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In short
Eating well for less is mostly method: plan the week once, shop from one list, batch cook, use tinned and frozen food and plan leftovers into the next day. The BDA says cooking from scratch need not cost more than ready meals, and the HSE says planning ahead saves money.
What the guidance actually says
The British Dietetic Association open their budget advice by saying it is easy to assume that cooking healthy meals from scratch is more expensive than buying ready meals or takeaways, and then say that they have proved that theory wrong time and time again. Their tips are all about method: bulking out, swapping and stretching.
The HSE says planning your meals in advance helps you eat a variety of nutritious foods and save money, by having less convenience and processed food. Their Food Pyramid gives serving sizes for each shelf, so a plan can be written in portions, and their advice to use leftovers in meals or snacks the next day is a way of making a shop last longer.
Nothing here needs a list of prices. Prices move around, they differ between shops and towns, and a price written down today is wrong tomorrow, so the method is what stays useful.
Stretching what you buy
The British Dietetic Association suggest using less meat and bulking out stews, soups, chilli and curries with canned pulses such as kidney beans, butter beans and mixed beans, and dividing your usual portion of meat into two meals with extra vegetables. They suggest adding grated vegetables to mince, switching fresh fish for canned or frozen fish, adding pasta or rice to soups, and separating bulk packs into portions and freezing the ones you will not use before the use by date.
Their shopping tips add a few more. Check your cupboards and fridge before you go, since there may be ingredients you could use up first. Loose fruit and vegetables can be as little as half the price of pre-packaged items. Frozen and dried products are often cheaper than fresh varieties and just as good. And stock up when there is a good deal on store cupboard ingredients that last, such as cans of pulses and tomatoes, or packets of pasta, rice and cereals.
The HSE also says to use the food pyramid as a guide for serving sizes, which is another way of not buying more than you will eat.
The freezer, the cupboard and leftovers
The British Dietetic Association say to make sure food is completely cold before freezing it, to label it with its name and the date, and to thaw it overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature. They say most food can be frozen for up to three months, that bread and baked products freeze very well, and that grated cheese can be taken straight from the freezer and keeps for up to four months.
In Nomeriu, the shopping list comes from the meal plan, so it is already combined across recipes, grouped by aisle, scaled to servings, with an estimated cost and an optional budget, in the aisle order of your usual shop. There is a section for using up what you have: log what is in the fridge and it suggests recipes that use it, which the British Dietetic Association would call reducing waste and you would call dinner.
The 329 published recipes come with time, servings and per serving nutrition, and Cook mode walks through one step at a time in large text with a timer where a step needs one. A fifteen minute meal that you can follow while it cooks is a different proposition at the end of a long week.
When money is the reason you eat less
Coeliac UK says that too many people with coeliac disease are struggling to access the food they need to stay well, and they campaign to make gluten free food more affordable and accessible. It is a reminder that the budget of a household is not evenly spread, and some diets cost more simply because of what they are.
If money is why you are eating less, that is worth saying out loud to your GP or another clinician, who can tell you what support is available where you live. The same goes for anyone who has cut out whole food groups without support, which can leave gaps in what you eat.
Everything in Nomeriu stays on your device, including your list and your budget. Nomeriu is not medical advice and cannot tell you whether a food budget is enough for your needs. Talk to your GP, a dietitian or a local advice service about your own situation.
Questions
How do I plan family meals for less?
Plan the week once, write one list grouped by aisle, cook once and eat twice, and use tinned and frozen vegetables. The BDA and HSE both point to planning and leftovers as the main savings.
Sources
- BDA: Cooking on a budget Their budget tips on pulses, stretching meat and mince, canned and frozen fish, and portioning bulk buys.
- BDA: Smart supermarket shopping Shopping from a list, checking what needs using up, loose produce and frozen and dried foods.
- BDA: Batch cooking and freezing food Freezing times, labelling, thawing and reheating.
- HSE: How to eat well Planning ahead to save money, the Food Pyramid serving sizes and using leftovers.
- Coeliac UK: Cost of living Their campaign to make gluten free food more affordable and accessible for people with coeliac disease.
See what Nomeriu plans for this kind of week: family budget.