How to eat healthily on a budget

I don’t know about you, but I am shocked at how much grocery prices have gone up lately. I’m sure I’m not the only one wanting to reduce food costs so I thought I’d put together a little guide to eating healthily on a budget.

Unfortunately, we live in a time where it can be cheaper to go and pick up a few Dominos pizzas than cook a nutritious meal at home but most of us know that eating too much cheap, fast food will cost us in other ways - mainly our health, but also often our kids’ behaviour!

Here are some tips to help you save money without compromising on health:

🍎🥦 Eat seasonally and shop at farmer's markets

Buying fruit and vegetables in season means that the produce is cheaper and usually much fresher, especially if you go to farmer's markets.

Fruit and vegetables in season in Spring include apples, avocados, bananas, cherries, grapefruits, honeydew, lemon, lime, lychees, mandarins, mangoes, oranges, pineapples, rhubarb, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, artichoke, Asian greens, asparagus, beans, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, corn, eggplant, leek, lettuce, mushrooms, onion, parsnip, peas, potato, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potato, tomato, zucchini.

🗓 Start meal planning

Meal planning was a game-changer for me. It takes about 30 minutes to decide on the meals and write a shopping list, but it makes grocery shopping more efficient and reduces food waste as you only buy what you need. Another tip is to do an audit of the fridge and freezer before doing your meal planning so that you avoid buying ingredients that you already have.

Don't forget I have a free meal plan download available if you sign up to my monthly newsletter! https://www.nourishtothrive.com.au/newsletter

🥩 Buy cheaper cuts of meat and slow-cook them or use them in casseroles

Cooking with meat can be very expensive, especially if you have a large family. I recommend buying cheaper cuts such as chuck, blade, topside, brisket or gravy beef and lamb shanks or shoulder cuts. These meats can be used to make delicious slow-cooked meals, casseroles and stews.

🧀 Avoid single-serve packaged lunchbox snacks

 - Buy a block of cheese and cut your own slices to put in a container with crackers, instead of buying expensive single-serve packaged options. A four pack of Munchables costs $6.50 and each pack only contains 3 crackers and 3 slices of cheese. That’s a lot of money for 12 crackers and 12 very small squares of cheese!

 - Buy a large bag of popcorn and share it out into small containers. A large bag of Cobs Sea Salt popcorn costs $3 ($3.75 per 100g) but a bag of 5 individual packs (containing a lot less popcorn) costs $3.50 ($5.38 per 100g).

 - Swap individual yoghurt pouches for a large tub shared out into small leakproof containers.

🥘 Reduce the quantity of meat in meals and add in extra vegetables or lentils instead

This works well for things like spaghetti bolognese, taco mince and stir fries.

If you have fussy eaters, you’ll need to be a bit sneaky with this and increase the vegetable content slowly. My clients generally have more success if they add grated or very finely chopped vegetables as these are harder to detect.

🍳 Cook at least one egg-based or meat-free meal every week

Quiches, omelettes and frittatas are all nutritious, economical options and beans and lentils are cheap alternatives to meat in Mexican-style dishes.

🍲 Do batch cooking

Batch cooking saves money as you only buy the ingredients once for multiple meals. You are also less likely to turn to expensive takeaway options if you have ready-made meals available for those nights when you don't have time to cook.

I always cook a double batch when I make bolognese or curry as these meals freeze really well.

🌯 Use leftovers for lunches and other meals, e.g. leftover bolognese sauce to use in burritos

🐟 Use tinned salmon instead of fresh in meals like salmon patties, pasta bakes, quiches and pies

Tinned salmon is cheaper than fresh salmon and is generally wild-caught. Wild-caught salmon is thought to contain lower levels of contaminants and antibiotics than farmed fresh salmon (note: all fresh salmon in Australia is farmed)

❌ Don’t take your kids with you when you go grocery shopping!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who ends up buying many things that aren't on the list when any of my kids join me at the supermarket… 😉