Choosing healthier meal options while on a budget can be challenging, especially when one considers students.
Eating healthily is crucial for students of all ages, especially during the back-to-school, new semester, season.
It’s simple, you want to ensure, as parents, that your child/ward is functioning at optimal level to soak up all the knowledge their tutors will provide.
A healthy lunchbox meal prep option. (Photo: iStock/fcafotodigital)
Balanced meals rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins not only boost energy and concentration but also support overall growth and development.
But, with rising food costs, the best way for parents and students to stretch their food budgets is by planning meals, buying in bulk, and choosing seasonal produce.
In walks #budgetauntie, a financial consultant and financial educator Patricia Henry-Brown, with her budget-friendly tips for shopping and meal prepping.
A glance at Henry-Brown’s #budgetauntie Instagram page. (Photo: courtesy of Budget Auntie)
Henry-Brown shares daily budgeting tips – interspersed with fashion and foodie gems – to her near 8k audience on Instagram. She is also the CEO of Data Sync Limited, a wife, a mother of two and mom to many. Yet, her world revolves around her grandkids.
It’s not surprising then, that #budgetauntie knows how to cut corners to prevent overindulging for the new school season.
Her major key is preparing meals at home and utilizing leftovers to significantly reduce expenses, while ensuring one maintains a nutritious diet.
And, by prioritizing affordable, wholesome foods, students can maintain their health and well-being throughout the school year and parents won’t have to break the bank. It’s a win-win, really.
Below, #budgetauntie shares some of her best budgeting advice for parents on the back-to-school journey. In this two-part series, let’s start with the youngest tier: the Kindergarteners.
Major keys to save:
– Buy in bulk, and buy staples such as cereal, pasta, peas and beans
– Shop at the local market and go for fruits and vegetables that are in season, such as avocado, guineps, mangoes, etc
– Meal prep so you can plan ahead and save
– Save the chicken breast from your Sunday roast to make chicken sandwiches that can carry you throughout the week. You could even use bits of chicken in a quick chicken pasta with green peas, carrots, however you like it
#budegetauntietip: ‘Stay far from tomatoes’, she cautioned, at least ‘until the price drops’.
Kindergarten
DIY Lunchable. You don’t need to go for the brand name, stick to the ingredients, and create your own ‘lunchable’ meal box with whole grain crackers, cheddar cheese, cubes of papaya, and an apple, that’s easy-peasy, and your little one will appreciate.
The classic chicken sandwich is here to stay (also, from Sunday’s leftovers). But, if you decide to use the chicken breast in other ways, you can opt for a pepperoni sandwich instead and add some pineapple slices to zhoosh it up.
#budgetauntietip: Don’t forget chewable vitamins and water. Those are a must! Also remember to keep all meal preps for the babies colourful, vibrant, and interesting.
Back to school prep, and meal preps in general, have one thing in common, they’re both constant topical issues. We eat for survival and sustenance, and to get energy for daily activities.
The average child tends to consume as much as they exert, so it’s important to keep them fed but also maintain nutritional practices so they’re just as healthy.
In the next instalment, we change gears to focus on the middle schoolers and young adults to the college students.
