Eating Ethically On A Budget – 10 Ways To Reduce Costs!

Guest Post From Zoe Morrison Of EcoThrifty Living

Zoe Morrison writes about saving money whilst living ethically. There are some inspiring and practical ideas that are easy to implement. As she says, its easy to think that ethical living will cost you more, but if you read her blog, you will find some exciting and simple ways to save money and live well.

Eating Ethically And Keeping To Your Budget

If you think eating ethically will cost you more, you might be right as organic, free range and fair trade foods are often more expensive than the alternatives. However if you follow these cost cutting tips, you will find that they can be affordable on a budget.

1. Spend a little time getting portion sizes right – look at packets to see what a typical serving should be and adjust it to your own requirements. It doesn’t take long to weigh out the correct amount of rice for example before cooking it. Reduces waste – and possibly your waist!
2. Make it yourself and bake it cheaper by substituting expensive ingredients for less expensive ones! Plus you won’t be paying for the processing and packaging of ready made meals and sauces.
3. Buy fresh fruit and veg when it is in season – it will taste better and be less expensive than produce bought out of season!
4. If there are any leftovers use them up. If you know you won’t use them up in time freeze them if you can. Some foods taste better when cooked for a second time e.g. bolognaise sauce and roasted potatoes.
5. If fresh fruit or veg are past their best use them in stir fries, soups, stews, smoothies, pies, muffins or cakes. You don’t have to use your veg just in savory dishes or your fruit in sweet dishes as apples for example can add a bit of sweetness to soup and the end of a butternut squash works well as an ingredient in tea bread.
6. If you have some outside space grow your own berries. They are so easy to grow and will produce year after year. You don’t need to add any fertilisers, pesticides or food miles to them!
7. If you don’t have any outside space or even if you do, foraging is free and in the summer even the most inexperienced forager will probably find blackberries fairly easily.
8. Grow your own herbs. Whether it is on a windowsill or in your garden they will save you money over shop bought packaged fresh herbs. Certain herbs such as rosemary, mint, lemon balm and lavender come back year after year and are very little effort. If you are a herbal tea fan fresh herbs are so much nicer than those dried for teabags!
9. Eat in – although eating out can be a lovely experience inviting friends over for dinner can be equally as nice, plus it is probably costs the same or less and you are in charge of the ingredients. It’s even better when they return the favour!
10. Buy long lasting foods e.g. rice in bulk. This saves on packaging and is likely to work out cheaper. Make sure you shop around for a good deal though!

So the main points to remember are to where possible / practical make it yourself, grow it yourself, forage, use expensive ingredients sparingly, buy fresh foods in season, buy long lasting foods in bulk, eat in and avoid food waste.

I’m sure there are lots more ways to eat ethically on a budget and I would love to hear your hints and tips!

About the author: Zoe Morrison writes and edits Eco Thrifty Living a blog about slashing her spending but not her principles! You can find Eco Thrifty Living on both Facebook and Twitter.

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