Eating Healthy on a Budget Part 1: Intro & Basic Shopping Tips

Ok, I'm trying a new thing and I'm not sure how it's going to go!  I've been asked a couple of times, particularly by people who've lived with me, how I'm able to eat healthy food most of the time while on a teeny tiny budget. This is a great question, and I'm never 100% sure how to answer. My guess is that it's been a combination of time, practice and slow-and-steady changes to the way I handle my finances and the kind of foods I eat.  It took me several years to switch from a run of the mill kiwi diet to the Mediterranean-style, produce-focussed diet I currently eat and it takes time, effort, planning and a reasonable amount of cooking knowledge to eat the way I do on the meager student budget I subsist on.

That's the short answer! In order to provide the long answer, I am going to do some write-ups on my weekly shopping and menu, as well as provide some pantry hacks along the way. I am not going to make promises about how often I will write but my intention is to show what I buy week to week, how much I actually spend, and at the very least let you know my meals each day.  I'm no expert, but I can show you what I do. Ideally, I will be sharing some recipes too!

So you can get an idea of what my budgetary situation is like, and how my lifestyle affects my pantry, here are some basic things you should know about me:

• I work sometimes as an extra, but the work available is haphazard at best! My guaranteed income is minimal so, to be brief, I have a budget of $40 a week for food. I know that income is not an appropriate topic for polite conversation, but in this discussion, it's kind of essential. 
• I don't drink alcohol - a major money saver!
• I avoid processed foods as much as possible
• I avoid waste as much as possible (whether it's unrecyclable packaging or perfectly edible leftovers)
• I am gluten free at the moment for health reasons - if you can eat gluten, go for gold, I have no vendetta against this handy protein!
• I am probably addicted to chocolate, having it in my diet is non-negotiable :) 
• I only have to feed myself. I don't have any children or dependents or even a partner to feed which I know makes things a lot easier.

With those facts established, I want to share a couple of top tips for a budget-friendly pantry. Some may be obvious, some... maybe not.

I'm baa-aack

Hey guys,

A lot has changed for me since my last post.  I've moved to a new city, started studying for my Master's and read a LOT of food research that has led to many changes in my dietary habits.  Now that I'm back on a student budget and food is on my brain more than ever before, I want to start writing on the topic again.  I don't want to make any promises about content or frequency of posts but stay tuned if you are interested in non-prescriptivist diets, low carb recipes and interesting food science facts.

xx Aimee

First Week Update

Ok, so it's been one week since I started to really put a bit more effort into my eating habits.  I have not been perfect - as you can see from the last post there was a flat pizza night and I did have a Quarter Pounder on Wednesday (just the burger, no fries!) but I've made a massive improvement on my previous habits.  I already feel a lot more energised, and I'm not as tempted to sit on the couch and watch TV all day.
As well as making a conscious effort to eat better, I've also started taking an iron supplement once a day - I can't say whether or not this is what's behind my energy increase but I think it usually takes a couple of weeks for iron levels to improve from a supplement so I'd say my overall dietary changes are probably the cause.
I'm finding the diary very helpful, I've found it more beneficial to log what I've eaten for a few consecutive days than to try to maintain it non stop, but I can already really see where and why I need improvements.  Planning ahead is key - the meal plan I made last week was really helpful but once I'd got to day four, I had a few rushed meals that weren't as balanced as I'd have liked.  Although I intend to plan ahead more, I'm trying to negate the impact of the rush by cramming in lots of veggies into my "last minute" meals.  For example last night, after a long-ish day at work I just wanted something yum to eat.  I decided on Mexican but instead of making it with minced beef and not much else, I made it entirely out of vegetables.  Into the pan went three portions of frozen spinach, a half cup of green beans, a few chopped mushrooms, half a can of kidney beans, half a can of tomatoes and some Mexican seasoning.  I used baked taco shells instead of burritos or wraps and added a wee bit of grated Edam instead of sour cream.  Not a perfect meal by any stretch, and I probably made a little too much, but it was packed with a variety of vegetables, contained a protein source and was relatively low in fat!

I'm still wanting to experiment more and hopefully today I'll be doing a bit of "healthy baking". Last week I made a no-added-sugar banana bread which was really tasty, I might make it again soon and post the recipe.  I tweaked it a little bit and replaced the ground almond from the original recipe with wholemeal flour because of the cost.  I was a bit worried about the fat content since there was no butter and the only oils in the recipes came from the almond, shredded coconut and some peanut butter but it was actually really moist in the end!  It's funny how this all makes me realise how much I was taught growing up about the chemistry of baking!
If I do some more cooking today I'll make sure to post recipes and results up here.
Have a good day!
:)