The Seven Day Solo Meal Planner on Google Sheets.

Ready to start putting yummy plans into place?  O.f.O.'s got you covered! 

Here's an overview of the Seven Day Solo Meal Planner on Google Sheets, and how it works with free recipe box building on Google Keep, Docs, or Apple Notes.  

Planning for one is less work and more fun!

The Seven Day Solo Meal Planner was designed to advance solo kitchen economics.  A free Google account is all that's required to start planning with a tablet (my preference), laptop, desktop, or phone.  

The planner is shareable, and may be used (but not shared) offline.

There are two versions of the planner to choose from; one with a Recipe Cost Calculator + Bulk Ingredient Cost Calculator, and one without.

While decidedly guided, a quick tour is all it takes to master this fun & functional planner. 

Here's what's in the layout:

Plan & Shop Page:

• Eleven Steps to Plan & Prep checklist (serves as a guide).
• Sliding Mix & Match Scratch Pad aligns with Recipes column for coordinating perishables across each week's recipes.
• Auto-adding servings counter, ingredient cost fields counter, and prep minutes counter.
• Optional, extended version only:  Recipe (and servings) Cost Calculator with Bulk Ingredient Cost Calculator.
• Shopping/Pickup/Delivery Itinerary notepad.
• Quick Servings to Start the Week notepad.
• Timely Recipes Washi for coding FRESH & FAST, BACK BURNER, and PACK TO GO recipes.
• Location Reminders for Store Specific Stock-ups Notepad.
• A Charcuterie of Yummy Snack & Ingredient Ideas Notepad.
• Recipe Ideas for Next Week's Plan Notepad.

Seven Day Kitchen Tasklist & Time Tracker page:

Tasklist

• Recipe titles (auto-migrated from the Plan & Shop page).
• "How many Times?" fields for tracking planned recipe (or task) repeats.
•  Prep Ahead Task fields with check boxes.
• Finishing Touch Task fields with check boxes.
• Single Serve Recipe Repeats checkboxes. 
• Leftover Perishables fields (entries auto-migrate to the bottom section of the Mix & Match Scratch Pad).
•  Recipe Notes fields.
• Task Sticker-Gif Gallery featuring some of O.f.O.'s Procreate made washi, stickers and gifs for matching tasks.

Time Tracker

• Days of the week are set on the Time Tracker, and auto-migrate to the Budget Page and Meal Tracker pages.  
• Recurring weekly timeline targets are set and tracked with washi, stickers/notes on the Tracker.

Meal Trackers:

Meal scheduling and dietary data tracking are not part of O.f.O.'s flexible, buffet style method.  However, in the spirit of "to each her own"...

Two checkbox fortified planner/tracker pages are included to suit those who prefer a more structured planning style. 

• Meal and Macros Tracker with Macros Calculator.  Includes auto-adding macro fields with running daily & weekly totals.
• Meal tracker.

Unused tracker pages (tabs) may be neatly hidden from view, as if they don't exist.

Budget Page:

• Auto-adding Six Week Monthly Food Receipt Calculator.
• Auto-adding Six Week Monthly Food Budget Balancer.
• Six Week Monthly Kitchen Time Calculator (for logging each week's auto-added prep time total).
• 12 month totals chart for tracking prep time, budgets, and receipts.
• Extended version only:  Auto-generated Seven Day Recipe Cost Recap chart.
• Receipt Gallery-Notepads, situated vertically to display paper/digital receipt pics. 

Kitchen Inventory page:

• Seasonings Sorter.
• Freezer Tracker.
• Kitchen Inventory Gallery-Notepads for shelf pics.

Kitchen Treasures to Try & Buy page:

• Eleven category notepad.
• Kitchen Inspiration Image Board.
• Recipe Link Library. 

