Budget-friendly meal planning for busy families

Meal planning sounds like extra admin, but a rough weekly shape — a couple of meat nights, a pasta night, a big batch-cook night — takes the daily "what's for dinner" decision off the table entirely.

Batch-cooking one larger meal (a curry, a bolognese, a soup) and freezing half is one of the highest-leverage habits for a busy household: one cooking session covers two dinners.

Buy your recurring staples — rice, pasta, tinned tomatoes, stock — in bulk since they don't spoil and you'll get through them regardless of what's on the weekly menu.