Food is a huge factor in our happiness and health — and our budget. Here’s how one woman lowered her grocery bill and lost extra weight through meal prepping. And for more tips on eating well on a budget, head here:
Making it work is brought to you by wealth simple which gives everyone access to simple affordable investing on curse control i’ve always struggled with my weight i was never a particularly athletic child and an unlimited meal plan in college made it difficult not to snack or treat myself constantly but since moving across the country from my first full-time job
I’ve lost 20 pounds in nine months without going on an extreme diet or weight loss journey i simply made sustainable life choices that i’ve been able to maintain using meal prep has been a large component of that here’s how i got started number one i create a realistic meal prep grocery list when i meal prep i spend the vast majority of my time curating my recipe
Plan and grocery list when i put time and effort into my list double-checking that i’m not repurchasing ingredients that i already have at home i not only managed to save money and prevent food waste but i also mentally compel myself to stick to the list i’ve created i don’t know about you but i’m the type of person who after spending time and energy on something
Doesn’t like to see it go to waste and i’d be wasting my grocery list if i made impulse buys in the grocery store instead of sticking to it my grocery lists are very detailed i list how many cans of coconut milk or black beans i need to buy for instance or a list that i want to find a granola bar with only 5 to 8 grams of sugar as such i give myself permission to
Shop around for different brands of food i don’t force myself to purchase the same snacks every week but i have limits on those items so that i don’t wind up with a bag of chips instead number two i practice grocery store discipline i found that by managing to maintain discipline for one hour in the grocery store always shop on a full stomach i’ve avoided impulse
Buys that i then guilt myself into eating simply because i spent money on them moreover i simply crave the food in my kitchen if i have chips and chocolate i’ll crave it if i have peanut butter and apples i’ll crave that instead but here’s the what does meal prep cost in general about once or twice as needed a month i purchased these grocery staples one large
Bag of quinoa almond milk two boxes of steel-cut oats two jars of peanut butter one bag of chia seeds one to two cartons of eggs one loaf of bread one to two boxes of granola bars one bag of my fruit of choice one bag of frozen berries one bag of nuts i make sure to buy staples that can be used in multiple types of recipes including overnight oats curries burrito
Bowls and salads these staples cost me around 55 to 60 dollars a month and i spend an additional twenty to thirty dollars on rotating ingredients for my lunch every week so that’s roughly 150 to 200 dollars on groceries a month i found that by sticking diligently to a pre curated grocery list i managed to save roughly $10 a week at the grocery store on impulse or
Mood buys that i would have otherwise grabbed while that doesn’t seem like a lot of money it quickly adds up to roughly $40 a month or nearly $500 a year plus opening your kitchen cabinets to see healthy food options basically forces you to eat that food and not waste it especially if you’re a budget shopper like i am meal prepping is simple you just plan ahead
Another benefit i found to meal prepping is that it prevents me from indulging in burgers and other processed foods during my breakfast and lunch hours at work my office doesn’t offer any snacks and our cafeteria is fairly unhealthy by meal prepping i eat a nutritious home-cooked meal where i control the portions and the ingredients if i wasn’t using meal prep i’d
Easily be spending $75 a week or likely more on buying breakfast lunch and snacks during the day additionally mindfulness goes into every step of the meal prep process i enjoy researching healthy recipes and adding my own unique twist to them mainly just adding chili powder to recipes that don’t require it because i love spice and i feel a sense of accomplishment
When i’ve curated a grocery list that i know i’ll stick to plus the act of cooking which always seemed like such a waste of time to me when i could just grab takeout has become a meditative enjoyable task over time i’ve become a mindful leader taking the time to savor the food that took me time and energy to prepare rather than chowing down food that i have no
True appreciation for challenge try to prep your meals for just one week for me the results of meal prepping were a gradual but the gains were immediate i had more energy during the day when i ate healthier foods i had more money in the bank when i stuck to my grocery list and i felt happier because i was healthier i’ve always felt bloated and sleepy after eating
Lots of junk food and on a daily basis that simply isn’t sustainable for me by finally taking control over what i ate and how much of it i ate i was able to make lasting changes meal prepping is not for everyone but if you’re struggling with your grocery bill your impulse purchases or snacking or even just want a foolproof method to force yourself to eat healthy
Food even in the middle of the work week when things get stressful i recommend giving it a try i would say don’t start with the intention of losing weight but rather with the goal of making a sustainable doable lifestyle change that will help you reach your other goals not just for a weekend at the beach but for the rest of your life whatever your goals are financial
Or otherwise the key is finding habits you can realistically stick to growing your money should be as accessible as possible and well simple makes it easier than ever to get started investing no matter how good with money you may be wealth simple is online investing that’s as simple and human as it gets in just five minutes they’ll build you a custom portfolio to
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Transcribed from video
My $50 Weekly Meal Prep Plan That Helped Me Lose 20 Pounds By The Financial Diet