The need for fast healthy meals is real. If you ask most people why they eat out multiple times a week, they will usually say that they need food that is fast, cheap, convenient or just doesn’t take any effort because they’re too tired to cook. I get it! We all have those days at least every now and then. While planning for busy days ahead of time is ideal, it’s simply not always possible. That’s why it’s so important to have the ingredients for fast healthy meals on hand so that you can pull something together right in your own kitchen quicker and more cheaply than you can go through the drive-thru. 

Basic Convenience Ingredients

Here’s a look at some of what I call “basic convenience ingredients” that I always try to keep around. Having these items on standby makes fast healthy meals a snap.

Please Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included in this post. You can read my disclosure policy here.

• Amy’s Organic Refried Black Beans – (affiliate link) After having tried many different brands of refried black beans, I firmly believe that these are the best canned version out there. 
• Tortillas – I highly recommend Mission Foods Carb Balance Tortillas (Flour, Whole Wheat or Spinach Herb)
• Frozen vegetables – Especially corn, peas and green beans
• Fresh vegetables – Red peppers, spinach, kale, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes (bake ahead of time and keep for when needed in the refrigerator)
• Salad mix – Spring mix is my favorite
• Salsa
• Beans – Canned or pre-made and frozen (black, garbanzo and dark red kidney beans are my staples)
• Quinoa – Pre-make and keep in the refrigerator
• Brown rice – Pre-make and keep in the refrigerator
• Guacamole single serving packs
• Baked or grilled chicken – Pre-made 
• Lentil or whole wheat pasta
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Walnuts
• Green and/or kalamata olives

Examples of Fast Healthy Meals 

Here are ideas for some of the fast healthy meals that these basic convenience ingredients can make. 

Pre-Made Bowls (5 minutes) 

• Pre-made brown rice
• Black beans
• Corn 
• Protein (other than beans) – Baked or grilled chicken, tofu or sirloin steak
• Salsa
• Toppings – The sky is the limit! Possibilities include guacamole, sour cream or plain yogurt, shredded cheese and Chipotle Mayo Sauce

Pasta with Vegetables and a Protein (10 minutes) 

• Lentil or whole wheat pasta
• Stir-fried vegetables in olive oil – Possibilities include broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers, onions and carrots
• Protein – Baked or grilled chicken or tofu (cooked with vegetables in olive oil)
• Lemon juice and olive oil for flavoring
• Pinch of sea salt

Vegetable and Protein Wrap (5 minutes)

• Baked or grilled Chicken or tofu (cooked with vegetables in olive oil)
• Stir-fried vegetables in olive oil – Possibilities include red peppers, mushrooms and wilted spinach
• Tortilla
• Green olives (added after everything has been put on tortilla)

Rice and Beans (Less than 5 minutes)

• Pre-made brown rice
• Red kidney or black beans

Salad with Protein (5 minutes)

• Salad mix
• Cucumber, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and carrots
• Baked or grilled chicken, pan-fried tempeh, garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or kidney beans. ***Note, if I’m putting tempeh in a salad, I put it in the Delish Knowledge marinade from The Great Big Vegan Salad before pan-frying it. This can be cooked ahead of time. 
• Lemon juice and olive oil dressing
• Other potential toppings include pumpkin seeds, kalamata olives or sunflower seeds

Black Bean and Spinach Quesadilla (5 minutes)

• Tortillas 
• Refried black beans
• Spinach
• Guacamole to spread on top

Smothered Sweet Potato (5 minutes)

• Pre-baked sweet potato (re-heated in microwave)
• Black beans
• Salsa

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad (5 minutes)

• Kale
• Quinoa
• Walnuts
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Pinch of salt

Bottom Line on Fast Healthy Meals

These are just a few examples of the healthy convenience ingredients that you can have on hand as well as the fast healthy meals they can make. All of the ingredients except the fresh vegetables and pre-cooked meat and grains can be kept for a while and used when needed. Since Thursday night is usually leftover night in my house, if I have any fresh vegetables, or pre-cooked meat or grains that haven’t been used by that point, we’ll use them then.  

The bottom line is that all of these meals can be made in less than 10 minutes, which is usually faster than you can drive to a fast-food restaurant and go through the drive-thru. On top of that, these healthy options taste delicious and cost much less. 

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If you’re having trouble getting inspired to declutter your home, here’s one potential motivator. Think about all of the money you can save! If nothing else gets you going, maybe that will. When I started decluttering back in the winter, it was because I had had enough. I was done with all the stuff in my surroundings clogging up my physical and mental space. What I didn’t know and have come to quickly find out was how much money I would save as a result. And I’m not even done yet! 

Because living abundantly through being frugal is so important to me, if I’d thought about it in this way earlier, it might have motivated me to do it sooner. If the same is true for you, I hope what I’ve learned will help you.

You Can Find What You Need When You Need It

This is no small thing! I’ve kept a tally. I’ve been at this for several months and have easily already saved well over $150 on things I didn’t buy. These were things I thought I needed simply because I couldn’t find what I needed when I needed them because they were hidden under piles of other stuff. 

The dumbbell that I was getting ready to replace because I hadn’t been able to find it? Found! Underneath old pillows in the floor of my closet that I’d hung on to because I thought I might need them some day. In reality, no one would ever sleep on those old, dirty things and they were just keeping me from seeing what I really needed to see. 

The gift bags and tissue paper that I knew I had plenty of somewhere but couldn’t see where they should have been? Found! Underneath the old rolls of wrapping paper that had remnants left on them but wouldn’t have been able to wrap anything. 

The spices I was getting ready to buy AGAIN even though I knew I had bought them fairly recently? Found! Behind jars of other spices that I had duplicates of because I kept replacing them when I couldn’t find what I needed!  

You get the point…

You May Be Able to Sell Things That You’re Not Using

Decluttering your home is different than organizing. Decluttering is getting rid of things that you don’t use or need. Organizing is putting the things that you do have in an order that makes them easier to find and use. If you’re truly decluttering, the things that you’re getting rid of may no longer be useful to you, but they may be useful to someone else. That means that selling them through Craig’s List, Facebook Marketplace or in a good old-fashioned yard sale might be an option. 

If You Have a Clutter-Free Outlook, You Probably Won’t Be Buying as Much

While decluttering doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll become a minimalist, you will probably figure out fairly quickly that less can be more. As you declutter your home, I feel certain that you will start looking more critically at the things that you’re considering bringing into the house in the first place. That doesn’t mean that you won’t ever buy something again just because you want it, but it will become more of the exception than the rule. For this, your wallet will thank you! 

