If you are looking to create a great diet for your family, it is possible on a budget. You don’t need to think that your food budget needs to consume more than a small fraction of your monthly budget. Healthy cooking on a budget is possible and your waist and health will improve.

You need to work out the budget that you are currently spending on your food each week and month. It is possible to reduce this with planning and skill. It is not about going without, getting a balanced and healthy diet is important. But so too is doing this when you restrict the amount of money that you have available for the food that you buy each week.

Planning your meals

It is important that you are able to plan your meals, this reduces the waste that is often associated with leftovers that aren’t eaten, and too much perishable food purchased.

If you have a limited budget, it does mean that you have a limited amount of food that you can purchase and making that money go further is vital. Where you shop plays an important role in getting the right food for your family at the right price.

Some of the supermarkets have increased the prices of food and yet this seldom gets passed back to the farmers that produce the food. Knowing the deals offered in shops and supermarkets that are close to you, is important. But if you are on a really tight budget then timing your shopping trips to when the price of items is reduced can make your budget stretch even further.

Knowing what to buy when items are reduced is important too, buying a basket full of doughnuts just because they are low in prices isn’t going to make your diet healthy. It is possible to freeze items like bread and this reduces the cost of the product. But, also fruit and vegetables are often reduced. This is great; if you know which vegetables and fruits are suitable for freezing, it can mean that you can pick up items at a great price.  If bags of vegetables are on offer, why not use them to make home-made soup? You can freeze soup; a large pan of soup can make more than one meal, even for a family.

It is safe to freeze milk and if it is on offer it is a great way to save money, for me this is when I make large batches of rice pudding; this is suitable once cooled to freeze.

Healthy cooking from scratch

It is often cheaper to make food from scratch; this is full of the goodness and not full of the preservatives found in processed foods. Processed foods are often high in salt and sugar and both of these are not good for your health in large quantities.

Learning to cook healthy meals will allow you to understand the ingredients that you are using and this will ensure that you are not filling your diet with refined and processed food.

Therefore, by understanding the money that you have available to spend on food is the main starting point. Making this money stretch can sometimes be a challenge but it is one that is fun and knowing your pocket and health is benefiting is one that I personally enjoy.