Eating well on a budget in pregnancy
Preparing meals at home can be time consuming and isn’t possible for everyone, but it is often healthier. This is because you know and can control exactly what does into your meals. It is often cheaper than buying readymade or takeaway meals too. Here are some more tips to help you eat well on a budget.
Write a shopping list
Draw up a weekly meal plan, which will help you buy the amount of food you need and avoid throwing any food away. Before you go shopping, look at the ingredients you already have in your fridge, cupboard and freezer. Use them as a starting point for planning what foods to need to buy. Before you head to the shops, be aware that people who shop when hungry are more likely to spend more!
Bulk prepare meals
Cook once and eat twice! Make extra portions of your evening meal so you can have the leftovers the next day. You can also freeze leftovers for days when you don’t feel like cooking or have low energy. This is also a great idea for your first few months as a new parent – bulk prepare in advance so you have a freezer full! Find out how to use leftovers safely.
Tip!
Cheap ready-made meals and pre-prepared food might seem like good value for money, but they are often of low quality. One portion of a meal might seem good value at £1, but you might be able to make 4 portions for £2 - using much better ingredients.
Save money on fruit and veg
Frozen fruit and vegetables often come pre-chopped and are just as good for you. They are often cheaper than buying fresh and are perfect if you often throw away vegetables when they go bad in the fridge. Fruit and vegetables sometimes cost more pre-packed than loose. Also, pre-packed is not always the freshest and you may end up with more than you need. Look out for special offers on fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. Street markets are often a good place to buy fruits and vegetables and foods are usually cheaper if they are in season or locally grown.
Try supermarket and own brands
There's not always much difference between value and premium ranges, especially when it comes to tinned and frozen items.
Bulk up your meal with vegetables and pulses
Ever tried meat-free Mondays? You don’t have to become a vegetarian, but it doesn’t harm to go meat-free for a few meals a week. You could also help bulk out your dishes with vegetables and pulses (such as beans and lentils) which are full of nutrients and very cheap. Beans are great replacement for minced meat in chilli and chickpeas go really well in a curry. This means you can use less meat and make meals go further.
Writing a meal plan every week before we go shopping saves us so much on money and reduces food waste. We tend to freeze our meat as soon as we get home, and the meal plan reminds us of what needs taking out of the freezer the night before.
Planning meals and snacks
The key to eating well is to have a variety of foods, as that is the best way of getting a range of nutrients.
- Start with the carbohydrate base.
- Will this be potato, pasta, rice, bread?
- What vegetables can you add?
- Fresh, frozen, canned or raw?
- What protein will you have?
- This could be eggs, fish, beans, nuts or meat or a meat alternative
£4 a day meal plan
First Steps Nutrition Trust suggest you can eat well for about £4 a day or £28 a week (costed in 2017). This calculation is based on being able to store foods and cook at home for more than one person. They have lots of ideas for how you can shop for around £28 a week. Here’s an example:
£4 a day meal plan
Breakfast
Porridge with jam
Orange juice
Healthy Start vitamin
Morning Snack
Malt loaf
Decaffeinated tea or coffee
Lunch
Vegetable curry with lentil dahl and rice
Yoghurt with kiwi
Afternoon Snack
Small bowl of unsalted peanuts
Decaffeinated tea or coffee
Evening meal
Macaroni cheese and broccoli
Evening snack
Milk
Pear
Crawley, H. (Second ed. 2017) Eating well for a healthy pregnancy. Published by First Steps Nutrition Trust.
NHS Choices (accessed 12/11/20) 20 tips to eat well for less: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/20-tips-to-eat-well-for-less/
Read more about having a healthy diet in pregnancy
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Fasting in pregnancy
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How much water should I drink in pregnancy?
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Understanding food labels
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How to eat well in pregnancy