Decluttering Your Kitchen May Encourage You to Cook at Home More

If opening your pantry or a kitchen cabinet door makes you feel so queasy from the mess that you immediately call for take-out, it’s time to declutter. Getting rid of that mess can make cooking enjoyable again and something that you may want to do more often. Not only is this better for your bank account, but it will be better for your health as well.

Decluttering May Prevent You from Having to Buy a Bigger Home

Talk about a money saver! This sounds pretty extreme, but it is a possibility. In fact, I would strongly suggest the next time that you get dissatisfied with the space that you have in your current home, that you clean out a closet. If your satisfaction level doesn’t start going up, then begin taking it room by room. After you’ve decluttered pretty much your entire house, if you still feel like you need more space, it might be time to start looking. My prediction is that you may realize that you don’t need more space, you just need less stuff.

You May Find Money and/or Gift Cards That You Forgot About

The idea of finding money and/or gift cards may seem random, but I’m here to say that it can happen. I recently found money in old purses that I thought I couldn’t part with for one reason or another, and I found gift cards tucked away in drawers. I can’t promise it will happen every time, but certainly if the clutter has been building up, your chances are pretty good.  

Decluttering Can Prevent Costly Mistakes in Other Areas of Your Life

Decluttering is just that powerful! Have you ever left the house so frazzled in the morning that you ended up making a big mistake at work? Or has living in a cluttered house ever worn on you so much mentally that you treated other members of your family badly?  All of those mistakes can come with a steep price. Strained relationships, lost confidence in you at work, and poor mental health overall are serious and very real possible consequences of not learning to declutter. Again, I speak from experience here. It is amazing how much lighter and more together you can feel not having to wade through a bunch of needless stuff just to get to the dryer or to get to your shoes. 

Bottom Line on Decluttering Your Home

The fairly simple but often seemingly overwhelming act of decluttering your home won’t automatically make you a millionaire. But, it may very well make you feel like you’ve hit the jackpot. As we’ve seen here, decluttering can help you save money in quite a few ways, but most importantly it will allow you to simply make more space in your life for what truly matters. 

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When it comes to eating healthy on a budget, let’s get one thing straight from the beginning. It’s not about clipping coupons. Yes, there is some of that, but in general, that isn’t the key to success when it comes to eating healthy in a way that fits your budget. If you’re truly serious about wanting to eat healthier but you need or want to keep costs low, it is possible, but you may have to rethink not only what you eat, but how you eat. As someone who has always kept my family’s food budget low, even with different dietary needs; has been caught by many of the “low-cost” food traps out there; and has managed to figure out how to keep costs low and nutritional value high, I’m happy to share these tips with you.  

My Family’s Food Budget

First, in the spirit of transparency, I want to share what my family’s food budget is with you. Overall, we currently keep our food expenses to the USDA’s Low-Cost monthly food budget of $456 for my husband and I and about $300 a month for my 15-year-old still growing, eat everything in the house son. His cost is between the Low- and Moderate-Cost budgets. 

That’s a total food budget of $756 a month for my husband and I to eat healthy, nutritious food and for my son to eat like a growing, athletic, ravenous teenager with somewhat healthy eating habits. A family of four with very young children should cost about the same on the Low-Cost budget and about $125 more a month with slightly older children. (But not teenage boys. They are different beasts altogether.)

Now, onto my tips for how we do this…

Develop a Budget and Stick with It

First and foremost, you need to know what your food budget is for the month. 

How to do this

1. Do this as part of developing a general budget that takes into account all other fixed and discretionary expenses.
2. To get a good idea of what to expect your food budget to realistically be, you can use the Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels for 2021 as a guide. 
3. Consider your food budget as an exercise in abundance, not lack. It’s a tool that allows you to take control of your health and your finances, do the things that you want to do and make sure that the way you’re spending your money aligns with your values.
4. Look at your food budget as both an adjective and a verb. While budget as an adjective means inexpensive, budget as a verb means that you’re allowing for a specific amount of money to go toward something. This is a big difference in meaning, and I look at budgeting for food as a combination of the two. 

Change Your Mindset

Unless you have unlimited funds to put toward your food, there is going to be a trade-off. Eating healthy on a budget is going to require some time, effort and planning.

How to do this

1. Decide that putting your food dollars toward healthy options is a priority. 
2. Recognize that pre-prepared and ultra-processed food is going to be the exception rather than the rule. Your grocery cart and bags are going to be filled with healthy ingredients, not the snacks or meals that you’re going to eat in their final form.

Cook at Home 

One of the easiest ways to eat healthy on a budget is to cook at home the majority of the time. The pandemic forced this on many people, but the pull of the convenience of eating out can easily creep back into our routines. Cooking at home gives you more control over the food that you eat, and it simply costs less. 

How to do this

1. Don’t eat out more than once a week. ***This is being liberal. I strongly recommend no more than twice a month.
2. Cook from whole foods as much as possible. While ultra-processed food is often cheaper than whole foods, the effects that it has on our health carry a heavy price both for the short- and long-term. In many cases, you also get more servings and uses from starting with whole foods than you do with ultra-processed food. This ends up costing less in the long run. 
3. Batch cook. Make most of your meals for the week in one or two cooking sessions. 
4. Make homemade snacks. Rather than spend $7-$10 a week or more on chips, snack cakes and other packaged snacks, use that money or less to make homemade granola or protein bars or any of the other snack ideas here.
5. Make ingredients such as seasoning mixes, sauces and soups from scratch. 
6. Make cooking a family affair. Get the entire family involved, and it becomes more of a fun activity than a chore.
7. Find 2-3 healthy recipe websites that reliably offer plenty of options that fit your family’s needs. Check out my suggestions for getting started here. 

Plan Meals

Meal planning is one of the critical first steps to getting your health and food budget under control. I go into much more detail on why and how you should do this as well as great tools to help you along the way, but here are some quick tips to get you started. 

How to do this

1. Plan your meals for the entire week or even the month. 
2. Do this with your calendar so that you know which nights will be busier and on which nights you’ll have more time. 
3. Include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks. 
4. Plan your meals around the sales being offered at your grocery store. Most stores offer a weekly online sales circular, as well as some type of benefits program with special discounts for people who sign up. Use the deals on meat, produce and canned or frozen vegetables to plan your meals. 

