not good at working out the menu herself.

When our baby was almost due, I worked out a one month meal plan for my domestic helper so that she could work on autopilot, from grocery shopping to cooking, while I was in confinement.  The plan worked out really well, much to my surprise!  After the confinement, we continued with the meal plan.  Thus, I discovered the merits of having a meal plan.

1. Less Wastage

One of the most obvious merit that I found was that we had less wastage.  Previously, because there was no plan, what we cooked was basically dependent on what I felt like buying during grocery shopping.  When I was particularly 'inspired', I could end up buying a lot of stuff that in the end, I did not have the chance to use or did not have the time to use.  By the time I got around to using some of the things, they were all spoiled and we had to throw them away.  Sometimes, I would lose my inspiration after buying the ingredients and I ended up not using them.  

Now that we have a meal plan, my domestic helper shops for ingredients based on the meal plan and almost everything is used before they spoil.  So we buy less and waste less.

2. Less 'thinking'

Previously, days that I didn't feel 'inspired' were days that we didn't know what to eat.  I would be asking my husband,"What do you feel like eating?"  He would usually reply,"Anything.  I am easy."  It sure did not help me decide on what to cook!  It could get pretty frustrating.

With a meal plan, we don't have to go through this anymore!  My husband is certainly happy that he does not need to answer the 'what do you feel like eating' question these days.

3. Easier on the Domestic Helper

This is if you have a domestic helper and she is not very good at working things out herself.  Having a plan is almost idiot proof.  There will also be less frustration for you because both you and your domestic helper know what to expect everyday.  If you need to teach your new helper how to cook, the meal plan will also be a good, systematic guide.  You only need to teach her how to cook the dishes included in the meal plan.