How much money do you spend on food? Do you buy many products? How varied is your diet? What dietary principles does your family follow? Irina Sokovykh, author of the book "Minimalism. Life without trash" adheres to minimalism in nutrition too. For her, this means spending less money on food, but still eating tasty, varied and simple.
My desire to eat simply arose long before minimalism. One day I realized that I no longer want to eat meatballs, in which onions, white bread, and seasonings are added, but I just want to eat boiled meat. I do not want to eat mayonnaise salads, but I want to bite off a whole tomato. I don't want anything else canned, fried in in large numbers butter or complexly cooked. I want simple, fresh and healthy food.
So I chose for myself several basic ways of processing products: boiling, steaming, baking and stewing. I process foods that shouldn't (or taste good) eaten raw. Anything that can be eaten in its natural raw form, I do not process. These are vegetables, fruits, dairy products, greens. Sometimes, however, I cook vegetable sauces, for example for spaghetti, but mostly I prefer vegetables in their pure form.
If you are now bored, then I can say that I personally get bored at the sight of sausage, meatballs, Russian salad or stuffed fish. I honestly don't understand why spend so much time on what is in fact a hodgepodge of different foods.
No, I can eat any food, but my regular diet excludes complex dishes. I think this is right, because the fewer stages of processing the food goes through, the healthier and tastier it is. Here is an example of our family menu for the week.
Now I will tell you about 10 products that we always have in the house and with which you can feed the whole family.
Sour cream. This is the number 1 product because it replaces mayonnaise in salads and unhealthy fillers in desserts. I actively use sour cream for stewing, and also serve with pancakes and fresh berries.
Bird. In the case of our family, it is mostly turkey, but we also buy chicken and sometimes duck. Dietary turkey meat is suitable for baking, stewing, boiling, and steaming. And what delicious broths come out of turkeys! If you are still lovers of cutlets, then from a bird they turn out juicy and tender. And for breakfast, you can add pieces of turkey or chicken to scrambled eggs. Poultry can be replaced with meat, sausage and other semi-finished meat products.
Buckwheat. I use it as a side dish for meat dishes, and also serve it with tomato sauce, vegetables, and in the morning it is very tasty to eat buckwheat porridge with milk.
Rice. Helpful, delicious. You can choose the type of rice you like best, including uncooked wild rice, black rice, and brown rice. Anything can be made from rice - porridge, pilaf, served as a side dish for stewed fish or meat. Rice is also added to meatballs, stuffed vegetables, casseroles and some types of salads.
Pumpkin. It can be baked, added to cereals and made incredibly delicious desserts.
Lemons. Lemonades are prepared from them, added to coffee, tea, desserts, and also used in the preparation of meat, fish and seafood.
Eggs. It is also an integral part of the food of our family. I add eggs to pastries, sauces for meat, serve for breakfast. In addition, boiled eggs can be used as snacks, and in many salad recipes, eggs are an indispensable ingredient.
Apples and any fruit in season. You can safely forget about exotic fruits, which are exorbitantly expensive in our stores, and bring as much benefit as native and beloved apples. In general, I try not to buy fruits out of season and some very overseas specimens. You can simply nibble on apples, or you can add them to desserts, fruit salads, pastries and baked. Apples also make delicious juices.
Carrots and vegetables in season. As well as fruits, I take vegetables strictly according to the season. Carrots go to any kind of second courses, soups, salads, you can just give it to nibble on children and adults.
For fish lovers - coho salmon or any red fish. It can be baked, boiled, salted, fried, cooked in the oven and steamed.
Baking in the oven is also minimalism
If you haven't used your oven yet, start now. You can't even imagine how she saves the time and effort of the hostess. You can do what you love while dinner is being prepared without fear of overcooking or overcooking.
In addition, two trays with similar dishes can be placed in the oven at the same time, so you will save time at times. This is very convenient when you receive guests.
And the best part is that in the oven you can cook in ceramic pots. I can bet that every housewife has such pots gathering dust on the top shelf of the kitchen set and gets it 1-2 times a year, but in vain! In pots, you can cook anything, from cereals to full-fledged main courses.
