As a mom of 5 who must eat good quality food for my own health, I’ve been developing and practicing money and time savings tips and tricks for years.
Here are 10 of my favourite tips:
Read through and choose one or two new money-saving strategies that fit into your life now.
- PLAN, PLAN AND PLAN
And stick to that plan. Decide what you’re going to eat for the next 4 or 5 dinners.
- When you’re planning what you’ll be eating for the next several days, try and plan to use some ingredients in several recipes: Like rice, herbs, maybe a protein (see batch cooking below) to make sure you use it all up.
- Make breakfast simple by baking a dozen muffins and freezing them, whip up some pancake mix and store it in the fridge or make a few batches of overnight oats recipe HERE
- I’ve been meal planning for YEARS and love it. I sometimes forget what we’ll be eating for dinner one night and check my list – it’s like having an assistant. 🙂
- Batch cooking is a time saver and a money saver. Purchase larger quantities of items when they’re on sale. Cook them up to have on hand for another meal that week or freeze for some time in the future. Nothing quite like having a soup or stew in the freezer on a busy day!
- Shopping only once or twice a week is key to saving money. Avoid popping over to the store for that one ‘missed’ ingredient. If you’re stuck – try Googling what can be used to replace that one ingredient.
- Shop in bulk when it’s appropriate
- Once a month I go to Costco and stock up on paper products and staples. Costco sometimes carries some really healthy foods, but they are in large quantities, so you need to be organized and plan.
- If you end up with what appears to be random ingredients in the fridge or pantry… – GOOGLE THEM! Just type in “carrots, flour, nuts, rice, recipe” – you’ll be shocked at the interesting recipes that pop up… This also helps you avoid extra trips to the grocery store.
- Incorporate more vegetarian recipes. Fruits and veggies are expensive but meat, fish and poultry are exorbitant. Cook up a starch (rice/quinoa/potato) and combine with some vegetables and beans to make a delicious and more affordable meal, and…
Don’t forget the herbs! Herbs, either fresh or dried are nature’s medicine – super nutritious and delicious!
- Collect points and check flyers where-ever you shop – plan your meals according to what’s on sale that week.
- Here’s another example of a time saving/money saving tip – buy a roasted chicken and make 3 meals with it.
Night #1 – Chicken dinner with one pan roasted veggies (make lots)
Night #2 – Fried rice with chicken and chopped roasted veggies
Night #3 – Chicken soup – add some noodles and yes, leftover roasted veggies… – RECIPE
- Don’t shop hungry – I’m sure you’ve heard this one – but super important, especially when you’re trying to avoid buying processed snack foods.
- Finally, get in the kitchen… I know not everyone wants to learn how to cook, but if you can make food from scratch at home then chances are it’ll be way healthier than what you’d be eating at most restaurants, plus you’ll save a bundle of dough! I suggest to many of my clients to try one new recipe every week or two – just think after one year you’d have a whole repertoire of recipes to choose from. Google “healthy simply recipes” or “one-pan recipes, check out my website or ask a friend for a recipe or two.