Meal-planning not only saves you time, but it may also save you cash, too. Putting aside 30 minutes on a lazy weekend afternoon to plan next week’s menu will benefit your belly and your budget, here are our top tips for thrifty – and delicious – meal planning.

1. MAKE A MASTER LIST

Ask your friends and family members to hand over their favourite quick and nutritious recipes. Ideally, you should be able to prepare the dish in half an hour or less. Make a list of the options by prioritising the recipes with fewer or seasonal ingredients to keep things on the cheap.

If your foodie friends fail you, page through the latest Club, MyKitchen or Balanced Life magazines for some fast food inspiration. Subscribe here if you have not already!

2. WHAT’S IN THE PANTRY?

Before you make each week’s meal plan, take stock of what you have left over in the pantry and the fridge. Unfinished sauces, tinned foods and salad stuff can all be reworked into something tasty for the upcoming week. Make sure you are planning for dishes that use what you have at hand before you head out and spend more money on ingredients you might not need.

3. CHECK THE PAPER

Don’t throw away the grocery-store inserts that come with your weekly community newspaper. These coupons are hidden gems that will provide you with a compact list of your local grocery shop’s weekly bargains and specials. Make a list of all your favourite discounted ingredients, do a little recipe research and plan the week’s meals around them.

4. ALWAYS SHOP SEASONAL

Draw up a seasonal fruit-and-veggie calendar. Cooking with what’s in season is economical and eco-friendly! Food prices are drastically lower when produce hasn’t been imported, and shopping local means you’ll be supporting local businesses.

5. PLAN B

Amid the demands of work, family and friends, you may occasionally find yourself without the time to come up with a full meal plan. Choose one meal per week and double your ingredients, then just freeze your second serving to be cooked or reheated and enjoyed later.

@sanisiba Back to meal prepping 🥦🥕#foryoupage #mealprep #healthy #tiktoksouthafrica #cooking #weightlossfoodideas #xyzbca #fypシ #fyp #healthyrecipes #healthyeating #healthyliving #cookingtiktok ♬ Roxanne – Instrumental – Califa Azul

You will eventually build up a store of meals for days where you don’t feel like cooking. Having a stash of readily available, homemade dishes will save you from heading to the drive-through or choosing expensive (and unhealthy) quick fixes.