At the same time, you immediately get portions for each family member, which is very convenient. Yes, and eating from pots is fun and interesting, and most importantly, the process of preparing dinner comes down to 15–20 minutes, you just have to leave the necessary ingredients in pots and set the desired temperature.
8 snacks on the road or at work
Now let's discuss snacking, because between meals you still want to chew something, and many of my friends choose store-bought cookies, crackers, chips or sweets. Let me give you a list of what is commonly used for snacks in my family, and you will decide whether this option suits you or not.
- Bananas and other seasonal fruits. In my opinion, bananas are ideal to satisfy hunger. One banana can be a good snack between meals, and if you cut a banana into cottage cheese or yogurt, then you can definitely go without food for a few more hours.
- Kozinaki, nuts or dried fruits. They can also be refreshed between meals, and their undoubted advantage is that they fit in a bag and therefore are always at hand.
- Vegetable salads with sour cream or butter. This option is for those who work from home. Salads fill you up quickly, and they are also healthy, so, freelancers, take note!
- Bread. You can choose the ones you like. I prefer rye. But be careful, bread rolls - they are like seeds, you can not notice how you eat a whole pack!
- Sandwiches with red fish. It is also a good snack option that you can take with you to work. Put a lettuce leaf, a circle of tomato and pieces of red fish on the bread. Delicious, healthy and fast!
- Chocolate. I rarely snack on them, but when there is absolutely nothing at hand, then chocolate will come in handy. I choose chocolate with a high cocoa content and a minimum set of ingredients in the composition.
- Kefir, ryazhenka. This is also one of the easiest snack options. Between kefir and ryazhenka, I choose the latter, but this is purely a matter of taste.
- Whole grain bread with raisins. This is delicious. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it! And if you put a piece of butter on top, then the snack will turn into a pleasure.
Why don't we buy sweets for tea
One of the frequently asked questions sounds something like this: "Ira, why don't you buy any sweets for tea or for a child?"
My answer is simple - all our food is delicious, and I see no reason to buy some separately confectionery, which are not clear what they are made of and do not carry any benefit. In our family, sweets are fruits, dried fruits and pastries, which my daughter and I cook ourselves.
I actively involve my daughter in the cooking process, while she is interested in it because of her age, because I consider the cooking skill to be one of the most valuable for a future housewife. So, together with her we buy puff pastry in the store (after carefully studying the composition), cut it into pieces, sprinkle with sugar, and after 7 minutes the delicious "tongues" are ready! Why not "yummy"?
We also love to bake little muffins and cupcakes. It doesn’t take much time, but it compensates for the child’s lack of communication, because mom and dad are often busy, including at work, and here it’s a triple benefit right away - you spend time with your child, teach him how to cook and get delicious pastries "for tea" .
From store-bought sweets, we very rarely, but still take waffles and chocolate eggs with surprises (maybe this is how my husband and I are nostalgic for the times of our childhood?).
How to feed a husband if the wife is a minimalist?
My husband fills up quite well with a side salad in the form of a salad if it is an evening meal. That is, for dinner we can eat meat or fish left over from lunch, plus a vegetable salad with olive oil, and often just a salad.
But my man's breakfast should be full and voluminous. So, my husband can eat almost half a pot of oatmeal for breakfast. I’m lucky that he loves porridge, and absolutely any, but he doesn’t recognize sandwiches for breakfast, which I naturally support him in.
So, for breakfast we have a lot of porridge, and for dinner - vegetables and something meat; what does my husband eat for lunch? He is not against soups, and is quite full on one plate, but still, like most of the stronger sex, he needs meat. And if on this day I cook a not very satisfying side dish, then I simply leave more meat for it.
In general, my husband eats the same way as my daughter and I, but his portions are much larger than ours, or some more satisfying side dish is added to his dish.