Plan for How to Use Leftover Ingredients

Planning for how to use leftover ingredients goes hand in hand with planning your meals.

How to do this

1. If you know that you’re cooking a dish that only uses half of a can of diced tomatoes, be sure and plan to fix another recipe that uses the other half. Or double your recipe and freeze it for another week.
2. Mapping out what you’re eating for the entire week allows you to know where leftover ingredients can be used for another dish. 

Make a Shopping List

Making a shopping list will keep you focused in the store or at the farmers’ market. It will keep you from buying things that you don’t need as well as make sure that you get everything that you do. Let’s face it, when it comes time to cook, it’s much easier to get motivated to do it if you know that you have everything you need on hand as opposed to having to go to the store first.

How to do this

1. Once you’ve planned your meals, make sure that you have every ingredient that you’ll need. If you don’t, add them to your shopping list. 
2. Do one larger shopping trip a month where you stock up on staples based on a list of the standard items that you use. Feel free to access my free Food Inventory and Shopping List template here.
3. Have a general idea of the price of each item before you shop. You can keep a record of it in your shopping list so that it’s always there for you to reference. Knowing the prices gives you an idea of how much the entire trip will cost ahead of time. If you see that it’s going over your budget, you can make adjustments before you even enter the store. 

Buy in Bulk

Items that are good for buying in bulk when you’re eating healthy on a budget include the following. 

• Whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa)
• Legumes
• Frozen vegetables
• Healthy flours
• Nuts
• Seeds

Know What to Buy Organic

While it’s good to buy organic as much as possible, it may not always make the most sense financially. That’s why it’s important to know which produce is and isn’t the most heavily sprayed with chemicals. 

How to do this

1. The Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen List helps to take the guess work out of trying to figure what’s worth the extra cost of organic. If it’s on the list, buy organic.  
2. On the flip side, the Clean 15 List lets you know which conventionally grown produce is probably okay to eat.

Reduce the Amount of Meat That You Eat

If you eat meat, chances are that you could and should reduce the amount that you eat. This is both for financial reasons and for your health. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends eating 3.5 to 4 ounces of meat, poultry and eggs a day. That is not for every meal. That is a day. Or you can look at it as 26 ounces a week for a 2,000 calorie a day healthy eating pattern. Whichever way you look at it, you could probably do with a lot less meat, which in turn, will benefit your bank account. If you need suggestions for how to prepare more plant-based meals, I offer a look at what I consider to be the best vegan recipe blogs and websites here.

How to do this

1. If you currently eat meat 2-3 meals a day, cut back to one. 
2. If you currently eat meat every day, have 3 days a week that are meatless. 
3. Eat more legumes.
4. Eat high-protein pasta made from legumes such as lentil, edamame and mung bean. 
5. Use the money that you save to buy meat that has been sustainably and humanely raised. 

Eat with the Seasons

Whether you buy your food from the farmers’ market or the grocery store, eating what’s in season is going to be the least expensive way to buy fresh produce. If you want to go more in-depth on why this is so important and how to do it, be sure and read my post on eating seasonally. 

How to do this

1. Look at the sales ads for your grocery store. The foods that are in season will usually be on sale or at least will be cheaper than other produce. 
2. Go to the farmers’ market. Everything there is in season. It’s also important to learn which of the vendors grow their items conventionally and which are only organic. Again, not everything has to be organic. 

Keep it Simple

Our taste buds have become so accustomed to artificial and intense flavors that it’s easy to think of a simply prepared meat, vegetable and whole grain meal as being bland. It’s not though! You don’t have to use a bunch of exotic ingredients or artificial flavors to make a meal taste delicious. Keep it simple – the way nature intended it, and your taste buds will adjust. 

How to do this

1. Learn to use spices to flavor your food. 
2. Learn to grow and use herbs to flavor your food. 

Buy Frozen

The term “frozen food” takes on a whole new meaning when we’re talking about eating healthy on a budget. In this sense, you’re going to bypass the frozen “TV dinners” and head straight for the good stuff.  

How to do this

1. Buy frozen produce. While buying fresh produce seems like it would be far superior to frozen, there’s probably not as much difference in the nutritional value as you may think. Dietician Kim Barrier says that fresh fruits and vegetables start losing some of their nutrients once picked, so the longer they’re in transport to the grocery and/or sit in the produce section the more they lose. “Frozen fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, are picked at peak season and immediately processed, which locks in the nutrients.”  In addition to being less expensive, frozen produce can also be more accessible than fresh. 
2. Buy meat that’s already frozen. This is also often cheaper than buying fresh. 

Freeze Leftovers and Use Them

Wasted food is wasted money.  Freezing leftovers is by far one of the easiest ways to eat healthy on a budget. 

How to do this

1. Freeze leftovers in individual portion sizes so that you only thaw what you need. 
2. Have one week a month where you eat frozen leftovers at least once or twice. This will keep your freezer cleaned out and give you one or two “free” meals at the same time. 

Buy Generic or Store Brand

If you’re eating healthier, you’re automatically eliminating most ultra-processed foods. That means that what you’re buying from a store is primarily whole foods. In these cases, you’re usually not going to notice a taste difference if you buy generic or a store brand. 

How to do this

1. Look for whether the store offers organic options for store brand items where that’s needed. 
2. Test store brand items out in small quantities before stocking up on them to make sure that you’re satisfied with the taste and quality. 

Use Coupons

See how far down the list this is when it comes to eating healthy on a budget? That’s because, for the most part, coupons are for ultra-processed food. 

How to do this

1. Eliminating all ultra-processed food can be difficult. For those few items that you do buy in this category, keep an eye out for coupons.
2. Use coupons to buy quality household products made with healthier ingredients and materials. 

Bottom Line on Eating Healthy on a Budget

While you may not be able to incorporate all of these tips, implementing even a few of them will go a long way toward making eating healthy on a budget a possibility. The suggestions here were intended to give a quick and easy high-level glimpse at how to do each of these things. For many of them, I go into more depth and detail in other posts. Be sure and check those out by clicking on the associated links included throughout this post. 

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There’s a reason why cauliflower is everywhere these days. It’s so versatile! It’s a vegetable and a carbohydrate substitute all rolled into one. While I was late in being convinced of the merits of broccoli, I’ve always loved cauliflower and am glad to see it get its time in the spotlight. Besides, the health benefits of cauliflower are so numerous, what’s not to love?

