Ultimate Guide to Meal Prepping on a Budget
We all have busy schedules, and it can be easy to deprioritise eating healthy meals in favour of speed and convenience. When time is tight, takeaway and last-minute supermarket trips can soon become the norm. But we forget how quickly costs can add up. This is where meal prepping comes in.
In this blog, we’ll go through how to meal prep on a budget. With a little planning, you can reduce stress, eat cleaner and keep monthly food budgets under control.
What is meal prepping?
Meal prepping simply involves preparing meals ahead of time. This could involve batch cooking on a weekend and storing food away to eat during the week or simply storing leftovers for later.
Contrary to popular belief, meal prepping doesn’t require expensive containers and hours in the kitchen learning complicated recipes. At its core, it’s about being intentional with what you eat and where you spend your money.
Benefits of meal prepping on a budget
Meal prepping is a simple habit you could adopt to improve your finances and wellbeing. Some of the key benefits include:
- Saving both time and money
- Reducing impulse buying at shops
- Minimising food waste
- Lowering reliance on takeaway and convenience foods
- Peace of mind, as meals are already planned
- Making cleaner, healthier eating easier
How to meal prep for the week on a budget
- Start by choosing a day in the week for: planning the menu, doing the food shop and then prepping the meal.
- Make a list of meals you find are easy to prepare. This could be a family-favourite pasta dish, or a healthy salad. Try to think of meals that anchor on shelf-stable ingredients like pasta and lentils.
- On meal prep day, focus first on foods that take the longest to cook, such as whole grains like quinoa or brown rice.
- Next, prepare the rest of the food, such as washing leafy greens for a salad.
- You could also marinate proteins if you prefer not to pre-cook them, such as chicken or fish.
- Once the food is prepped, you can begin to divide it into containers, label them, and store them all away.
Best easy meal prep ideas when on a budget
Breakfast
- Overnight oats
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Breakfast egg muffins
- Oatmeal breakfast cookies
- Homemade granola
Lunch
- Mediterranean salad
- Pesto pasta salad
- Stir-fry noodles
- Burrito bowl
- Vegetable soup
Dinner
- Curry lentil soup
- Baked ziti
- Lasagne
- Bean burger
- Vegetable chilli
Top meal prepping tips
- Track your favourite recipes and add them to your rotation.
- Use glass containers rather than plastic.
- Meal prep snacks like fruits and veggies.
- Label with dates if food is due to go off, so nothing goes to waste.
- Not all food does well when refrigerated or frozen, so be careful and do your research. For example, foods with high moisture content, like watermelon or tomatoes, tend to get mushy when frozen and thawed.
How does meal prepping on a budget fit into a smarter financial lifestyle?
Food budgeting may seem like a small, insignificant change in the grand scheme of things, but weekly savings add up over time. Prioritising affordable habits, such as planning meals and reducing food waste, helps make household budgeting easier without compromising on taste or nutrition.
Even the most carefully planned budget can be tested by life’s curveballs. Things like urgent home repairs can crop up unexpectedly, for which simply cutting costs and tracking spending isn’t enough.
Consider a secured loan for bigger financial goals with Evolution Money
We understand that every household situation is unique. If meal prepping on a budget is not enough, get in touch. We could help to provide you with secured loans for homeowners from £5,000 to £105,000.
Check your eligibility today or contact a friendly member of our team to discuss your options. You can also visit our help and advice hub for further support.
Loans are subject to status and affordability checks.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debts secured on it.
Representative 21.54% APRC (Variable)
For a typical loan of £12,000 over 60 months with a variable interest rate of 21.54% per annum, your monthly repayments would be £310.60. This includes a Product Fee of £1,200.00 (10% of the loan amount) and a Lending Fee* of £763.00, bringing the total repayable amount to £18,635.80. Annual Interest Rates range between 8.6% to 27.87% (variable). Maximum 50.00% APRC. *Lending Fee varies by country: England & Wales £763, Scotland £1,051, Northern Ireland: £1,736.
Think carefully before securing debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured against it. If you are thinking of consolidating existing borrowing, you should be aware that you may be extending the terms of the debt and increasing the total amount you repay.