I don’t know how to adapt my nutrition system for your family, but it seems to me that you can gradually add more healthy foods to your diet and remove harmful ones, while monitoring the reaction of your family.
To be honest, I think that other family members do not need to know at all that something will change in their diet. Most likely, they will not notice the absence of some products, and they will like the new ones. Therefore, do not focus on changes, but try to slowly change your diet for the better.
Tip 2: Use the 20/30/50 Rule
The simplest and most understandable way to budget: divide your income 20/30/50. 20% goes straight to savings and getting rid of debt. 30% - for entertainment. And you live on 50%: you pay for an apartment, fixed costs to communication, the Internet, food, clothes and so on.
Tip 3. Set yourself financial goals
It sounds very boring, but life is generally not fun. Set yourself specific goals, why do you need money. Save up for a vacation, buy expensive thing or just to raise money to stop working after 40 years.
Tip 4. Pay with cash
Studies say that you spend 12-18% less with cash than with cards. Every year it gets harder to give this advice, so when paying with cards, do not forget to write down your expenses and always study the checks received.
Tip 5. Cart rule in online stores
On the Internet, it is even easier to make rash purchases. Every time you buy something in online stores, first add the purchase to the cart and go to bed. In the morning, you will most likely realize that you hardly need this thing.
Tip 6. The 10 second rule for small purchases
The next time you're waiting in line at the checkout, think for 10 seconds before you grab a piece of gum or a waffle. The impulse purchase that merchandisers in stores push you to do can be avoided.
Tip 7: The 30 Day Rule for Significant Purchases
We have no doubt that this thing is very necessary for you. But in a month, you can not only assess whether you really need it, but also learn more about it and see where you can buy it more profitably.
Tip 8. Go shopping once a week with a grocery list
Make a menu for the week and go to the store with a pre-prepared list. You can avoid situations when you go for an unexpectedly empty sugar and return with a whole package of products. AND Golden Rule- buy groceries full.
Tip 9. Calculate your real earnings
Take your monthly income. Subtract all recurring payments (apartment, phone, internet and others, if any). And divide the resulting amount by the number of working days, and then by the number of hours per day. And you will see how much you actually earn. These are the numbers you should be guided by when making decisions. It's quite possible that your coffee to go costs you three hours, and another pair of shoes costs you two weeks of work.
Tip 10: Use financial apps
Some of them can automate the process of fixing expenses. And at the same time help to master the above skills. It is more convenient to monitor and control all your finances in one application than to write in a diary or manually drive in Excel.
Tip 11: Optimize your fixed costs
Most likely the rates mobile communications and the Internet that you connected to yourself two years ago are very outdated. And now you can get the same feature set for less, or a much larger package for the same money. Check the tariff lines of your operator and provider.
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Tip 12: Spend one hour a week reviewing your finances.
You don't have to think about it all the time. You can set a goal once, and specialized applications can record your spending. But once a week, take a little time to check if you are on budget, if you need to be more relaxed with spending, or, fortunately, you are doing well.
1. Keep track of expenses and income
The most common reason for unreasonable spending is lack of control. To determine exactly where the money is flowing, you need to keep a daily record of expenses and income. Choose a convenient time, for example, in the evening, write down expenses and receipts of money in a notebook or a special mobile app.
The categories in which the most impressive amounts are obtained are best divided into smaller ones. For example, break "Food" into "Products", "Cafes, restaurants", "Lunch at work". This will allow you to more accurately determine the source of increased spending and optimize them. For example, instead of gatherings with friends in a cafe, you can arrange a trip out of town for barbecue, which will cost less.
Daria Balaboshina, consultant-methodologist of the project of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to improve the financial literacy of the population
By the end of the first month, you will be able to learn a lot about yourself and your habits. And if necessary, correct them.
2. Plan your budget
How much do you need to spend each month. An ideal budget is one in which revenues exceed expenditures by at least 10%.
Set a daily or weekly spending limit for each spending category and stick to it strictly. To resist the temptation to spend more, you can set a daily spending limit for bank card(it can be set up in Internet Banking).
