How To Be A Trim Healthy Mama On A Trim Budget

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One of the biggest things that can discourage you on your journey to health is your budget. When you’re on a limited budget, it can be hard to spare the extra dollars for healthy ingredients. It’s a lot easier to focus on the cheap processed meals you know you can afford than struggle with creating frugal healthy meals! I don’t believe that anyone should have to sacrifice a full life because of money and that includes a life lived healthily. If you get creative, you can make anything work. No matter what kind of money you do or don’t have! Trim Healthy Mama is no exception to this rule. Here’s how I make the plan work on a modest budget.

I Shop The Ads

Before I started THM, I used to menu plan around what’s on sale that week. I still do the same thing as a Trim Healthy Mama. I look at the ads and see what the sales are. I match these sales with what’s already in my cupboard for meals for the week. If cream cheese is on sale that week, I stock up and make one of my main snacks Cheesecake Berry Crunch. If a chicken is on sale, then that is the main meat source for the week with whatever veggie I have hidden in my freezer. There are plenty of on plan ingredients that go on sale every single week in my area. I live in a small town in the Midwest, so I don’t have an Aldi’s or any amazing discount stores like that. I do have a Dollar Tree, but they don’t carry many THM items besides pork rinds! If you have limited shopping options like I do, you may have to shop two different grocery stores to get the best deals for the week. Contrary to popular belief, if the stores are fairly close together, it won’t waste a lot of extra gas and it will save you lots!

I’m Selective

You probably won’t see me picking up every “special” ingredient out there, and you definitely won’t see me picking up multiple “special” ingredients in one shopping trip! I prefer to use ingredients that I can find in my local grocery store. The non-essential ingredients I do buy are those that I’ve found extremely discounted and/or that don’t require a large quantity at once. Almond flour is a great example of an ingredient that you can find discounted and you only need one or two tablespoons of for each recipe. When I do purchase “special” ingredients, I make sure they last by not using recipes that require them all too often.

I Shop Around

I research online to find out the best prices for different THM ingredients. Sometimes this is a well known online store, other times it’s an obscure store that no one has heard of. Either way, I compare prices to get the best deals. There are a few ingredients that I can get in stores near me where there’s actually a price difference of three dollars or so. That’s definitely worth noting! I don’t use a price notebook to keep track of prices, but I probably should start! The THM store has the lowest prices on specialty products such as sweeteners and protein powder.

I Get Creative

Creativity is key when trying to be frugal. This applies to your THM meals as well. It can be hard to come up with great tasting meals that fit your personal preferences. I use Pinterest to gain inspiration. I’ll type in a few keywords of ingredients that I have on hand. Pinterest has a lot of great THM recipes to choose from, as do the THM groups.

I “Just Deal With It!”

There are some weeks where my freezer and pantry are low and the sales aren’t all that great. Instead of going completely off plan, I make a few small sacrifices. This might mean that I don’t get my favorite THM treat that week or that I eat a few more $1 salmon filets than I’d like. There’s always hope that next week will be better and this is also a great reminder of why I stock my pantry/freezer of good things when they go on sale!

I Know My Basics

I have a list of basic ingredients that I like to keep on hand. These ingredients are frugal and can be made into several different meals. This includes cheap salmon filets, frozen veggies, cans of beans, brown rice, etc. All of these are on plan and can be made into decent meals in the event of a bad sales week. It helps to have a few frugal basic meals that you can pull together each week too, such as stir-fry or salmon and veggies.

With a little creativity and a lot of flexibility, you too can do the THM plan on a budget. Don’t let something as small as money discourage you!

Do you have any frugal THM tips? I’d love to hear from you!