You may have loads of Pinterest meals saved and Instagram inspiration for how to eat healthily, but doing so on a budget is a whole new challenge. However, it’s not as difficult as you expect!
Here are a few tips for eating healthy on a budget. Alongside the obvious physical health benefits, this can also be great for your mental wellbeing.
Shop Cheap
Firstly, try to shop cheaply.
You might be used to your home shop consisting of supermarket luxuries but now you’re looking to budget, these aren’t the places to go. Try to shop in the cheaper places and find cheaper alternatives to the expensive stuff. The food will be absolutely fine, and it will make your shop a lot more budget-friendly overall.
Plan Ahead
Try to plan your weekly meals. Write them all down and do your weekly shop based on these meals. This will mean that you only go and buy food that you need, and less will go to waste.
Prepare Meals
Once you know what you’re eating, and you’ve done your food shop, you can start preparing meals. Make yourself dinner one evening and save the rest for tomorrow’s lunch.
Try to buy enough to cook a normal amount so that you have the option to meal prep for the week. It’s not always easy to cook for just one person, so this is usually a good way of doing it to avoid waste.
Check out BBC Good Food for some simple and easy recipes to try.
Related: How To Incorporate Vitamin D Into Your Diet?
Eat Leftovers
Don’t throw away leftovers! You can either have it for lunch or put it with something different to have it the following night.
If you’ve had pasta one night then have it again the next night but add some meat or a different vegetable to mix it up. It doesn’t need to go in the bin.
Buy Frozen Food
Buying for one person isn’t always easy. Many foods are sold in larger packs, and you want to avoid waste at all costs.
That’s why buying frozen is a good idea. You can buy a pack of chicken or sausages and freeze them to defrost when they fit into your meal plan.
You can also do this with fruit. It’s sometimes hard to add fruit to your diet as it can go off so easily. But try slicing it up and freezing it ready to pop into a smoothie or cereal. Frozen berries are great for this!
Buy Versatile Food For Meals
This means buying food that can go into multiple meals. Foods that are versatile. You can use potatoes for many means and sweet potato is often a great alternative to switch them up!
Bell peppers are also great for this as you can have them in foods like fajitas but also in totally different meals like stir fry.
Cook With Friends
And if you live in a house of people that eat similar foods then you could do your food shop together every week! Plan your weekly meals together and spend time cooking together during the week. This is a nice way to bond with your uni mates while also keeping healthy and getting all of your nutrients in on a budget.
So try these tips to eat healthy on a budget.
It’s definitely possible, give it a go!
Related: Should You Do A Juice Cleanse?
