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Eat Well On A Budget

If i am honest, i think about food a lot. In fact i think about it almost constantly. I like cooking, and I like good food. But apart from the fact that i am not always efficient in how i buy food, the good things in life are often the most expensive too. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With little money to spare, i have had to learn to eat well without breaking the bank. Here’s what i learned when trying to eat well on a budget.

Eat Well On A Budget – Planning

If you go to the supermarket without possessing a clear idea of what you plan to eat, you’ll no doubt lose discipline. The result is throwing whatever takes your fancy into your trolley. Undisciplined shopping may be fun, but can be a disaster for your health and bank balance.

Therefore, it’s essential that you plan your meals ahead of time. Thus you can ensure you make the most of your shop and your budget. You will also know what extras you need to buy to turn a meal from basic to classy.

Offers

There are two ways to approach offers in supermarkets. Offers seem too good to be true, but they’re only good value if you make use of what you buy. So idea one is to plan your meals around what is on sale, meaning be aware in advance what sales shops have on. The second option is utilise offers for goods you know you will use at some point, especially items with a longer shelf life. you will benefit in the long-term, if you can afford to buy in advance.

Eat Well On A Budget – Stock Up Your Cupboards

The second option above involves doing this – a full pantry or cupboards. This is helpful when you want to rustle something up without having to go out to shop. There are websites available that will suggest recipes when you list ingredients you have at hand.

You don’t have to buy all your staples at once. Plan on buying one or two per week, and in no time you’ll have a pantry that will make cooking up   healthy meal much easier. 

Cook from Scratch

When you cook from scratch, you know exactly what’s going into your food. So you’ll save yourself some money, AND you can make your meals as healthy as you want them. It’s a win-win situation.

Avoid convenience food at all costs, or have as a very occasional treat.

With convenience food, you are paying for just that… the convenience. But the food itself is often lacking in any nutritional value and can’t compete with the taste of a lovely, home-cooked meal.

Eat Well On A Budget – Quick Recipes

With each passing year, I get slightly better at this. We’ve all come home from work tired and unwilling to spend loads of time in the kitchen. That is understandable and nothing to be embarrassed about. The occasional takeaway is ok, but you need to combat the desire not to cook. An emergency ready meal in the freezer is ok too.

Come up with a few recipes for nutritious dishes that can be made in under 30 minutes and you’ll improve both your health and your finances. If you have some staple dishes that can be done in under half an hour, you’ll keep cooking even when tired. Option i use are a variety of pasta dishes (especially carbonara, with just 5 ingredients), home-made healthy pizzas, and jacket potatoes if you’re in no rush to eat.

Buy Cheaper Meat

Let’s be honest, we’d all like to eat the finest steaks, the freshest vegetables, the prime cuts. But life doesn’t allow most of us such luxuries. No need to worry though, as many cheap cuts of meat are often the tastiest. Think of chicken thighs or flatiron steaks. and don’t think meat is off the menu just because you’re sticking to a budget. Instead, go for cuts of meat that are just as delicious but a lot kinder on the purse strings.

No Waste

A crucial consideration, for the planet and your bank balance, This ties back to planning your food shop. Always when shopping check the eat by dates on items, and pick the latest one. If you have food at home about to go out of date, freeze it or make a batch of something and then freeze it. Even herbs and chillies can be frozen, for example in ice cube trays.

 

 

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