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I have one of those magnetic, dry-erase write boards I keep on my fridge (it also has a cork board bottom for tacking on coupons and notes etc.) I usually do try to plan meals because I need to remind myself to thaw out meat, use up veges (I always feel utterly guilty if I let veges go bad in the vege bin). I must admit I only usually plan 3-4 meals and then play it by ear the other days...especially in the Summer when I can get my hubby to barbecue. :D

I'm a diehard planner. I plan three meals for the week (which usually gives us enough food for 5 nights.) and do all of my shopping at once, unless I need something that spoils rather quickly. I find it much easier to cook when I know what my options are, and therefore, I don't have any last minute panics. :)

JerzeeTomato, you are a food 'stocker-upper' after my own heart! I have a side-by-side fridge indoors as well as in my garage. I have a fully stocked pantry too! Costco is my wet-dream when I can get my hubby to drive me there [he HATES how much money I end up spending there ha-ha]! I think if we ever have a major disaster where either of us lives we'll be good to go...we'll just have to fight off our desperate, UNstocked up neighbors. ;)))

I've been spoiled lately with Albertson's and Safeway delivering my groceries but I try to just stick with canned good, bread etc. when ordering online groceries because trusting someone to pick my pork chops or head of cabbage is a little 'iffy'.

As to the topic... I think planning ahead a bit is a security/comfort thing for me...I like knowing precisely what I'm going to make for meals rather than last-minute quick thinking. I guess that makes me a bit of a slow, sluggish turtle but oh well... :))

I try to plan 2-3 dinners a week, usually involving a new recipe I want to try. I'm attempting to work my way through all of my cookbooks! My pantry is well stocked and I always have fresh vegetables on hand, for the nights when I make something up at the last minute. If I don't have at least a minimal plan I wander around the store like a moron.

I'm a OCD planner! It works well because I live alone. Therefore, I can plan & eat "whatever" with no one but myself to please. Ha-ha!

I am a planner - really have to be when you are on a tight budget and have kids. I would love to browse fresh farmer's markets and buy/cook what catches my eye, but the kid factor and time constraints don't allow for that, plus I am way too tired for the multiple trips that would take! So, I am a die hard planner and as my kids get older, they have their day to chose their "favorite" and I try to make one night a week to test something fun and new. If it is a hit, it goes on the rotation list - nothing worse than getting in that food rut...

I usually try to plan at least 2 dinner meals. It's just me and my boyfriend, so each of those meals will generally have leftovers that will feed us for another 2-3 days. Weekends we often eat out since there are so many great restuarants withing walking distance from our home.

Breakfast and lunch I generally plan and make ahead of time for the whole week (usually on Sunday) so I can just grab a breakfast and lunch from the fridge in the morning and eat them at work. Then I'm less likely to spend money at a Dunkin Donuts or the school's cafeteria.

I'm another planner. I plan dinners for Sunday-Thursday and lunches for at least three days. I have a large dinner repertoire and mix it up depending on what's in season, how much money I have, and if I've seen anything interesting online or on the Food Network. I place my food order on Saturday and it's delivered on Sunday at noon. I usually have fish on Sunday since it's delivered that day and because that's a quick dinner to prepare I do any other time-consuming prep for later in the week (e.g., poaching chicken and cooking tomatillos for chicken enchiladas). I wish I was as organized in other areas of my life as I am with the food part but the food part is a budget breaker if it's not planned.

My boyfriend and I never used to plan our meals, but we found that the busier we got, the less healthy we ate. So we now sit down on Sundays and plan out dinners for Monday-Thursday. The weekends we tend to just go with the flow.

We save alot of time knowing what we are going to have for supper- whomever gets home first can start cooking right away. Plus I fine we are better at using up what ingredients we have- less stuff seems to go in the garbage.

I wish we had more time to be spontaneous cooks during the week- but at least we have the weekends!

I absolutely plan ahead. I try to make the same thing over a couple nights in some form or another so I can use up what I buy (right now I'm on a salad niçoise kick for dinner because it's so damn hot). If I don't plan ahead I wind up with tons of beautiful impulse-purchased items that go to waste.

I too like to plan. I get some odd enjoyment from going through the grocery flyers on Friday evening and planning meals around what's on sale that week. I usually only shop once a week and I like to plan about 3-4 dinners a week. As others have indicated, that allows for some flexibility, and its just my husband and I, so there are usually leftovers for lunches or another night's dinner. This usually works pretty well: it keeps us on budget and eating healthily.

Ah, glad to see there are other planners out there. I started just a few months ago when my husband and I were reviewing our credit card spending. Ooops...too many restaurants, that newlywed thing I think. So now I do a big shop (either Fresh Direct or Whole Foods mixed in with the Union Sq. farmer's market) on Saturday and plan at least 4 meals (which gets us 5) for the week. Idea being we won't head out to eat if there's a nice steak or hunk of lamb in the fridge.

Been working swimmingly I might add as a budgeting method. We always marvel how these gorgeous dinners usually cost less than $7 a person when you break it all down. Yay for knowing how to cook! ;)

I'm a big time planner. Usually I pick out recipes for 5 nights of the week (the other two we go out or eat leftovers) and make a grocery list Saturday morning and then grocery shop that afternoon (don't even get me started on my elaborately organized grocery lists). Then I make my "menu" for the week--weighing what needs to be cooked/will go bad fastest and go from there. Since my husband and I work full-time and I get home a couple of hours before him (and I am the cook in the family, he's the cleaner), it's a great comfort to come home in the evening and know both what I'm making, how much preparation is involved, and that I have all of the ingredients. As far as what recipes I choose, it's usually a mix of old favorites, things that have caught my eye in magazines, and one from a cookbook I'm working through. Sometimes when I'm feeling really uncreative I'll pick all 5 recipes from that month's Cooking Light or Gourmet.