☑ LMY VERIFIED
Featuring Alejo Torres, BCU Financial Well-Being Director (0:30), on buying in bulk, cooking in bulk, and diversifying your grocery lists, Ana Zavala, BCU Business Development Operations Senior Lead (9:30), on shopping for a small household, leveraging quality time and leftovers, and packing for snacking, and Bruce Ponsaran, BCU Corporate Relations & BD Senior Manager (19:59), on planning for food while traveling, selecting the right restaurant for your family, and navigating allergy restrictions.
Meal planning is a year-round responsibility – and it’s arguably underrated, especially if you have more than just yourself to feed. “I have to be really mindful when I’m grocery shopping for a two-person household”, says Ana, mother of one. When it comes to planning meals for the nuclear family and larger gatherings, here are four tips to help you save more money.
1. Buy and cook in bulk for meal prepping. Buying and cooking in bulk allows you to make multiple meals rather than just one. Your budget will thank you for those days of no spending during the week – well, at least no spending on food!
For gatherings, potluck style is a great way to save money on more options; Each guest brings their own plate or dish for the event. Make sure you plan on what to do for leftovers from the gathering afterward. Maybe distribute to-go boxes to guests or freeze leftovers at the end of the gathering to minimize any food waste.
2. Healthy ingredients begin with less processed products and more fresh produce. Gardening, farmers markets, and cooking substitutes are a few ways to level up your ingredients for healthier meals. Investing in kitchen tools, like a juicer for example, can help make healthier alternatives more convenient to create.
3. Pack the snacks. It’s a busy time of year and oftentimes, schedules can make sit-down meals difficult to schedule, especially with travel. Try packing fruit, cheese, nuts, or other healthy snacks in advance of big events, like sports, concerts, and vacations.
4. Revisit vacation spending summaries when budgeting food for your next trip. “... what places we went to, what restaurants we did, what activities we did... if you have a kitchen, that’s the best way”, says Bruce, father of three. Can you cook where you stay and limit the number of times you go out? Try to structure when you plan to spend money and for what meals. Spin off previous meals instead of eating the same leftovers to keep the kids engaged; For instance, instead of chicken and rice back-to-back, maybe you do chicken tacos, or chicken pasta, or chicken pizza.
“Give yourself some grace when you don’t have the time to meal plan... diversify your grocery store list to maximize your savings”, says Alejo Torres, father of three. Ultimately, change does not happen overnight – but you can make a big difference in your meal planning with these four tips. Schedule time with a Certified Financial Coach to talk more about your meal plan – it's FREE!
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