Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #28: Feed Your Family Healthy Food and Save Money

Today’s tip for weight loss on a budget: Tip #28: Feed Your Family Healthy Food and Save Money. One of the main issues I hear from mothers is that they have to be able to feed their whole families while changing to healthier eating habits.  Many people think that eating quality food has to be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be if you are strategic and do your research about deals, sales and pricing.

Here are my tips:

• Focus on Healthy Staples in Bulk: Whole wheat pasta, healthy low-sugar cereal, oatmeal, beans, whole grain rice, chicken breast and yogurt.  These are just some of the foods that you can buy in bulk.  Focus on things that you know your family eats a lot of that will not spoil quickly and can be stored in bulk.
• Create Family Staple Foods: Think about what cheap things you can use as the base for meals.  Example: Canned tuna, beans, rice, sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, lean pork, ground turkey.  You want to look for cheap, healthy ingredients that have a lot of versatility and can be used in a variety of ways in terms of the recipes you make for your family.
• Sacrifice Variety for Health and Cost: Create a set of 10-15 dinner meals that you know your family will eat (meals your kids will eat, especially) and cook those meals regularly.  Make this list the basis of most of your dinners. Prepare a new or different healthy meal selection, that’s not on the list, at least 4 times a month.  This will help you to control cost, save time and know exactly what nutrition your family is getting.  You can do the same with other meals, like breakfast.
• Don’t Buy Junk Food – NO brainer.  Junk food that is full of empty calories and has little nutritional value is not worth the money or inches on your waistline.  In addition, your kids need quality food for their health and development.
• Freeze Leftovers –  Leftover meals and portions should be saved for later.  If you think that you may not get to the food for a few days, freeze it to avoid spoilage.
• Make a Grocery List and Stick to IT – When you are shopping with kids, you can end up with a lot of unplanned items in your cart.  If you go to the grocery store while you are hungry or craving junk, you could also end up with some unplanned items.  A shopping list can help serve as a reminder of what you committed to buying and of what you have allotted in your budget for groceries.  It’s not a guarantee, but it’s better than not having a plan.