Taking a new approach to our eating habits

Our eating habits are all over the place and due to this, they are eating into our financial freedom! Following on from our money mindset post, we are now taking a new approach to our eating habits and getting back into good habits.

This is not about healthy eating or changing our diets. It is about our relationship with food and the financial costs the come with it. As a family we have never really been ones to eat out at restaurants often or grab coffees on the go, our weakness is a combination of takeaways and sweets. We’ve had weeks where we have eaten 2 to 4 takeaways in a week when you add that up it is an eye-watering amount. We are also suckers for sweets and the offers that are usually on them.

Now we are looking to work on our outgoings, one thing that needs to be addressed is our food budget.

We’ve tried lots of things in the past such as cutting out takeaways and treats full stop etc but they just do not work for us. Going forward we are instead going to change our approach to it but make it part of our budget. I am fully aware that people don’t need to have a treat or a pudding but there are lots of things we go without so this is our little treat.

So to start with we have cut back on the sweet treats, we still have some in the house but not to the amount we used to have. We have ordered in some alternative and cheaper sweet options, then there are days where we are baking cakes and flapjacks for pudding.

The other big change we are doing is introducing a takeaway on a Friday, this falls in with our family movie night. The money for this comes out of our weekly shopping budget. I know we could save more by not having a takeaway at all, however, it is our treat as a family. By limiting it to once a week, we stick better to our meal plan during the week as we know we have the treat coming up at the end of the week.

I am hopeful that by making a few tweaks to our eating habits will not only save us a bit of money but also makes appreciate the treats when we have them. After all, life is for living, it is just about doing it within our means going forward.