Develop personal rules for your spending, based on their significance. For example, food communal payments, loans, debts. This way you will prioritize, avoid penalties that appear in case of delays in loan payments, and will not spend funds to pay "forward" where it is not needed.
Natalya Fefilova, Development Director, 404 Group
3. Make it harder for yourself
There are several ways to get rid of impulsive spending. But for this you have to complicate shopping trips.
- Go shopping with a list of items and stick to it strictly.
- Take a limited amount of cash with you (or a card with a daily limit).
- Set a rule: if you really liked "those green shoes over there", do not buy immediately, but the next day, if you do not change your mind.
- Forbid yourself from spending on convenient, but optional things, such as coffee to go, food delivery to your home, and so on.
4. Take inventory
Periodically (once a month or six months) sort out your wardrobe, bookshelves, food stocks. Make lists of what you have. Perhaps in the closet you will find a vintage dress that is super relevant today. And in the kitchen you will find stocks of cereals that you forgot about.
Get rid of things you don't use: sell what you can, even for a small amount.
I did a wardrobe analysis with a stylist and described my style. I got rid of things that I don’t wear, gave them to thrift stores. Every season, I create a Pinterest board, add things I like, then delete things that don't fit my style. As a result, I buy only those clothes that suit me exactly, are combined with my wardrobe and do not go out of fashion for several seasons. The amount I spend on things has halved.
Kira Zhestkova, Fins.money marketing director
5. Learn to refuse
You can earn money from mindful shopping. Every time you hold yourself back from an impulsive purchase, send the value of the purchase to a savings account.
Every month, I find at least 10 spending items that I will give up. It can be both trifles (for example, coffee to go), and more serious purchases: the tenth shirt, regular shoes, some unnecessary interior elements, and so on. At the end of the month, I calculate how much I managed to save.
Maxim Sundalov, head of the online school in English EnglishDom
6. Take Advantage
Set a rule for yourself to wait for sales. In your favorite stores, you will determine for sure whether the item is really on sale or if this is a dishonest marketing ploy.
Take advantage of the loyalty programs that almost everyone has now. Do not forget discount cards at home (or even better - enter them into a special mobile application). Follow the news: many stores arrange promotions that allow you to save a lot.
Don't forget about cashback. For example, there are cards with cashback miles in the amount of 4% of purchases made. This money can only be spent on travel. But it will be an additional piggy bank for a specific purpose.
Artur Lyubarsky, independent financial adviser
7. Translate shopping during business hours
A good incentive to start saving is to compare. At a minimum, this will allow you to think about the need for certain expenses.
Convert the price of purchases to opening hours. For example, you work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., five days a week, and your salary is 40,000 rubles. Your hour on average costs 250 rubles. We bought shoes for 4,000 rubles - these are your two full working days.
Anastasia Tarasova, independent financial advisor, blogger
8. Look for new ways to relieve stress
For many, shopping is an effective way to cheer yourself up. However, this bad habit. Bouts of shopaholism lead to unnecessary spending, which can increase stress. You will reproach yourself for spending money on unnecessary things. And you will not be able to get out of the trap "No matter how much you earn, everything is spent."
It's a vicious circle. You are stressed - you go to a cafe, shopping, spa and so on. Spend money, the cost of maintaining a standard of living rises. Bottom line - you load yourself extra work and drive yourself into even more stress. Income can rise, and the cost of living rises with it, but not the enjoyment of it.
Galina Ievleva, founder of the Goal Achievement Workshop
What to do? Find non-monetary ways to relieve stress: walks, pleasant conversations, sports, music, and so on. Learn to say "no" to "anti-stress" purchases.
How to save more
1. Set clear goals
Formulate your request as specifically as possible. Not "I want a car" but "I want a red car of a certain brand by next summer." Calculate how much you need to set aside for this. When you visualize a dream, it will be easier to limit yourself in spending.
To save money more efficiently, automate the process.
If you receive a salary on the card, set up a transfer in the amount of 10% of each receipt to the savings account. On it, interest will accrue on your savings (sometimes they are higher than on standard bank deposits).