What is Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, which means that it belongs to the Brassica family². Other cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, bok choy, kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Cauliflower is a cool weather crop and is in season in the spring and fall³ – before it gets too hot and after the heat of summer has passed. An interesting fact is that the white part of the plant that we eat is called a “curd³,” which makes sense because that’s the word that always comes to mind when I see it. 

Nutrients in Cauliflower

The nutrients in cauliflower are numerous. In fact, it’s ranked 24 on a list of what the CDC calls Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables. These fruits and vegetables provide, “on average, 10 percent or more daily value per 100 kcal of 17 qualifying nutrients.” Those nutrients are potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B₆, B₁₂, C, D, E, and K¹. 

Health Benefits of Cauliflower

Of course, the fact that cauliflower is low in net carbs is why it has suddenly surged in popularity recently. Because it’s so versatile, it can easily be used as a substitute for rice, mashed potatoes and even pizza crust. While I’m more of a fan of making healthy eating part of your lifestyle and not a huge supporter of any so-called “diet,” the fact is that many of us eat way too many starchy foods that offer little to no nutritional value. One way of addressing the many health problems that can be caused by this is portion control. Another, and the main way that I’ve found back to better health, is adding more nutrient-dense foods like cauliflower and reducing the foods that don’t add much benefit. 

One of the reasons that cauliflower is so low in net carbs is that it’s high in fiber. Eating more fiber helps to lower our risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and gastrointestinal disease⁵. The primary way of figuring out net carbs in a food is to subtract the amount of fiber from the amount of carbohydrates. That means that our example above of 1 cup of raw cauliflower has approximately 3.2 grams of net carbs. 

Besides being high in fiber, the number of other nutrients associated with vegetables in the Brassica family² mean that there are many additional health benefits of cauliflower as well. Studies show that the vegetables in this family help prevent oxidative stress, stimulate the immune system and decrease the risk of cancer⁶. According to the Cleveland Clinic, these include breast, pancreatic, bladder, lung, prostate and colon cancers². 

How to Prepare Cauliflower

Here are some of the healthiest ways that you can prepare cauliflower. 

• Steam it to have as a side dish alone or with other vegetables.
• Roast it to have as a side dish alone or with other vegetables.
• Sauté it in olive or avocado oil in a stir-fry.
• Raw. Even as a child, cauliflower was one of the few vegetables that I would willingly eat raw because it was somewhat crunchy. You can eat it raw by itself, on salads or simply dipped in some type of sauce or dressing. 

Other, and probably more exciting, ways to prepare cauliflower include the following.

• Cauliflower rice. This can be frozen flat in baggies and easily thawed by steaming it or placing in a covered sautépan and stirring frequently. 
• Mashed cauliflower – A delicious substitute for mashed potatoes. 
• Cauliflower pizza crust

Budget Benefits of Cauliflower

If you’re buying whole, fresh cauliflower, the most budget-friendly way to do it is to buy it in-season. That again is in the spring or fall. You can usually find a large head at that time for under $3. If it’s not in-season, it usually costs between $3-$4. Depending on how it’s fixed, I usually get 4-5 servings out of a large head. 

If you’re trying to limit chemical exposure to your food while also keeping grocery costs as low as possible, it’s important to know that cauliflower is on the Environmental Working Group’s Clean Fifteen list. That means that its pesticide-load is low and doesn’t necessarily need to be organic.

One of the biggest questions I had when I started making cauliflower rice was whether it was cheaper or just as cheap to buy the pre-riced fresh or frozen versions rather than to make it from a head. While you can buy it frozen cheaper in bulk at a shopping club, unless it’s on sale, you will usually get more for your money if you buy a whole head fresh and mince it yourself. 

If having the time or energy to cut up the cauliflower seems to be a challenge for you, you can easily prep it over the weekend and then quickly mince it when you’re ready for it. You can also mince it when you do the rest of your food prep for the week and have it ready as a quick and easy convenience food whenever you need it. 

Bottom Line on the Health Benefits of Cauliflower

However you prepare it, cauliflower is a great budget-friendly vegetable to have as part of your regular eating habits. The nutritional value packed into one head will always make it one of the healthiest foods available, whether it’s part of the latest diet trend or not.

Sources

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Defining Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables: A Nutrient Density Approach. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down
2. Cleveland Clinic. Crunchy and Cruciferous: You’ll Love This Special Family of Veggies. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/crunchy-and-cruciferous-youll-love-this-special-family-of-veggies/
3. University of Illinois Extension. Watch Your Garden Grow: Cauliflower. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/veggies/cauliflower.cfm
4. USDA. Food Data Central. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1103345/nutrients
5. Anderson JW, Baird P, Davis RH Jr, Ferreri S, Knudtson M, Koraym A, Waters V, Williams CL. Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutr Rev. 2009 Apr;67(4):188-205. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x. PMID: 19335713. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19335713/
6. Kapusta-Duch J, Kope? A, Piatkowska E, Borczak B, Leszczy?ska T. The beneficial effects of Brassica vegetables on human health. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig. 2012;63(4):389-95. PMID: 23631258. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23631258/

The post Seasonal Produce Spotlight: The Health Benefits of Cauliflower appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

How does the topic of seasonal decorating belong in the health and wellness space? The answer is actually, perfectly. That’s because there are many mental benefits associated with decorating with the seasons, and it can easily be done for very little money. To fill us in on what those benefits are and how you can do it on a budget is DIY home decorating expert and Instagram Influencer Jodie Kammerer. She’s half of the Jodie and Julie team over at the The Design Twins, where she and her sister share their best tips for DIY home decorating.

Jodie’s Story

When it comes to the mental benefits of seasonal decorating and decorating on a budget in general, Jodie speaks from a place of experience. She loved to travel the world and didn’t even have a home of her own until she was nearly 40. That simply wasn’t part of her dream. 

When she did decide that she wanted a family, she gave up traveling and focused on her children. But, as she fully admits, it took a long time to find happiness in her home. “I was really unhappy and depressed. My husband had lost his job, and he spent years trying to create a new business, so our finances were completely deteriorated.” Meantime, Jodie was trying to make ends meet as a stay-at-home mom. “I didn’t have a new dream besides what was just connected to my family, my boys, and I was just really depressed because I was within the walls of my house without a budget and without any ideas.” 

