Planning things in advance & making all efforts to stick to my plans has always been me. I totally love this activity as it makes me more confident with my work & time. Food & Money is no exception and since food management is my assignment under my roof, I extend my planning technique towards meal planning & food budgets.
Actually its been a year since I landed in Oman and took over the reins of Home management. I started badly and was quite sloppy with budget spending on various stuff. I ended up with heavy bills as I had an unplanned startegy.
Gradually I learnt the way out of experience about deciding on what actually is required & in what quantities and how to purchase healthy stuff within a planned & a reasonable budget. I studied the various brands available and what can suit us best. I took some time to streamline this whole planned food & budgeting task. Now I am glad to state that my groceries are purchased well within the budget allocated to it with little wastage but including all needed for a perfect & whole meal and that is the reason I decided to share this with you all.
HOW I DID IT?
Organising meal plans & grocery lists helps me to keep track at the stores and I get what I need as opposed to a bunch of stuff I don’t. I make a weekly menu and shop from my list every fortnight.I do the occasional impulse buy, but I try to plan ahead. With interests & appetites that seem to grow faster than our food budget, I’ve had to develop a few strategies that save me not only money, but time as well. And who doesn’t need more of both?!
So here a few great tips to make the food budget stretch and get a bang for your buck.
1. Plan – I know its not always easy, but heading to the store with a weekly plan saves time and money. By limiting my trips to the store, I’m preventing that extra spending that seems to always push me over budget. When I plan perfectly, I know that I dont have to visit the store more than 2-3 times a month.
2. Healthy but relatively low cost diet - The cheapest and best sources of nutrients in the grocery store are undoubtedly the veggies, eggs & other low fat diary products and they’re certainly not just limited for breakfast. They certainly are very affordable and there are so many things you can do with them.They are usually high-energy-yielding food products and a rich source of protiens.They supply all essential amino acids for humans,and provide several vitamins and minerals essential for body building.
3. Veggie days – Meat and produce are the two big budget busters. A simple alternative is to serve more vegetarian dishes for atleast 3 days a week. Going meatless for a couple of days in a week is surely the healthiest way to stretch your buck.The best way is to save the weekend for special & favourite foods that can include meat/fish & grilled foods. Cabbage, leafy veggies, cucumbers(zucchini),carrots are rich in nutrients & fibre, so I love investing on them.
Example: Fix a seperate menu for weekdays & weekends. Save most of your salads for the weekdays recipe as they are easy to make & this helps you maintain a light & healthy diet.
4. Justice to the Leftovers - Leftovers are a pain as they take up space in your refrigerator and dont really appeal to you the next day.Find ways to take leftovers and repurpose them into a new dish that nobody but you will know is really leftover. I love using up everything in the fridge whenever possible. Becoming more devious in the kitchen in order to utilise them is fantastic. This also reduces wastage and proves that you can do enough justice for what you spend/earn.
One good example can be to convert a leftover gravy into a spicy sauce that can be used in your pastas or for other gravies.
5. Advanced Menu ideas - Listing down on a piece of paper/making mental notes on what to cook in the next few days and what recipes can be tried at your leisure is one of the super ways to list down all the ingredients that you can purchase in your monthly grocery list. This will help you grab them from your shelf whenever you intend to make something instead of rushing to the store and buying them in a hurry or without planning.
Also it helps you to avoid missing out on some stuff which forms an essential part of your meal.
Example : You can buy a couple of condensed milk/dreamwhip packs & save them on your pantry so that you can tackle your unplanned urges for something you wish. This startegy works best for dry/canned items only.
6. Deliciuos meals at a low prices - You may be wondering how you can lay a grand table everyday when you spend low. Purchasing low priced ingredients which can be brought together for a great dish(but keep it healthy) is one of the best ways.
Example : Using Wheat Pasta/Noodles, Semolina are a great way to make a warm & comforting meal for your family, using low fat cheese/milk/cream will double your intake of nutrients & are worth the buys, herbs & leaves with some veggies can make a great salad, frozen corn/peas etc can save up in your fridge for many days, whole wheat breads formed into healthy sandwiches/used in desserts are comfort foods as well as money savers, consuming fresh fruit juices instead of spending on readymade juices - many options are available & you simply can’t beat them as they are tasty & filling also.
Actually its been a year since I landed in Oman and took over the reins of Home management. I started badly and was quite sloppy with budget spending on various stuff. I ended up with heavy bills as I had an unplanned startegy.
Gradually I learnt the way out of experience about deciding on what actually is required & in what quantities and how to purchase healthy stuff within a planned & a reasonable budget. I studied the various brands available and what can suit us best. I took some time to streamline this whole planned food & budgeting task. Now I am glad to state that my groceries are purchased well within the budget allocated to it with little wastage but including all needed for a perfect & whole meal and that is the reason I decided to share this with you all.
HOW I DID IT?
Organising meal plans & grocery lists helps me to keep track at the stores and I get what I need as opposed to a bunch of stuff I don’t. I make a weekly menu and shop from my list every fortnight.I do the occasional impulse buy, but I try to plan ahead. With interests & appetites that seem to grow faster than our food budget, I’ve had to develop a few strategies that save me not only money, but time as well. And who doesn’t need more of both?!
So here a few great tips to make the food budget stretch and get a bang for your buck.
1. Plan – I know its not always easy, but heading to the store with a weekly plan saves time and money. By limiting my trips to the store, I’m preventing that extra spending that seems to always push me over budget. When I plan perfectly, I know that I dont have to visit the store more than 2-3 times a month.
2. Healthy but relatively low cost diet - The cheapest and best sources of nutrients in the grocery store are undoubtedly the veggies, eggs & other low fat diary products and they’re certainly not just limited for breakfast. They certainly are very affordable and there are so many things you can do with them.They are usually high-energy-yielding food products and a rich source of protiens.They supply all essential amino acids for humans,and provide several vitamins and minerals essential for body building.
Example: Fix a seperate menu for weekdays & weekends. Save most of your salads for the weekdays recipe as they are easy to make & this helps you maintain a light & healthy diet.
One good example can be to convert a leftover gravy into a spicy sauce that can be used in your pastas or for other gravies.
5. Advanced Menu ideas - Listing down on a piece of paper/making mental notes on what to cook in the next few days and what recipes can be tried at your leisure is one of the super ways to list down all the ingredients that you can purchase in your monthly grocery list. This will help you grab them from your shelf whenever you intend to make something instead of rushing to the store and buying them in a hurry or without planning.
Also it helps you to avoid missing out on some stuff which forms an essential part of your meal.
Example : You can buy a couple of condensed milk/dreamwhip packs & save them on your pantry so that you can tackle your unplanned urges for something you wish. This startegy works best for dry/canned items only.
6. Deliciuos meals at a low prices - You may be wondering how you can lay a grand table everyday when you spend low. Purchasing low priced ingredients which can be brought together for a great dish(but keep it healthy) is one of the best ways.
Example : Using Wheat Pasta/Noodles, Semolina are a great way to make a warm & comforting meal for your family, using low fat cheese/milk/cream will double your intake of nutrients & are worth the buys, herbs & leaves with some veggies can make a great salad, frozen corn/peas etc can save up in your fridge for many days, whole wheat breads formed into healthy sandwiches/used in desserts are comfort foods as well as money savers, consuming fresh fruit juices instead of spending on readymade juices - many options are available & you simply can’t beat them as they are tasty & filling also.
Try adopting them and you will surely realise that there is no looking back.