Healthy food can be expensive and it can be hard to budget for certain types of food. The main point to remember is everyone has different budgets for food and you should stick to whatever works well for you and your pocket.
Plan Your Meals
This part is vital if you don’t want wasted food. Take some time to look up some new recipes to keep things interesting, either plan a week or 2 weeks in advance. Then from this, make a list of groceries, but be sure to check what you already have and don’t overbuy! There are plenty of apps where you can save your favourite recipes and create shopping lists, which is ideal if you don’t have much time to plan.
Use Your Leftovers
Leftovers are great for lunches or in other recipes and certain dishes actually taste better the day after. Dishes like spaghetti bolognese and curry tend to keep for a couple of days but the majority of leftovers usually make very good stews, stir-fries, salads and burritos.
Say No to Ready Meals
Home cooking is a lot of effort especially if you’ve just come home from work, but try prepping a couple of meals on your day off and bulk cook meals you know you can easily freeze. By doing this you’ll cut down on prep time when you come home from work, or if you don’t feel like cooking at all, grab one of your meals out the freezer. This way you will make healthier choices and doesn’t everyone love home cooking compared to a salty ready meal.
Food Storage
This brings us to food storage, good quality storage containers can prolong foods shelf life by 4 times! Make sure to purchase a mixture of BPA free airtight and vacuumed containers, as these can be put in the fridge or the freezer and prevent freezer burn and mould. If you would like to read more on vacuumed storage please click here.
Be a Coupon Master
Many supermarkets offer coupons and you can even find certain coupons online! Be savvy with your coupons and keep them in your purse or wallet so you never forget them. This is also a great reminder that it's ok to treat yourself to something delicious once in a while, as unhealthy foods can sometimes be on the pricer side, use your coupon to treat yourself. But remember only in moderation.
Don’t Impulse Buy
There are so many tempting foods that can make food shopping very expensive, so be diligent and don’t get sidetracked. A good rule of thumb to follow is to always look at the top or bottom shelves, as these tend to be cheaper as the more expensive items are placed at eye level. You never want to go shopping when your hungry as this often leads to impulse buying!
Buy Whole Foods
Certain foods like cereals are a lot cheaper if they haven’t had much processing, for example, a bag of rolled oats is around half the cost of pre-made porridge packets. Be smart and see if you can add any ingredients to oats or bran flakes to make it more interesting.
Buy the Supermarkets Brand
Most supermarkets offer alternatives to big brands, which often means a reduction in price. The supermarket brands are sometimes as good as the big brands and shouldn’t be dubbed as being a poorer product. However, please check the ingredients list to make sure there are no hidden ingredients!
Grow Your Own
If you have a garden, then you should try growing some of your favourite produce that you know you will be able to eat a lot of. Seeds are cheap to buy and if you put a bit of effort into them, they can save you so much money.