Turning it around

It all turned around when she figured out that she could apply creativity to her own home and have projects that made her feel like she was accomplishing something even on a “tiny, nonexistent budget.” In fact, one of her first very inexpensive projects was no-sew drop cloth curtains. She still considers it to be one of her “best projects ever.” Jodie says that she never would have stretched herself creatively in that way if she’d had a sewing machine, known how to sew, or could have afforded fabric or pretty pre-made curtains. “The idea that I could buy drop cloths and transform my house with no skills just blew my mind!”

Transformation through chalk paint

Another transformational decorating discovery for Jodie was chalk paint. She says that every piece of furniture in her house was hand-me-down and mostly things that she didn’t like. “Chalk paint to me was another ‘aha moment,’ where you could take old furniture, not attractive furniture and make it into something that you love. Love is a strong word, but when you take something, ugly, and you transform it with your own two hands with literally probably $20 worth of paint, it becomes love.” 

Jodie says that piece changed the room and was part of what changed her life. “I don’t know if it really looks as good as I think it looks, but that sense of empowerment, that sense of happiness that you’ve been able to do something, you’ve been able to impact your space with just your own two hands.” From there, Jodie’s home decorating and Instagram business took off because, as it turns out, many of us want at least a bit of that sense of empowerment that Jodie was able to tap into. 

I like to have things that make every season feel special.

Jodie Kammerer

Mental Benefits of Seasonal Decorating

I will fully admit that before I found Jodie and Julie, I thought of seasonal decorating as a luxury. Something that I could look forward to doing when my far-off in the future grandkids come to visit but not something worth my time, energy or money right now. Thanks to the pandemic and being confined to my home and the same surroundings around the clock, I have changed my tune. This is the sort of mental shift that Jodie already made and that many of us are just now catching up to. 

Jodie says that seasonal decorating, and even decorating in general, lets us feel like we’re not stuck. “It’s so much more than just being stuck in that physical environment. It’s being stuck without options. We want to be empowered to change our mood, our outlook and our situation.” Seasonal decorating helps us do that on a manageable scale. 

Whether we’re in the middle of a pandemic or just stuck in a rut, very few of us do well with monotony. It’s draining and can suck the energy out of us. Jodie believes that change, even in a small amount, is invigorating. That’s where seasonal decorating comes in. It allows us to play, be creative and let our personalities come through. Jodie calls this being “whimsical,” but she also calls it a worthwhile investment. “This is spending time, money and energy on creating happiness. Happiness and making family memories that are within the home.” 

Joy and anticipation

Jodie remembers that she used to look forward with great joy and anticipation to traveling outside of her house. Now, she gets that same type of excitement about decorating for the seasons. “I don’t feel that I’m missing out because I have brought that anticipation and excitement to my home and to my family. I focus on the joy that I can create within my home.” She does this by making sure that there’s something to look forward to and to celebrate for every season. 

Tips for seasonal decorating on a budget

When it comes to tips for seasonal decorating on a budget, Jodie has plenty. 

1. Decorate with faux flowers, plants or greenery. These are inexpensive and can be re-used in different ways from season to season. 
2. Use pillows to easily switch up your décor. Jodie suggests buying a few pillows with covers that can slip on and off. She says that switching out two different pillowcases for a season can completely change your color scheme – especially if you keep everything else fairly neutral.
3. Buy fresh, seasonal flowers. They’ll usually last at least a week and will do wonders for boosting your mood. 
4. Create a vignette or a small grouping of objects that tell a story or have something in common. This can be done on a tray, a tabletop or any other smaller space and is a way to make disconnected or unrelated items look like they go together. For example, you might have small items that are all a “spring” color that aren’t otherwise related. You can also tie items together with some of your faux florals or greenery.
5. Don’t forget wall décor. Jodie loves to change out wreaths on her walls for the seasons as well as to put faux flowers or greenery around frames or signs. She also swaps out items in a gallery wall as another way to change up a space with the season. 
6. Change out your curtains. This is an easy way to alter a room’s look so that it reflects the season outside. Once you make the initial time and/or money investment in the curtains, it’s just a matter of storing them and possibly steaming them when you’re ready to switch them out. 

Resources

Jodie recommends the following resources for seasonal decorating. 

• Pillows and pillow covers – Ikea (great inserts and very affordable), Etsy (can usually buy pillow covers with or without inserts), HomeGoods, TJ Maxx or of course, you can always shop local.
• Faux flowers, plants or greenery and wall décor – Craft stores such as Hobby Lobby, JoAnn, and Michaels. Jodie recommends shopping at these stores ahead of the season because they often have 40-50% off sales at that point. If you wait until the season starts, the sales go away. If you wait until after the season, items are picked over. 
• Items for a vignette or collection – Dollar or hardware stores and craft stores such as the ones previously mentioned. 
• Fresh, seasonal flowers – You can get these at the grocery store or at your local farmers’ market for under $10. 

Lean on your community

As we’ve seen here, seasonal decorating has many mental benefits and is something that can be done inexpensively and on a small scale. If decorating with the seasons is something that you already do, what are your favorite ways to do it? Let us know in the comments below so that we can all get ideas. 

The post The Mental Benefits of Seasonal Decorating appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Let’s be honest, no one likes to eat an even sort of mushy banana. BUT! There’s still so much that you can do with ripe bananas, and it’s a shame to let them go to waste. That’s true from both a food waste and money-saving perspective. By freezing bananas, you can save what you might normally throw away and use another day. 

What to Do with Frozen Bananas

My favorite way of using frozen bananas is to put them in smoothies. In fact, I prefer them in my smoothie. They give it a thicker and creamier consistency, which I love. 

You can also use frozen bananas for baking, and we’re not just talking about banana bread.  You can use them in pancakes, cookies, muffins, cakes and the list goes on. If you’re looking for ideas on how to bake with bananas, Crazy for Crust offers 66 Banana Recipes that give some delicious options. 

Bananas can also be used as a substitute for the following in baking:

• Fats such as butter or oils (I cup of mashed banana for 1 cup of the butter or oil)
• Eggs (1/4 cup of banana puree = 1 egg) ***frozen bananas need to be thawed
• Sugar (1 cup mashed banana = 1 cup sugar) *** frozen bananas need to be thawed

How to Freeze Bananas

Now that we’ve established that freezing bananas is a good thing to do, let’s get to how you do it. Bananas are best to freeze when they’re starting to turn brown and are a little softer but not too mushy. That said, I’ve frozen many a mushy one, and they turned out fine. Remember, the riper the banana, the sweeter it is.  

You have a few choices as to what form you freeze bananas in after you peel them.

Option 1: The whole banana. Good for smoothies. 

