Eating healthy on a budget is not an exciting part of many people’s lives and while in college it can sometimes be hard to do. Weekly grocery shopping can really put stress on your budget if you are not careful. The best way to stick to a budget is to make a plan. According to https://blog.mint.com/food-budgets/monthly-grocery-budget-calculator/, groceries for one person between the ages of 19-50 should average $60-$65 per week and around $240-$260 per month. The following are tips that can help to stick to a budget while also eating healthy satisfying foods.
- Make a list of meals you plan to make for the entire week. Once you know what is on the menu you can then make a grocery list of items needed for each meal. Making a detailed list of items needed to fix home-cooked meals will help you avoid going to the grocery store more often than necessary. The more you can stay out of the grocery store the less you’ll spend.
- Make your meals at home. The biggest budget and diet breakers are eating fast food or at a fancy restaurant. Cooking at home is often cheaper and a lot healthier than restaurant food. Home-cooked meals are often less processed and can provide you with better whole foods than what restaurant’s serve. When you are cooking you know exactly what is going into the meals.
- Meal prepping is also something that may help you save. Having meals already made can save you time and can help you avoid going out to eat out on the days you do not have time to cook or are just tired from having a full schedule. It is tempting just to go grab a meal out on those days so planning ahead is key.
- Look for cheap and healthy meal ideas online. Figuring out what to cook can be the most difficult part of meal planning. A simple search will often give numerous healthy meal ideas on a budget. Pinterest is a great site that assembles hundreds of healthy and cheap meal ideas.
- When shopping think about buying foods that are not only healthy but also satisfying. Cheap healthy foods include oats, eggs, rice, pasta, and beans these are all high filling foods that are healthy in moderation and also high in nutrients.
Sticking to a budget is difficult and eating healthy is important and doing both can seem daunting. If you make a plan and stick with it your budget and your health will thank you. Don’t forget ALL students have access to the K-State food pantry, the Cats’ Cupboard, too which is a great resource to help save on food expenses – learn more at https://www.k-state.edu/cats-cupboard/.
Throughout the week of October 26th-30th, Powercat Financial and the WellCAT Ambassador’s will be hosting a virtual Eating Healthy on a Budget event! Both groups will be posting tips, videos and live demonstrations on their social media pages, @Kstatepf and @ksu_wellcat with a drawing for grocery store gift cards to participants at the end of the week. A Google drive full of free resources on this topic will also be shared for all to use. It should be a fun way to learn more about this topic!
Remember you can also schedule a free and confidential client session with the link http://www.ksu.edu/powercatfinancial where we can help you make a budget or review your food buying strategies and provide more tips and tricksh. We hope to see you soon!
Tyson Rodriguez
Graduate Assistant
