Booth Parker is an entrepreneur, financial coach, CPA, wife, mother and dog mom. Her number one tip for financial wellness in 2023? Meal prep! Here's why:
A new year is the fresh start and motivation we need to create new habits. The impact of inflation on the family budget, especially when it comes to the food we eat, is a huge motivator to make changes to our daily lives. Meal planning is a great way to get your grocery budget back in line (as well as meet your health goals— an added bonus!). It is much easier to make that breakfast smoothie, eat a salad for lunch and have a healthy dinner when you have everything right at your fingertips in your own kitchen. While there are healthier options these days when eating out, the cost can add up and eat up your food budget faster than anticipated.
As a rule of thumb, the food category in your family budget should account for 10-15% of the total.
If you are spending more than that, meal planning is a great option to lower the amount you are spending by planning what you will eat, buying only what you need, and practically eliminating food waste! Below are three resources, created by Booth herself, to help you on your meal prep journey in 2023
- If you want a deeper dive, check out Booth's "How to Meal Prep" course, which includes a video on prepping six dinners in under an hour and a library of over 100 recipes. Plus, shopping lists! Yep, we're sold. boothparker.com/ebooks
- Booth's brand new podcast, Momenomics, has an episode on The Value of Meal Planning! Other episodes that we love are "Top 10 Tips for Family Budgeting" and a multi-episode series "Paying for College and Student Loans" – it's free advice from a pro!
- We highly suggest bookmarking Booth's website, boothparker.com, on your browser. Also, be sure to follow along on her Instagram page @boothparkercpa. She is constantly posting fantastic tips and tricks that we're certain will become staples in your own home!