Option 2: Cut the banana in half. Good for smoothies. Since I only use half a banana in my smoothies, this is my preferred way to do it. 

Option 3: Cut the banana into slices. Good for baking. 

Freezing the whole banana or halves

1. Peel the banana.

2. Cut if you’re halving and put them into freezer bags.

3. Put the bag of bananas into the freezer. 

Freezing banana slices

1. Peel the banana.

2. Slice bananas so that they’re ¼-inch to ½-inch thick.

3. Lay banana slices flat on a cookie sheet. I usually just put them straight onto the cookie sheet, but if you’d prefer to cover the sheet with parchment paper, that works as well.  

4. Put the baking sheet into the freezer. Two hours is plenty of time for the bananas to become solid. 

5. Put the slices into a freezer bag. 

For both of these methods, it’s best to label your freezer bags with the date. Frozen bananas are best used within 6 months. 

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For many families, summer vacation will look much different this year than it may have in the past. I know that will be the case for my family. Because of budget constraints, safety concerns and not knowing what will be open when, planning for our vacation came to a screeching halt months ago. But now that things are opening back up, I know that we will need a change of scenery at some point this summer. That’s why we’ll be taking short trips – to break things up a bit and to discover more of the state we’re in. With gas prices lower this summer than they’ve been in a long time, road trips are going to be key for us. Here are some of the healthy and fun day trip ideas that we’re going to be following to keep our excursions budget-friendly and sanity-saving.

1. Develop a Day Trip Budget for the Summer 

Deciding on what your vacation spending can look like is a good idea anytime but especially right now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be spontaneous, but it does mean that you have a good idea of what is realistic for you without putting too much of a strain on things once the trip is over. If you begin by figuring out how much you can spend for the summer, you’ll know the types of activities that might be a possibility when you’re thinking about your day trip ideas.

Some of the things that you may want to think about for budgeting purposes include the following:

• If you’re going fishing, do you need to invest in new rods, fishing licenses or any other equipment?
• Will you need to pay entrance or other fees for any of the activities that you’re doing?
• Will boat or any other type of rentals be involved?
• How much gas is needed and what will that cost? (It’s probably best to assume a cent or two increase from current prices.)
• What food and other supplies might be needed?
• If you’re going somewhere to go shopping, should that cost be included in your trip budget or is that accounted for somewhere else?

2. Plan For When Day Trips Are Going to Happen

I don’t know about you, but my family is very guilty of starting out the beginning of every summer by vowing to “take a day here and there” to go do something different and fun. While we usually get a week-long vacation in, the shorter trips rarely happen. That’s because we don’t plan for them. We let the weeks slip by, and if day trips aren’t scheduled in, the summer is gone before we know it.

Deciding on the types of places that you want to go will also help in figuring out whether you’re going to go on a weekend or if you’re going to take a day during the week. At a time when social distancing is still very important, that could be an important factor in what you want to do and what you’re able to do. Once you’ve decided when you want to go, put those days on the calendar so that everyone can schedule their work and other activities accordingly.

3. Day Trip Ideas in Your State

Coming out of the recent crisis, travel writer Sonja Hoyt from over at The Happy Travel Bug believes that it’s best to start with small road trips in your state. She says this is “a really good opportunity to learn about your home state and all it has to offer.” If you don’t know where to start with that, simply do an internet search for “the best hidden things to do” in your state. This will more than likely give you a list of things to do or see that may be more on the absurd or novelty side or that may include hidden historic treasures that you didn’t even know were there.

I’m using the results from this search to combine things that are in similar areas of the state so that we can devote a day here and there throughout the summer to exploring as many of the sites as possible in each area. I’m also finding other things to do in those areas so that we can pack as much into one day as possible. Other good internet searches to get day trip ideas include “day trips near me” and “fun day trips near me.”

4. Learn About the Sites or Areas That You’ll be Going To

There’s no doubt that you’ll get more out of your day trips if you take the time to learn about the places you’ll be going to or what you’ll be seeing or doing. This also lets you build a sense of anticipation so that you can reap many of the same mental benefits from traveling as you would if you were taking a larger trip. In addition, it gives you time to figure out whether there are related activities that you would be able to do that would enhance the experience even more. We’re talking about the kinds of things that when you get somewhere, you might say, “I wish I had known because we could have done…”

5. Pack Healthy Food and Snacks

One of the many wonderful things about a good day trip is that you can control what you eat. Packing a cooler full of healthy food and a bag of good snacks is very doable. Yes, you’ll probably want to throw in some extra special items, whether it’s packing them in what you take or allowing for a stop at a local ice cream shop or other type of well-known local place to eat. But at least you won’t have to rely on convenience stores and fast food for everything.

In fact, taking your own food gives you a lot more flexibility. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing if someone gets hungry, you have more options for being able to take advantage of surprise picnic spots or parks that you may find along the way, and you don’t lose time by having to look for just anywhere to eat.

Packing relatively healthy foods also makes sure that everyone has the energy they need to be able to enjoy the day and that no one feels “icky” after it’s over.

6. Explore Your City

Sometimes we get so busy traveling to other places that we forget to explore what’s in our own backyard. This is the perfect summer to play tourist in your own town or city. Focus your day trip on the things around you where you’ve always said, “We need to do that” or “We need to go there sometime.” Finding the hidden and no-so-hidden treasures near you will help you appreciate where you live all the more.

Budget Benefits of Day Trips

In addition to helping you design fun experiences, these day trip ideas will also be much easier on your budget. With gas prices as low as they are, being able to pack your own food instead of having to buy it all on the road, potentially doing activities that are free or cost much less and not having to stay somewhere overnight, the cost savings are enormous. That’s something that we could all benefit from right now as we navigate the lingering unknowns of our current crisis.

Just because this summer’s travel may look different than what we’ve done before, doesn’t mean we can’t create memories. In fact, “the summer of day trips,” may just be a time that your family talks about fondly for the rest of your lives.

The post Healthy and Fun Day Trip Ideas appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Have you ever had periods of time where you simply feel right? We’re talking both mentally and physically. You feel in balance, you feel strong, you feel… well. That’s what I call Real Health.

If you have felt that or you still do, this website is geared toward helping you maintain that incredible state of being. If you haven’t felt that in a long time or maybe ever or when you did, it was fleeting, helping you achieve your version of Real Health is what Peppermint Tea & Me is all about. That’s why we need to define what Real Health is as well as lay out some actionable first steps that you can take to achieve it.

