Meal Prepping To Save Money

When you have a family and work full time, life can be demanding, so it’s important to consider meal prepping to save money. Then add maintaining to eat a healthy diet. I know the last thing I want to do when I get home from work is to clean the plates after dinner. Meal prepping might be the answer were are looking for, as meal prepping saves money and can help solve some of our problems.

You have the opportunity to become a control freak when you prepare your own meals or make a meal plan in advance. You achieve total calorie control, a balanced macronutrient intake, and a reduction in the consumption of undesirable substances such as added sugar, salt, and fats. Being in charge of choosing them also guarantees that you will have more fresh foods and alternatives of the highest calibre. Meal planning is definitely advantageous for both weight loss and maintenance.

With inflation, food is becoming more expensive. The prices of food are creeping up and we are all feeling it. When you are looking at ways to save money, you will look at ways to fill your family without breaking the bank. As meal prepping grows in demand, meal prepping will help you on your meal budget adventure.

Meal prepping is definitely the answer you are looking for. So join me on this journey.

Table of Contents

Why Meal Prep?

Meal prepping will prepare you for your busy week. You will make your meals once a week. I make mine every Sunday for the start of the next week. This way I don’t have to stress about preparing meals every day. This will save me time and money. While supporting a healthy diet. No more temptations of takeaway foods.

With meal prepping, someone can prepare your meals ahead of time so you don’t get seduced to order takeaway at the last minute. You will start by grocery shopping for the meals that you want to eat for the week and buying larger quantities to make lots of meals at once. You can prepare healthy meals your family will love to eat, and you know exactly what you are eating. You will cook all the meals and then put even quantities into containers and put these in the fridge or the freezer. This will ensure that all your meals for the week are ready to cook. You can meal prep any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I have listed some of the benefits, but I am sure there are more:

Your chances of reaching health objectives are higher.
You save a tonne of money by meal prepping
It allows for diversity and variety of meals
Meal prepping makes grocery shopping easier and reduces food waste.
Meal preparation avoids decision exhaustion.

Forward Plan your Prep

Meal Prepping performs best when you stick to a routine, and in no time you will be meal prepping like a warrior princess.

I find the following rule works effectively when I am preparing my meals for the week:

Protein Meals include protein plus grains such as rice, wheat or barley and vegetables
Low Carb Meals include protein plus vegetables and yes, more vegetables

Before you drive to the grocery store, make sure you have organized your meal plan for the week. Please check out my other post on this.

https://frugalsavvymum.com/meal-planning

Your meals will be what you are eating for the next week. So take a list with you of all the items you will need when you go grocery shopping.

Does Meal Prepping Save Time?

Meal prepping saves time cooking, thinking about what you want for dinner, and shopping for multiple ingredients. With meal prepping, you spend hours prepping meals, but this frees up more time during the week to do all the things that you love to do.

Also, the dishwasher is running less often, as you don’t have to wash as many pots and pans after dinner. As you are now only doing this once a week when you meal prep.

Try these money-saving tips when meal prepping:

Take all your ingredients and cookware out and put these items on the counter, so that you won’t waste time searching for these items.

Cost Savings with Meal Prepping

Meal prepping saves time cooking, thinking about what you want for dinner, and shopping for multiple ingredients. With meal prepping, you spend hours preparing meals, but this frees up more time during the week to do all the things that you love to do.

When you buy in bulk at the supermarket, you can save money and make fewer trips to the store. You can always split the purchase of the item with family and friends. Many people that didn’t bulk buy before Covid definitely do it now. Also, purchasing products that have a long shelf life can help reduce costs. Products that have a long shelf life are chickpeas, rice, pasta, canned fruit and vegetables. I also like to buy frozen fruit and vegetables, as well as shelf-stable milk. Items with a short shelf life such as fruits, vegetables and fresh milk can end up spoiling.

Therefore, be sure to only purchase fruit and vegetables that are fresh and in season. In addition, this will reduce costs. You will also be nicer and kinder to the planet if you are not wasting as much food. In addition, you will save money, of course, by not tossing these fruits and vegetables into the garbage bin.

Meal Prepping Will Save on Energy?

Since you will cook all your meals at once, you will use less electricity. I do all my meals in the slow cooker, and this uses less energy than the stovetop.

Your dishwasher will thank you when you are meal prepping because you’re doing fewer plates, which is less energy consumption. Cooking all your meals for the week is called meal prepping.