Hello friends!
A few key ways to maintain the health of your waistline and your wallet is to meal plan! I love the ol' saying, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." For me, this is absolutely true. If I do not create a meal plan, I usually end up starving, not knowing what I have to make, and ultimately go for something cheap and easy. By cheap, I mean less than $20 and by easy, I mean me not having to cook it. Now, this behavior results in me consuming a larger portion size than normal and eating too many unknown ingredients. Also, for the same amount of money I could have purchased so much more food. OR, hello! paid off some of my student loan debt. I hope you get the point that I'm making. It takes just as much time and effort to plan and succeed as it does to not plan and fail. But guess what, the results of the former are MUCH better!
How to start meal planning--
What I'm about to say is going to be contrary to some of your initial health goals. Get over it :) My number one place to start when I'm meal planning is in my refrigerator and pantry. I get a pen and paper and make an inventory of all of the items I have, highlighting or numbering what items need to be used first. This can go against your health goals because you may have unhealthy items in your pantry, initially (that's okay, you didn't know me then :) ). Why do I start here? Because I already purchased these items! I personally think it is irresponsible to spend more money than I have to on food when 1. I have debt left 2. there are people that could be blessed by my money, so why foolishly spend it?
When you have your inventory list prepared, I then take out another piece of notebook paper (I'm obsessed with notebooks! lol) and jot down meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 7 days. When this meal plan is made, I then go over my list and write a grocery list for the necessary odds and ends to complete the meals. I usually will need some fresh vegetables, herbs, and some additional staple items like eggs and milk. I hang my meal plan and inventory on the fridge and as I use an item and/or make a meal, I cross off those items. This is a great way for me to stay organized and then I use the list to "float' into the following week. I still have 2 cans of condensed mushroom soup that I haven't crossed off for the past 3 months! ...no clue why I purchased them, but I WILL use them or eventually donate them. The goal here is to utilize all of your food and minimize your energy. I'm busy, you are busy, and time and money matter. When I go to the store, I ONLY buy what is on my list. If I plan ahead and want to add some "fun" food like greek yogurt, I budget accordingly.
Other advice-- shop the exterior of the supermarket, become friends with your local farmer, plant tomatoes and other easily grown items. We do not have a lawn but have very healthy tomato and basil plants growing on our porch! We have an ample supply of organic, heirloom tomatoes and basil that cost us a total of $4.
Friends, my goal is to help you achieve your goals. In my heart, I believe that God wants us and created us to be healthy and financially prudent. You may not agree, you may be financially independent, or you may already be at your perfect weight. For me, meal planning has really helped us work towards our financial and physical goals. We are not perfect, we make mistakes (oreos do end up in the basket from time to time). But! We went from spending nearly $450 a month for 2 people to $200 (give or take $20 either way). Having an extra $250 a month is huge!! We are able to put that money towards our debt and, eventually, will use that towards our goals of travel and savings. As a side effect, we have also lost an accumulated 48 lbs (so far). Because guess what, when you stop buying TOO much and TOO much junk, you stop eating it! SO, it does take some work and diligence to start meal planning, but I'm essentially paying myself $250 a month to do so--that's a no brainer, so worth it!
Come on back to check out my weekly meal plans and recipes! Would love to hear what you and your family do to be successful in this area! Also, this meal planning idea originally was introduced to us at an event hosted by Dani Johnson--see side bar for more information. Xoxo
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