Please Note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included on this page. 

What is Real Health?

As you’ll be reminded frequently if you hang out in this space regularly, I believe that Real Health is achieved by recognizing that every part of us – mind, body and nutrition – is connected. Monique Class, MS, APRN, BC agrees. She’s a board-certified family nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist in holistic health at The Institute for Functional Medicine.

In a conversation about holistic health, Monique told me that “the mind, body and spirit (if you want to use that word), are all connected and are a unified whole. There’s bi-directional communication, meaning what happens to the body influences the mind and the emotions and what happens in the mind influences the body.”

This is understanding that when it comes to our health and overall wellbeing, causes and effects are not simply either physical or “mental.” Most of the time, they’re both. Melissa Grabau, PhD reminds us in her book, The Yoga of Food: Wellness From the Inside Out (affiliate link) that “How we feel day to day, our general health and energy levels, and our overall sense of safety and peace in our own flesh have an enormous impact on how we feel about ourselves and our capacity to function effectively in the world.”

Role of Nutrition

So, what does all of this have to do with nutrition? Everything! Julie McGregor, MD works with the Integrative Medical Clinic of North Carolina and is a board-certified internist and nephrologist trained in integrative medicine. She told me that, “Nutrition is a part of building up our physical cells, but it’s also an emotional choice and has a lot of overtones. What we choose to eat has to do with where we are emotionally and also then leads to an emotional response in our body.”

This connection can lead to a healthy, well-oiled machine when it comes to our body and our mind. Failure to recognize this relationship though can lead to us living a life that is less than our best or even worse, spiraling through physical or mental issues that we have more control over than we may think.

Common Barriers to Real Health

According to our experts, the most common barriers that many women run into when it comes to achieving Real Health can really be narrowed down to two primary areas.

1. Unhealthy relationship with food.

Both Monique and Julie say this is one of the primary issues they see when women especially don’t recognize how connected everything really is. Some of the primary reasons for this unhealthy relationship can include emotions, social or community expectations, or programming.

Monique gives the example of coming home at 8:00 p.m., going straight to the freezer, pulling out the ice cream and eating it until the whole container is gone. If you do that every night, it becomes a pattern. “We know physiologically that every time you do that pattern, you create wiring in the brain. It’s called neuroplasticity. So, neurons that fire together wire together. Every time you do something over and over again or choose a particular food over and over again, you get hardwired into the brain where that choice becomes automatic and not conscious.”

The same concept is true of emotions. If you reach for chocolate or something sweet every time you feel anxious or stressed or alcohol every time you feel angry, you’re hardwiring your brain to react to those emotions with food.

2. Lack of self-care.

Julie says this is a huge issue for women because we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect in every aspect of our lives. To have perfect careers, to keep a perfect home, to be a perfect mom, to be perfect daughters and to be perfect friends.

“There’s a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves, and the one who ends up coming last is ourselves. So many of my female patients who are in their 50s or 60s come to me fatigued, worn out, completely depleted, having not concentrated on wellness for themselves. They were out trying to achieve perfection in every component of their lives for, you know, 50 or 60 years. Then, they just can’t keep going because there isn’t that attention of self-care or focus on wellness for oneself.”

She’s found that this often leads to obesity, depression, thyroid disorders and general physical unwellness that plagues us around the time of menopause. “This, coincidentally, is a lot of times when we’re retiring or when we’re empty nesters, or during these transitions when the adrenaline stops and the body is just feeling the effects of decades of neglect.”

First Steps Toward Achieving Real Health

To shift away from these barriers, there are several first steps that you can take to achieve Real Health.

1. Love yourself and be happy with yourself just as you are.

There may be things that you want to change, but Monique says that accepting and loving where you are right now has to come first. Then you can identify and become aware of the areas that you want to change in a healthy, realistic way.

2. Carve out time for self-care.

We may not be able to exercise for an hour every day, get a massage once a week or meditate for 30 minutes every morning, but there are plenty of things that we can do. It’s all part of making sure that we’re the best versions of ourselves now and that we don’t end up tired and depleted when we finally do feel like we have the time.

3. Become aware of the choices that you’re making.

According to Monique, this is critical for making any kind of change in your life. She suggests that as you reach for that ice cream every night, that you notice the behavior and check in with yourself and think about what you’re feeling, what you’re eating for, or what you’re hungry for. More times than not, you’ll find that you’re not hungry for the food, you’re looking for something else.

The first step, she says, isn’t taking that food or behavior away. You have to first recognize the behavior and then begin to figure out what you’re really hungry for or what you really need in that moment. At that point, you can substitute the behaviors that truly address those needs for the ones that aren’t serving you well.

4. Drink more water

You may think that you don’t like water, but your body does. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey says our bodies are made up of up to 60% water, so we have to have it to survive. Since we want to do more than just survive, we want to thrive, Julie puts this step toward the top of the list for achieving Real Health and adopting an attitude of overall wellness.

5. Get better sleep.

Julie says this has to be a priority. I’m the first to acknowledge that this isn’t always as easy to do as it sounds, but there are things you can do to not only make sure that you’re getting the amount of sleep you need but that it’s quality sleep as well.

6. Move as much as you can.

Here are some ways that you can work movement into your day, whether you have 30 minutes at a time or 5-10 minutes here and there.

Real Health on a Budget

“That all sounds great, but even if I can find the time to take care of myself and to eat more healthy, nutritious food, I can’t afford it.” If that’s what you’re thinking, I’m here to ask you to be willing to think differently. Gym memberships are not a requirement for achieving Real Health and neither is having someone else to watch your kids while you focus on yourself.

Yes, whole, nutritious food is going to be more expensive than a 99-cent fast food burger, but in the long run, it evens out. Without health issues that could have been prevented with different lifestyle choices, you’ll likely save money in a number of ways. These include doctor’s visits and prescriptions as well as not missing work or losing opportunities among many others.

Real Health on a budget isn’t about an attitude of lack, it’s about an attitude of abundance. It’s being grateful for what you have and recognizing that healthy can be affordable. It’s also allocating your dollars in a way that supports your priorities rather than automatically spending money in ways that don’t serve you well. 

Mind + Body + Nutrition + On a Budget = Real Health

Julie sums it all up in a beautiful way. “How we exercise and what we choose for our physical wellbeing as far as movement and environment and choices about stretching or meditation, and our choices with our nutrition all affect how we think and our emotions. In turn, all of our emotions affect how we move, where we put our bodies and the choices we make for our physicality and our diet.”

