While maintaining a healthy diet has always been important to me, saving money and reducing waste are becoming equally so. I’ve found the key to these 3 goals can be narrowed down to one thing – planning. Plan your meals, plan your shopping list around your meals, plan for leftovers and learn some hacks for reducing your food waste.

Plan your meals for the week and plan your shopping list around it.

-       Take some time, sit down and plan your healthy meals for the week.

-       Research healthy recipes. Maybe incorporate one new recipe per week. (Personally more than one a week would send me into a tailspin). Check what ingredients you already have so you’re not doubling up when you go shopping.

-       Check out online the weekly special offers at your supermarket and incorporate those into your meal plan – there’s no point snapping up fresh food deals if you’re not going to use them.

-       Keep your shopping list handy during the week so when you’ve squeezed the last out of the ketchup bottle, you add it to the list as opposed to making a special ketchup trip after you’ve done the main trip and picking up 5 extra things you don’t need!

-       Work leftovers into the plan e.g. if you’re having roast chicken one night, chicken caesar salad the next day.

-       If you’re a meat-eater, aim to incorporate vegetarian options e.g. bean stew, chickpea curry – healthy and cheaper.

-       The likes of stews and curries are fantastic for batch cooking – I’m not into the idea of taking a Sunday afternoon to do a load of batch cooking, instead just do a big batch whatever day you’re cooking and freeze what you don’t use…or eat it the next day – it tastes better the second day right?

-       Frozen vegetables can be just as healthy as the fresh stuff and sometimes maybe even more so as they are frozen directly after being picked. These are a great way to reduce waste.

-       Eggs – I always have a box of these handy. An omelette is a wonderfully healthy easy fall-back. Use the egg freshness test if you’re near or go past the use by dates; Place an egg in a jug or cold water. If it sinks it’s fresh.

-       If you have the cupboard space stock up on healthy long life staples to fall back on – wholemeal pasta, brown rice, cous cous and tins of beans, lentils etc..

- Dried herbs and spices last for ages and can really boost a dish. They count as one of our 5 a day, but again only buy them if you need them. I seem to have some kind of fear of running out of cinnamon and cumin – you don’t need 5 jars of them, Gráinne.

-       Now, let’s face it – if you’re trying to clean up your diet, biscuits, crisps, chocolate sweets etc. should not be on that list. If they’re not in the house, you can’t eat them. Aldi and Lidl are both good for bags of nuts and seeds which can make great snacks.

Hitting the Shops
-       Try and limit yourself to one weekly shop, so you’re not dropping into the shops randomly to pick things up with exceptions like milk.

-       Stick to that shopping list.

-       My preferred supermarket for the big shop is a little further away, so to save petrol I’ll try tie my shopping in with another trip. Yes. Hardcore money saving efforts.

-       After years of resistance, I’ve finally given into the clubcard to access special offers and gain points.

-       Avoid going shopping when you’re hungry.

-       Always check those use-by dates. Reach for the back of that shelf for longer life!

-       Shopping later in the day you can often get fresh food at reduced prices, although in the evening, it can also mean the shelves aren’t as well-stocked.

- Money-saving offers are only saving you money if you’re going to use / eat the extra items. If you have the storage space however special offers on long-life staples or non-perishable goods can .

-       How loyal are you to brands versus own brands? Be aware of the price differences. There can be great savings to be made here.

-       Avoid buying prepared food like carrot baton bags and grated cheddar, they tend to be more expensive and use more plastic.

-       Get competitive - be aware of how much you spend on your weekly shop and see where you can reduce it each week. Becoming a grocery shopping ninja!

- Unless during your research you’ve realised there is something on the middle aisle that you really need - ignore it, run past it or maybe wear a pair of blinkers.

- if you have time and have access to some of the wonderful Asian food markets around, you can make great savings on many healthy foods including rice, pulses, tofu, edamame, spices, seitan, kimchi etc. (thanks to my cuz, Mairead for this great tip!)

Reducing Food Waste
-       Learn how to store your fresh food correctly, find out where it should go in your fridge from a freshness but also safety point of view. The same goes for your freezer, learn how to use it properly.

-       Bread – how often do you throw this out? If the answer is ‘often’, slice your bread if it’s not already sliced and store it in the freezer. Or if it’s already a little on the stale side use it in a recipe or convert into breadcrumbs, use immediately in a recipe or freeze for a later date.

-       Flour – did you partake in the covid bread-making craze? Be aware of foods like flour hiding in the back of the cupboard. Be realistic. Avoid buying if you’re not going to use them or give them to a baker friend if you’ve tried once and decided you’re not actually bake off material.

-       Is your fruit a little on the soft and overripe side? Add it to a smoothie.

-       Have your carrots, broccoli, celery become a little bendy? Make a veggie stock and freeze it.

- Use up that chicken - recipe here for chicken stock which can then go into the freezer.

-       Stir-fries are a fantastic, quick and easy way to use up veggies if it looks like you’re not going to get through them.

-       Went overboard with the fresh herbs? Tear them up, pop them in ice cube trays with some water. Freeze and use them when you’re cooking.

-       If you have a bottle that isn’t going to be finished, again freeze it in ice cube trays and use for cooking.