HELPFUL TIPS TO EATING HEALTHY ON A TIGHT BUDGET IN LAGOS.

Eating healthy and living on a budget doesn’t have to be difficult. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make nourishing meals, there are plenty of ways to do so on a modest budget. Healthy eating on a budget is all about strategy, not sacrifice.

Here are a few tips to eating healthy with a tight budget in Lagos:

1. COOK AT HOME AND PREP AHEAD.

Cooking at home can be less expensive than eating out. A meal of N4,000 at the restaurant can provide some good food on your table for a few days if you cook at home. So, instead of eating out at the last minute, make it a habit to cook at home. It is not compulsory to cook every day. You can prep your meals fully (like cooking jollof rice and storing in the fridge) or almost fully (like cutting your veggies or blending your tomato bases for whatever meal you might need during the week) during the weekend.

2. HAVE A FOOD TIMETABLE 

Choose one day each week to plan your meals for the coming week. Make a shopping list of everything you’ll need to prepare those meals and be sure to stick to your list once you’ve planned it. Be strict with yourself. This way, you will spend less money and stay on track with your healthy eating plan.

3. BUY IN BULK 

The more you buy, the less you spend. Buying fresh vegetables every time you want to cook is more expensive than buying a lot of them and portioning them in your fridge for later use. Apart from the fact that you save a lot of money when you buy in bulk, it will save you from the constant increase in price on food items. However, only buy quantities that you will be able to use or preserve before it goes bad and interestingly, with Iyaloja Direct weekly bulk foodstuff sharing in Lagos, you don’t have to be moving up and down inside Lagos markets and traffic just to buy your food items. You can buy all your foodstuffs no matter how little with us at direct Mile12, Oyingbo and Ketu market prices.  

4. GROW A SMALL GARDEN 

Have a small garden in your house no matter how small where vegetables and some fruits especially can be grown. If you are able to do that, you wouldn’t have to bother about buying tomatoes, scentleaves, ugu, pineapples, watermelon etc. anymore. Wouldn’t it be nice to just go to your backyard and pluck some ugu instead of going out to buy them? 

5. HAVE A LITTLE POULTRY 

This is another very helpful tip. You can’t imagine how much we spend on meat and eggs every month. How about having a little free-range pen in the backyard where we can rear some hens, a goat, a pig, two turkeys etc.? Apart from the fact that we can eat the eggs and their meats, they will begin to multiply and before we know it, we have more and can even sell them. It becomes easy to have meat for our family and to eat meat products too.

6. INVEST IN A FRIDGE 

Fridge is very important if you will save money. If you don’t have one, start saving to get one. It will be an investment you will be grateful for. With a fridge, your meal preps will be of a great benefit to you week in, week out.

7. BUY DRY INGREDIENTS 

Another thing that can help is to buy dried ingredients and store them for the week or month. Dried pepper, dry meat, dry ponmo, dry fish etc can work very well and make your cooking easier and faster. Dry foods are very healthy and less costly. All you have to do is soak them when you are about to cook and you are good to go.

How to Turn Leftover Food into Another Delicious Meal – Iyaloja Direct: HELPFUL TIPS TO EATING HEALTHY ON A TIGHT BUDGET IN LAGOS.

8. PACK A LUNCH 

Stop wasting your N2,000 on that Amala shop while at work. If you keep spending those N2,000 every day for five days a week, do you know how much is being lost or how much you could have saved? It is better to pack lunch from home no matter how simple. 

9. MAKE YOUR SNACKS AND DRINKS 

This is highly underrated, but it is very important. Learn to make your snacks and drinks at home. Apart from the fact that this would save you a lot of money, it will also be healthier. Make cupcakes during the week, put one each in some zip lock and snack on them. Make some chinchin. Make some plantain or potato chips. Then, for the drinks, make some soya milk, zobo, smoothies and freeze. Take a bottle of Zobo and a pack of potato chips to your workplace for the day and you would have saved yourself some money no matter how small. This is wisdom!

10. INVEST IN LEFT-OVERS  

Don’t be a waster. You can still make something delicious out of the cold left-over rice in your fridge. That left over eba, simply break to pieces in the pot, add some water, bring to a boil, add a little more garri and a fresh version of eba is ready for your family. Always try to  ensure that you don’t throw foods away!

CONCLUSION

Eating healthy and living on a budget doesn’t have to be difficult. You can eat healthy without breaking the bank. Even if eating nutrient-rich foods are expensive, you can follow the tips above to get the cheaper versions of these healthy foods, fruits and vegetables. You cannot put a price on your health, please. 

Iyaloja Direct helps you save money up to 40% on your food budget, save time and stress because we are buying for many people at the same time. We also deliver directly to their Lagos location.

Follow us for more healthy eating and saving  tips 

For affordable food items, shop at ww.iyalojadirect.com