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Besides housing, eating out is one of the biggest line items we see in a client’s budget. From fast food to fine dining, eating out can quickly add up and prevent you from meeting your savings goals on time. While we can’t stop eating, planning ahead and having meals at home is the quickest way to cut back on your eating out/ordering in spend.
We’ve collected four tips to help ease the pain of meal planning without sacrificing flavor:
Freeze food before it goes bad
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Pizza dough, sauces, shredded cheese, and processed meats like pepperoni do well in the freezer. Have these handy for an at-home pizza night with friends and family instead of going out when the budget is running tight.
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Bread products like English muffins, bagels, sandwich bread, burger buns, and hot dog buns do exceptionally well in the freezer.
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Fresh fruit can be washed, peeled if necessary, and cut before freezing for quick use when you need it.
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Cooked grains such as rice, quinoa, and couscous can be cooked in bulk and frozen in meal-sized portions for a quick and easy side; this way you just have to add protein.
Build confidence in the kitchen
Enrolling in a meal delivery service with a recipe to follow can help cut back on wasted food and increase your confidence in the kitchen. Most meal prep delivery services offer introductory pricing and can be set to as low as one – two meals per week. You may also be able to customize the meals to vegetarian, low carbs, or hearty meals.
Here are a few of our favorite companies:
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HelloFresh: A FinGym Trainer favorite! HelloFresh is easy to use, especially for those beginning to learn in the kitchen. The portions are generous enough so there are leftovers the next day too.
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Purple Carrot: Are you vegan or vegetarian or trying for a plant based lifestyle? Then this is the meal kit for you. No meat or animal byproducts are included in any of the recipes. Food that is good for your health AND reduces your carbon footprint? Count us in!
Meal plan around seasons and grocery store deals
We’re not talking about extreme couponing here, but if you meal plan around seasonal fruits and vegetables, you can cut back on the listed price of the grocery bill. Search for seasonal fruit and vegetable charts like this one to know which produce is generally more likely to be available at a lower price.
Sign up for grocery store membership! Many grocery stores have membership deals when you download their apps. Pick store brand items instead of big name brand items because they generally carry the most points. Receive extra bonus points if you scan your receipt on Fetch after shopping at a grocery store for points that can be redeemed for gift cards.
If you must eat out, consciously save and consume leftovers
Sometimes you just want to go out for dinner and set money aside to do this within the budget. One of our trainers shared that they order the bigger portion meals and split the meal in three to eat one portion at dinner and take the rest home for two other meals! We think that’s a great hack. Most restaurants justify a higher price with bigger meal portions. Instead of forcing yourself to eat the full meal, split the meal before you even start eating, if possible. When you start to feel full, take the rest home. Then, set a reminder to yourself to eat the rest within two days! Some meals can even become a side the next day.