Because of how entwined these factors are, Real Health looks different for everyone. Yes, the general steps outlined here are good places to start in achieving it, but Real Health is very individual. What it looks like for me probably won’t be the same for you. The goal for all of us though is to live in that place of personal wellness as much as possible and to draw on the strength and power that brings to live our best life possible.

The post What is Real Health? appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Stick with me on this. Too often we think of meal planning (if we think of it at all) as pure drudgery.

But, if we enter this undertaking with an attitude of abundance and appreciation for the fact that we get to be proactive and in control of what we’re going to put in our bodies for the next week and how much money we spend on that, we can experience a profound mental shift. Meal planning suddenly goes from being a mundane chore to a creative and exciting privilege. What makes it even more wonderful is how much money it saves us along the way!

What is Meal Planning

While I walk you through the crucial first steps of meal planning in this video, here’s my definition of it in a nutshell. It’s deciding ahead of time in a very conscious way every meal and snack that you and your family are going to have during the week and then creating your grocery list based on any ingredients that you don’t have to make them.

There are a number of great tools to help with this process (some of which are free) that I look at in more depth here.

A Money-Saving Mental Shift

The key is carving out a set time to sit down and devote your full attention to meal planning. I highly recommend having a steaming cup of your favorite hot drink in hand. This is the time to be inspired and creative – not when you’re rushing home from work and trying to figure out “what’s for dinner tonight?”

The weeks I look at it in a bored and tired way are inevitably the weeks that I forget to include half of the ingredients that I need and end up going back to the store multiple times. As we all know, every trip to the store costs more than what it should because we think of something else that we may need or want at that particular moment.

The really costly part to both our health and our budget is that when we make those middle of the week stops, we’re usually tired, rushed and either emotionally or physically hungry. We’re in a place of lack, not abundance. Unhealthy wants suddenly seem like needs and before you know it, you have half a basket full of things that if you were in a better place, you wouldn’t even think of getting.

I know for a fact that during the weeks that I make multiple unplanned trips to the store, I end up spending $25-$50 more than during the weeks where I plan everything out. That’s not to even mention when we completely throw in the towel and end up eating out because we don’t have what we need. Half the time, we still have to go by the grocery store to get the missing ingredients for something else that we’ll need them for later in the week.

There’s no doubt about it in my book. An open and abundant approach to meal planning is crucial to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy pocketbook. May your next trip with a grocery cart contribute to both!

The post Money Saving Tip: Meal Planning appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Holiday Gift Giving and Stress

Now that the holiday shopping season is here, it’s easy to get caught up in all of the “deals,” excitement, and checking things off your list. That’s certainly understandable, but one major cause of stress this time of year is overspending on gifts. Bankrate cites a recent report by The Harris Poll that shows “as much as 65 percent of Americans feel ‘anxious and stressed’ as we approach the holiday season due to inflation.”

Feeling this way for sustained periods isn’t healthy for us mentally or physically at any time of the year, but we definitely don’t want to do that to ourselves during the holidays. While there are many things that we can’t control this time of year, not putting ourselves in a bad position moneywise isn’t one of them.

5 Tips for Sticking With a Holiday Budget

Here are 5 tips to keep in mind as you shop this year:

Develop a holiday budget

Creating a holiday budget is best done in a spreadsheet. You’ll want to start by making a list of all of the people that you have to buy gifts for. Then make a list of all of the extra but predictable expenses that you need to plan on. These can include such things as decorating, extra food, and baking, special holiday events, etc. Next, determine the amount of money that seems reasonable and comfortable to spend on each item. Once you have your total, review it to make sure that it seems realistic and doable. If it’s not, go through and determine areas where the amounts can and should be less.

Be real, in a gentle way, with your kids

If your kids are asking for things that are beyond your budget, ask them to choose their top 1-3 items as long as those things fit within your limits. If they don’t, then ask them to narrow down more or honestly tell them that those things cost too much. You can tell them that your family is focusing on making sure that each person gets 1-2 really special things this year, and you’re limiting it at that. We have done a version of this with our boys and everyone was fine.

Even Santa has limits

In our house, even Santa had limits because we wanted to make sure that all the children were able to get something really special. It also sets the tone for helping them to understand what the holidays are really about for your family and that it’s not necessarily just a time to throw the doors wide open for them to get anything and everything they want. That’s an unrealistic expectation for any point in life, even for kids.

If you have young kids, consider buying gently used or secondhand items

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and as long as the items are in good condition, your children are not going to even notice. This practice helps to keep you from going over budget and helps to extend the life of perfectly useful items that still have a lot of joy to give.

Focus on Intentional Gift Giving

Intentional gifts are creative and meaningful and help you to give joy while creating it for yourself as well. While you still have to keep your budget in mind, intentional gifts make sure that you’re actually putting some thought into the gift-giving process and are getting the most joyful bang for your buck.

Looking Ahead to Next Year’s Holiday Budget

If you really want to prevent money from factoring into your holiday stress, planning your holiday budget early is key. I’m talking about starting in January and setting aside money each month in savings. You simply determine what a reasonable total amount is that you think you’ll need to spend for the holidays the following year and divide that by 12. That gives you the amount that you will need to deposit into your holiday savings each month.

Having this money building up throughout the year not only prevents you from having to come up with a large amount in November and December but also gives you the flexibility to take advantage of deals as they happen at other times. In addition, it allows you to buy throughout the year if you see the perfect gift for someone on your list.

This process should ideally be done as you develop your larger annual budget. That way you know whether the amount that you’re planning on for your holiday budget is realistic or not. It also helps in making decisions about other larger purchases throughout the year since you know that you need to allow for the fixed holiday amount each month. If you do have to use your holiday money one month to pay for an unexpected, necessary expense, be sure to make it up the next month or divide the missed amount throughout the remaining months. The main thing is to try to not have to come up with the entire lump sum at the end of the year.

The Bottom Line on a Holiday Budget

Remember, extended times of stress are unhealthy. Holiday gift-giving shouldn’t add to that. The best gift that you can give others this holiday season is a healthy, happy you.

Great Gift Reminder!

Don’t forget that if you’re looking for an inexpensive, but thoughtful gift for the women over 40 in your life, be sure to consider a 6-month (or longer) membership to the Empowered Health and Wellness for Women Over 40 Facebook Group. If you have any questions about how it works, feel free to reach out to info@peppermint-tea.com.

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