The advantage of a savings account is that the money on it is more secure than on a bank card, including from yourself. It will not work to remove and spend them “in one motion”.
2. Learn mindfulness
Spending and blowing everything clean is a sign of an infantile attitude towards money. But the ability to manage finances is a skill. And it can and should be trained. Find your own way to do it.
Immediately after any cash receipt, divide the amount into several parts. One part - 5-10% - set aside as an emergency reserve. This is an airbag that you use only in case of force majeure. Invest the second part: entrust this business to professionals or make a deposit at the bank yourself. It is important to realize that now money is working for you, and not vice versa. Spend the third part on daily needs, trying to avoid impulsive spending.
Rostislav Plechko, athlete, entrepreneur
3. Get a change jar
A penny, as you know, saves a ruble. Get a box or jar at home where you will put the change that appears in your wallet. For a month in this you can collect several thousand rubles, which will definitely not be superfluous.
4. Find new sources of income
Today it is very easy to find a part-time job. There are special Internet services that unite customers and contractors for any type of work. You can earn money constantly, in your free time from the main occupation, or take one-time orders when there is a desire and opportunity.
Part-time work can be not only tiring, but also enjoyable: walking the dog, taking documents, finding information on the Internet, and so on. Choose according to your taste.
The most important thing is not to spend, but to save all the additional income, plus monthly deductions from the salary. If you follow all these rules, your financial situation will improve pretty quickly.
Instruction
Modern supermarkets are specially designed in such a way that consumers "grab" everything in a row and spend as much money as possible. Competently trained merchandisers lay out the goods in those places where it will be most noticeable to customers. And it often happens that the consumer came to the store for bread, and then left with full packages of unnecessary or superfluous products and things, chosen impulsively. the best way avoiding such a temptation will be a pre-compiled list of goods you really need. And at the same time, it is worth taking with you a limited amount of money equal to or slightly more than the total amount of this list. Also try to stick to the rule - do not make more than one extra purchase. And even then, as an exception, in case you really want to please yourself with something “unplanned”.
To save on food, once or twice a month, make a list of products that are more profitable to buy in bulk and for future use. These are, first of all, pasta, coffee, tea, cereals, spices, sugar, salt, flour, butter, milk, some vegetables - that is, products with a long shelf life, which are indispensable in the kitchen.
Make a menu for a week or at least for a few days. This is easy to do, but this way you can save money. Thanks to this, you will be able to stock up on the necessary products at a time, not go to the store or supermarket once again and not succumb to all sorts of “temptations”.
To spend less on food, also make a list of universal meals. Such dishes can be easily prepared from almost any product. For example, you can make a casserole from yesterday's rice, and add sliced sausages to scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, etc. Cooking sticks include omelettes, scrambled eggs, casseroles, salads and a variety of sandwiches.
Wanting to save money, give preference to seasonal vegetables, fruits and berries. It is irrational to buy grapes or strawberries in winter, and in autumn to pay a lot of money for blueberries. But seasonal products are much cheaper. In addition, they are much more useful, because imported exotic fruits often contain nitrates and other harmful substances. And the taste of such products is very synthetic. It is also worth bearing in mind that such "off-season" berries and fruits often cause allergic reactions.
Semi-finished products, cutting, ready-made minced meat - a way that is familiar to many to quickly feed the whole family. But it is much more profitable to buy a whole piece of cheese or sausage than similar products in sliced form. In addition, a whole chicken is cheaper than minced chicken, and homemade cutlets are not only cheaper, but also healthier and tastier than semi-finished products.
When shopping in large chain supermarkets, pay attention to promotions selling goods at competitive prices. Products that can be bought cheaper are usually marked with multi-colored price tags and labels with a special mark (“profitable”, “good buy”, “%”, etc.). This offer can be used if the promotion applies to those products that are stored for a long time. Also pay attention to products that are made under the brand of the supermarket itself. You will be pleasantly surprised by the value for money.
