I decided it was time to go back to the roots of my blog, eating healthy on a tight budget. I began this journey in 2012. In 2012, our family felt the increase in food prices and I am not sure it has changed much. I will say, with technology, there are some ways you can simplify making sure you are getting the best deals on groceries. With a little planning and the desire to cook, you can eat healthy and not break the bank doing it! Let's do a review and look at grocery adds, couponing and perhaps more improtantly, meal planning. Statistics tell us that we throw away huge amounts of food due to not using the food before it goes bad, so we are also going to look at creative ways to use leftovers. Let's get started!
Grocery adds, this can be overwhelming! This is where you may want to look at technology. There are a few apps for Smart Phones that are helpful. Here are a few that I am aware of: RETALE is an app that will conect you with local adds. I found it interesting that when I downloaded this app and opened it for the first time, at the top of the list was adds for local rent to own places. The moral of this, you have to keep scrolling! Rent to own stores include a huge interest rate on items and you end up paying twice as much for home furnishings an electronics. This app is great if you just open it up for the grocery adds and then plan. Various stores have apps of there own. Target has Cartwheel along with signing up for special text messaging. Again, you will want to be sure to plan first, opening it up at the store is sometimes difficult. It does have a scan mechanism that allows you to scan the product to see if it is discounted or if something similar is discounted. It has been my experience that I need to take a look at the discounts on the app before I go to the store, it saves me time and avoids me purchasing items that I do not need. My best recommendation is that if you shop at a national retailer, you may want to go to your app store and see if there are any apps specific to that store. Typically, if you shop at a store, specials rotate. For an example, my local store that I frequent will have meat on sale one week and it will then it will go on sale again in 4 to 6 weeks. That being said, what I tend to do is look at the store add, check my stock of items that are on sale and if I find I am low on certain things such as frozen vegetables, they go on my list. Oh the list, I have a terrible time finding the notorious list when I need it! There are apps for this too! I use one called "Out of Milk" it can create more than one list, this is nice as I can make a list for a specific store to be sure I don't miss a special. Also, it has a handy to do list feature. Also, it does have local adds built into it. If you find a product that you need, it will add it to your list.
Couponing is another area that you can save money. This is successful if you are a planner and live in an area that you have access to big stores that may offer store coupons, double and triple coupon options. I like to stress though, be sure to check store brands as sometimes they are less expensive even if you are using a coupon for the national brand. Coupons for items you would not typically buy can cost you more money at the store. You have to really use your common sense and not allow the magical new product to catch your eye and you must try! I do think it is good to try new things, but remember to do it minimally so that it does not end up costing you a lot of money. Don't forget to compare unit pricing. This is very important to slow down and get into the practice of comparing unit prices so you are getting the best buy. Check out this video on unit pricing.
Meal Planning is vital piece to all of this. I am going to combine this area with using leftovers as you can successfully achieve this with a little planning. I saved this step after the grocery adds and couponing because I develop my meal planning around sales as well as knowing what I have on hand in my freezer and in my pantry. The first thing you need for successful planning is a visual of Choose MyPlate. It is important to be sure you fit in all of the food groups into your daily diet.
The smallest portion on your plate is protein. Now there is good news! Meat is the most expensive thing in your grocery basket. You only need 5 1/2 ounces daily of protein. A serving size is 3 ounces. One example I use in my kitchen, when I am making a mexican dish, I use refried beans and hamburger for an example in enchilladas. I use 1/2 as much hamburger when I also include beans. I am still giving everyone 3 ounces of protein, but I am spending less money on the dish. Next up is dairy, adults need 3 cups of low-fat, non-fat dairy and kids until they are 9 years old need 2 cups of low-fat, non-fat milk (toddlers age 1-2 need whole milk, the extra fat content is necessary for good development of brain). Grains, ahh the grain group! 6 ounces daily and half of your grains need to be whole. Whole? How do I know if a grain is whole? You will need to check the label. Check out this helpful tip sheet on whole grains,
Fruit, the recommendation is 2 cups of fruit per day. A medium apple, medium banana and a medium orange are exampels of what would be considered a cup of fruit. It is important to note that 100% fruit juice is high in natural sugar, so this should be kept to 6 to 8 ounces only daily. While it has vitamins and minerals, it has sugar which can cause dental health problems. Finally, vegetables and we need 2 1/2 cups daily. The key to fruits and vegetables is that you vary the colors that you have so that you insure a variety of vitamins and minerals in your diet. That is a lot to process, I know! Now that you know what you need on your plate, you can begin to plan.
The first step is to know what you already have in stock. I then make a list (currently, this is an on-going list that I add to) of items I am lacking. For an example, if I look at my freezer and I only have a pound of hamburger (this is a typical item I use for meals) I put this on my list. I do this for all of the food groups. I then look at the adds in my local area and begin to see what items are on sale and where. Next up is shopping. I follow the usual hints, things like only go to the store once a week or even once every two weeks, go on a full stomach and I do find it best to shop by myself. If I do shop with my family, I keep them busy comparing prices and I stress that we have to stick with what is on the list.
Finally, a word about leftovers, if you are planning to have a baked chicken on Sunday, then have a plan for Monday. This is a great time to reduce your food prep on Monday. I like to take the rest of the chicken off the bone, and put together a slow cook meal or a one pot 30 minute meal. Tune in for future blogs on this topic!
If you are successful at planning and remember the improtant food groups to include in your daily diet, you will save money at the store and you will enjoy a healthy lifestyle! Don't forget to treat yourself to at least 30 minutes of exercise, and you will be a Rock Star!
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