✦Nutrition · 11 recordsEat well on a budget

Most of what makes food expensive is not the price of ingredients — it is buying without a plan and throwing away what does not get used. This fixes the shop first, then builds a small set of cheap meals worth repeating.

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Goal

Spend less on food without eating worse Month 3

Mostly by wasting less, which is where the money goes.

Fix the shop Week 4

Where the cost actually is.

  • Track what gets thrown away for two weeksDo firstWeek 2
  • Set a weekly budget and shop against a listDo firstWeek 3
  • Check what is already in the cupboard before buyingWeek 4

Build the cheap meals Month 3

A short list that is genuinely good, not merely cheap.

  • Write down eight cheap meals worth repeatingDo firstWeek 5
  • Cook each one at least twiceMonth 3

Routines

  • Plan the week against the budgetweekly
  • Use up what needs eatingweekly
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Waste, not prices

Most of what makes food expensive is buying without a plan and throwing away what does not get used. Switching brands is a much smaller lever than either.\n\nTracking the bin for a fortnight is uncomfortable and is the fastest way to see where the money is going.

✦ Questions

Eat well on a budget, answered.

Waste and unplanned shopping, far more than the unit price of anything. Buying against a plan and cooking what is already in the house are worth more than switching brands, which is why the shop is the first project here.
Shop for a planned week rather than a stocked kitchen, and keep a short list of meals that use up what is left. The routine here is a weekly check of what needs eating before anything new is bought.
Meal planning is about removing the weekly decision; this is about the money. They work well together — if the cost is the problem rather than the deciding, start here.
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