Keep receipts for purchases. Then at the end of the month you will be able to see and analyze how much was spent on food, as well as compare prices in different stores. It is common for convenience stores near your home to significantly inflate the prices of many everyday products. Therefore, do not be lazy to find the most cheap shop for basic purchases.
The most expensive sections in my neighborhood supermarket are the " healthy lifestyle life." Organic cereal, full-fat French milk, and New Zealand salads (in bunches of five sprigs) cost more than a bucket of chicken legs and a pillow-sized bag of chips. A week before payday, “eat well” means to eat quickly, a lot and cheaply. I know ten ways to save money without saving on health:
1. Go to drinking water(20 rubles) instead of soda (30 rubles a bank), juices (50 rubles a package), bottled tea and other harmful sweets. The next step is to buy a flask for athletes, they are very cute, and pour water from the drinking filter with you. Here's a calculator to help you figure out how much you spend on bottled water per year — and how much you'll save if you stop.
2. Invest once in a good household appliances with which you can prepare healthy meals at home. A simple example with numbers: a good yogurt maker costs about 700 rubles. At one time you will prepare a liter of yogurt from a liter of milk (40 rubles) and one plain yogurt without additives (20 rubles) - 60 rubles for 7 servings (purchased would cost 140).
The cost of the yogurt maker will pay off in 10 "yogurt making sessions" - and even faster, because you won't need to buy a new starter. And now count the same for the slow cooker, double boiler, bread box and juicer.
3. Save on organic and farm food - fruits and vegetables with thick skins are not really harmed by pesticides or minor violations of the rules of decent farming. Avocados, bananas, onions, pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, kiwi, green peas, beans, cabbage, papayas, watermelons, broccoli, tomatoes, potatoes - choose them according to your taste, not the green labels.
4. Eat frozen berries and vegetables, buy fresh only seasonal (and therefore cheap) products. Modern technologies frosts preserve more vitamins in packaged vegetables than in the unfortunate strawberries, exhausted by transatlantic flights and warehouses for 400 rubles, in a box.
5. Switch to tomatoes in bags and jars. The Dutch - they are the ones who bring these monstrous whitish tomatoes without taste and smell to us - they themselves joke about them: "These tomatoes are the fourth state of aggregation of water." In canned and packaged pastas and chopped tomatoes (without salt, sugar and additives), there are even a little more antioxidants than in fresh ones, and the taste is many times greater. And cheap, all year round.
6. Shop "around the perimeter" - in the central parts of supermarkets and grocery stores collected all harmful products containing sugar, preservatives and alcohol (from chocolates to whiskey and "quick" noodles). If you walk with a basket "on the wall", you can save a lot on impulsive purchases.
7. Eat a little less. I’m not kidding, here are the statistics: 25% of the food bought in an average family goes to the trash can - we don’t control our purchasing appetites, we don’t calculate portions and we don’t remember that we already have food at home. By the way, 25% is about a kilogram of food per day in a family of four. A double serving of healthy food won't make her twice as healthy.
8. Buy healthy food at food courts and outlets Catering- all these carrot sticks, boiled corn, fruit slices and salads are not particularly popular in the world of carcinogenic oils and thick rolls. Therefore, they are always cheaper, and the portions are larger. I'm not talking about salads with mayonnaise in pancakes, of course.
9. Grow your own greens and germinate grains - if you can handle a dacha outside Moscow, it costs you nothing to germinate basil on your windowsill. Lettuce leaves and spicy herbs are the most expensive part of healthy green dishes in our conditions.
10. Have a hearty breakfast and do not skip a business lunch and the time of taking dragees recommended by your doctor with vitamins and fish oil. Then by the evening you will not feel brutally hungry, and you will be able to control yourself in the supermarket (“on the wall”, remember?).
And, if you have enough vitamins, then, most likely, you will not pounce on that very half-eaten kilogram of food in search of the mysterious trace element “something tasty”. And stop drinking completely. Alcohol costs even more than organic asparagus.
