This is very much a daily passion for me. Healthy food relationships should never break the bank and its is achievable. When hitting the urban jungle, make the most of your hunt for a better you and your family.
With my littlest red in tow we set out for our biweekly marathon of food gathering in the urban jungle. For a family of six plus a dog, it’s the only marathon I ever care to participate in. It’s not the worst chore I have to complete as my laundry piles on my dryer. However, we do love to eat and it’s crucial to maintain our wellness. There are strategies I use to keep our wellness goals while shopping and lessen my pain in the after math
List. List. List.
I am a list freak. Largely to help me regulate my thoughts and ADHD. But I do love them and labels. List may mean meal planning which saves money on its own. Creating a list adds further kindness to your wallet in decreasing impulse buys. When creating your list, pad in your health favs and a few not so healthy favs for those cheat days. Don’t go hungry. Your stomach will lead and mine usually sabotages my wellness and budget. Many major store apps will allow you to find most of what is in stock, on sale, and, some times, which aisle to find it in. Target will automatically link you to the store you’re in and bring up the store map in the app. Walmart App, not grocery app, now has an in store feature.
Develop a love affair
Love the stores in or near your neighborhood. Traveling too far when not necessary spends more than save. The more you go the more you will see sale patterns which leads in to three….
Shop sales and in season.
Healthy food on sale. Not junk food on sale. Companies are starting to recognize the demand and putting natural/organic/healthy items or produce on sale more often. This past month at one of our local stores, between sales, in season produce, and digital coupons, I cut my bill in half. We saved almost $150. Many stores have online adds that you can compare prices which saves another valuable resource of yours, time.
Use loyalty programs and digital coupons.
If I receive a paper coupon in store or the mail I will use most of the time. Otherwise all many coupons are available on a loyalty card. Saves paper and money. Double bonus. In one particular store, the more loyalty program is used, more personal rewards. Stores may track what you buy and give back specific to past purchases. There are grocery apps that do reward just for uploading a receipt. Use them. Some apps of these apps can be used for school fundraising. Other stores allow for schools to give a number to link your loyalty cards. In your every day purchases, your child school benefits.
Make budget from for sales.
When you have some extra budget room and sales are really good take advantage of the abundance. If you have the room, squirrel it away as long as it won’t expire before you use it.
Take advantage of shopping clubs, online services, and pick ups.
If you benefit from buying in bulk then a shopping club like Cosco or Sams may be worth it for you. Toilet paper is a guarantee it will be necessary always, but with perishable items be mindful. Truly buy what you would use. A kindness to your wallet and your environment. During one summer, as a foot injury necessity, we used store pick ups a lot. It’s an excellent way to keep impulse buying down and seeing potential costs. Delivery your door is becoming an option with similar benefits and convenience.
Meatless Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays….
Meat can be expensive, especially lean meat. Lately, I am finding one of our stores putting meat substitutes crazy cheap. We are riding that gravy train for as long as it last. We like using cauliflower as well. Bonus, cauliflower can be easily found in every form in most stores. As a substitute, cauliflower adds nutritional value and protein content while wallet friendly. Too much meat protein can be hard on some of your organs, especially kidneys. Just a thought to keep in mind on how many meatless days you want to try.
We have a large family, dog, and dietary needs- the need for the budget to stretch can get scary. However, with these seven solutions make magic happen. In your food gathering hunt, make the most of you and your food relationship.
Namaste in your food gathering hunt
Juls
