Best Ways to Eati Healthy When Money Is Tight

It is an unfortunate fact of life that many high-nutrient, wholesome, healthy foods are expensive, while many nutrient-free, calorie-dense foods are cheap. 

This can make buying, cooking, and eating healthy foods for yourself and your family quite a challenge, particularly when the food budget is limited.

With some advance planning, however, it is still possible to create a week full of wonderful, nutritious meals, no matter how small your food budget.  The key is to plan ahead, shop smart, and make the most out of the foods you buy.

Planning those meals

In today’s busy world, meal planning often means calling out for a pizza or hitting the drive-through on the way home.  This type of lifestyle has helped to fuel the epidemic of obesity the country has been experiencing. 

There is a better way, however.  Simply taking a few minutes a week to plan your family’s meals can make a lot of difference, both in money saved and nutrition gained.

Advance meal planning is a must for any shopper on a budget.  Writing down your meal plans, including the ingredients needed and expected preparation time, will help you plan what to buy and how to cook. 

For those with especially busy schedules, planning meals that can be cooked ahead of time and reheated is a huge time and money saver.

Fortunately, many healthy meals, such as vegetable casseroles, pasta dishes, meat dishes, seafood entrees, fruit salads, etc. are great as leftovers.  It is easy to see how advanced meal planning can save you time. 

Many working mothers, for instance, will make an entire week’s worth of meals on the weekend, then heat each day’s meals up as the week unfolds.  This is a great strategy for creating a healthy and varied menu the whole family will love.

Hitting the grocery store

Now that you know what meals the coming week will bring, it's time to hit the grocery store in search of the perfect and most healthy ingredients.  Before you hit the grocery store, however, be sure to check the pantry. 

Keeping a well-stocked pantry, and restocking when staples such as canned vegetables and fruits go on sale, is the cornerstone of any healthy eating budget.

After you have gone through the pantry and noted the items you need to buy, it is time to check the sales flyers for your local grocery stores.  Most major grocery store chains include sales flyers in the local newspaper, so be sure to check there for sales on the items you need for your meals.

Going to the grocery store armed with a shopping list is the best way to save both time and money.  The grocery store contains many temptations, and most of them are both unhealthy and expensive. 

Sticking to the list is the best way to stay within your budget while providing yourself and your family with wholesome, nutritious food.

Don’t forget to include fresh fruits and vegetables on your shopping list.  Keeping fresh fruits and veggies around for snacks is a great way to eat healthier.

Preparing the meal

After everything has been purchased, the pantry has been restocked, and fresh bowls of fruits and vegetables are arranged for snacking, it is time to start creating that meal on a budget. 

As we said before, making meals in bulk for later use during the week is a great strategy for working women, and for those who are pressed for time.  Taking a few hours to mix the ingredients and prepare the food can save a lot of time in the long run.

Of course, for those on a budget saving money is just as important as saving time.  One of the most important ways to save money while still eating healthy is to stock up on those essentials you always seem to run out of. 

Try keeping a notepad on the refrigerator or near the sink.   Every time you run out of a certain food, write it on the notepad.  You will probably notice a pattern emerging after a week or two.  So the next time your local grocery store runs a special on one of those things you always need, buy it in bulk and keep a good supply on hand.

Buying in bulk is a great way to save money on many different kinds of healthy foods.  Many people automatically think that the local warehouse club store is the cheapest place to buy bulk items, but this is not often the case. 

The weekly specials at the local grocery store often beat those warehouse club prices, often by a large margin.  So be sure to shop around and comparison shop often as you put together those healthy meals.

3 Tips for Quick & Easy Meal Prep

Meal prep can seem intimidating when you first start doing it. There’s a lot of chopping, cooking, and organizing involved in the process. It’s easy to see why many people think it’s just not worth the hassle. However, the truth is, with a few simple tips, it doesn’t need to be a stressful process.

1. Get Organized Before You Start

Make sure you have all the ingredients you need before you start. The last thing you want is to have to stop in the middle of your prepping time to run to the store.

Print off directions for any freezer meals or take a Sharpie pen and write them on your Ziplock bags. Take out all your containers and Ziplock bags that you’ll be using for the meal prep. Also, get any kitchen utensils, gadgets, or cookware you’ll need.

It’s easier to get all of the equipment out ahead of time because when you’re in the process of prepping, you don’t want to waste valuable time searching for something. Plus, you might have to wash your hands before you can search for whatever it is you need, then again after you’ve found it. So, it’s best to get organized first.

2. Get Your Family to Help

Children can help with so many tasks while doing meal prep. Depending on their age, they can help cut, cook, or put food in containers. While some of these tasks don’t sound like much, when you’ve got several meals and snacks to prepare for, it all helps.

Set up an assembly line and assign each person a responsibility or two. When you have multiple children in your household, having them help will really speed up the process. Plus, when it comes to snacks they can make their own and label them.

Children like to be made a part of it and will feel useful. Not only that, but you’re teaching them lifelong skills – both in how to prepare healthy food and the life skills they’ll need when they leave home.

3. Make Extra During the Week

One easy way to meal prep is during the week while you’re cooking meals. Instead of making one casserole, or enough soup for one meal, make enough for two or even three and then freeze the extras.

Also, start freezing extra food that might go to waste otherwise. You can freeze things such as tomato paste, diced tomatoes, noodles, beans, cooked chicken, and ground hamburger after it has been cooked. All of these can be used quickly and easily to create meals when it is busy or late at night.

If meal prep is overwhelming, start small by doing it only a few times a week. You’ll start to get the hang of it and want to do more often once you realize what a time saver it really is.

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