Functional Stickers:

• Food and task stickers can accompany or replace text on the Tasklist, Time Tracker, and Meal Tracker pages.
• Special Servings stickers confirm flexible, convenient meal plans.
• Timeline target washi and stickers pinpoint recurring weekly progress targets.
• Fun recipe category & kitchen economy character stickers encourage well rounded planning.
• Digital sticker png downloads are offered by awesome artists with super cute sticker shops.
• DIY stickers are fun and easy to create from personal pics or Google Images.
• Beyond stickers, Google's menu of fun emojis are available.

A step-by-step system that's so comprehensive, better kitchen economy comes naturally.

Why not use the Seven Day Solo Meal Planner to plan, brainstorm, budget, shop, track, and keep/sort recipe links?  

• Empty rows can be neatly hidden during shopping in all four grocery store zones.  This alleviates scrolling, for a condensed view.
• Trackers can display a detailed overview of progress, for easy analysis and clear accountability.
• Functional stickers add planning power.
• The Inventory Image Gallery can display home inventory during shopping.
• The Try & Buy page's Recipe Link Library can hold ideas for fun recipes beyond one's recipe box.
• Ingredient cost fields may be filled to display a running subtotal during shopping.  
• The optional extended version's Recipe Cost Calculator and Bulk Ingredient Cost Calculator can track spending and prices closely.  
• Notepads & galleries can keep bright ideas from fading away.

Why use Notes, Keep or Docs as a free recipe box instead of Sheets or Excel?

In my opinion, they work better!

Spreadsheets are powerful, but when it comes to building a box, automatically searchable, click-and-capture recipe keeping with note taking apps or Docs couldn't be easier; including handwritten recipes.

Keep, Notes and Docs all make excellent digital recipe boxes.

Beyond Apple & Google's free tools, there's a world of note taking apps that also work really well.

Just start a collection, then watch it grow!  Pin or file each week's recipes for easy reference. 

Is auto-updating ingredient inventory management with a spreadsheet worth it?

In my opinion, not really!  Referring to home inventory is a natural part of the planning process, but good kitchen organization makes image-based inventory record keeping easy and accurate enough to forego spreadsheet management.  

Here are five steps for using your Seven Day Solo Meal Planner for the first time:

1. Enter the month on the Budget page's Six Week Monthly Food Receipts Calculator.
2. Set the Kitchen Time Tracker's day-of-the-week fields to suit your style, with your routine shopping day of choice positioned as "start day". 
3. Set recurring timeline targets on the Time Tracker for completing Section 1 near midweek and Section 2 near week's end. 
4. Set the meal plan & shopping list deadline for the day before shopping day.  
5. Follow the Plan & Shop Page's Eleven Steps to Plan & Prep checklist, and start planning!

Before reusing your planner each week:

• Highlight and clear text fields for reuse.
• Individually uncheck (or highlight, delete and reinsert groups of) check boxes for reuse.

Love planning on paper?

What's not to love?  Paper planning is easy on the eyes, pleasing to the touch, stimulates creative thought, and supports memory recall.  Still, the power of digital planning can't be denied, even when used solely as backup.

Consider hybrid planning!

• Capture searchable images of paper recipes in Keep, Docs, or Notes.
• Quickly add links to the Recipe Link Library, then refer to the Library to create recipe cards (for keepers only) when it's convenient.
• Access recipes on cards at home or on a device while out.
• Plan and cook without a screen using a paper planner and cards.
• Plan on the go.
• Pre-plan with your digital planner when your paper planner is not with you.
• Back-plan on paper utilizing digital references.
• Reference the digital Seasonings Sorter, Freezer Tracker, and Kitchen Inventory Image Gallery while shopping.
• Use your digital planner to calculate a running total during shopping.
• Migrate monthly data (like receipt and prep time totals) to a yearly paper planner.

Here's to laying down pretty plans, capturing kitchen inspiration, and making delicious decisions!

Subscribe to Single Serving Stories  (below) for tips and tidbits on solo & couple kitchen creativity, and I'll send you a link to your free Seven Day Solo Meal Planner on Google Sheets!