5 Ways You Can Make a Healthy Meal Plan While on a Budget
The pandemic lead to a big spike in online shopping, including groceries. In addition, meal prep companies also saw increases in their sales amidst stay-at-home orders and remote school and work.
Delivery services like GrubHub and Postmates also saw business increase, but these services deliver a lot of fast food, which also led to some people adding a few pounds during quarantine. As places open back up, marrying the convenience of food accessibility and the importance of healthy foods is quite doable… even on a budget!
Weekly meal planning is a great way to keep costs down and also to ensure you’re getting enough nutrition from all of the different food groups.
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Here 5 Five Tips for Healthy, Affordable Meal Planning.
Pick a Day and Make it Fun
Adding meal planning to your weekly routine is easier said than done, and does, indeed, take up a few hours of your time. Choosing a day to reward yourself after meal prepping is an excellent way to get into a routine. For instance, right now is football season, so Monday night meal prep and football could become a thing!
As you get better at your meal planning trade, you’ll learn how to cut corners and make the prep time shorter and shorter. Utilizing grocery delivery is an excellent way to do this, as well, but there’s also something nice about picking out your produce for many people.
Read: Health Benefits of Protein Diet
Scan the Cupboards
When planning out your meals for the week, take a look at what you have leftover. The best way to stick to a grocery budget is to use things you’ve already purchased. There are a lot of healthy foods that can be substituted for one another, and if you have some at home, time and money are saved!
You can also plan to help you by buying items you enjoy cooking within the bulk. It takes time and trial-and-error to determine what quantities will fit your routine efficiently, but make a running list of things you use (and run out of) frequently.
