Eat Healthy, Be Wealthy!

If your chicks are abandoning the nest for a life of student revels, tempered by hard graft, you may be in a position to offer a suggestion or two as to how the young adult can best balance the books and eat healthily. Here are some tips for the seriously budget-conscious and environmentally aware of any age...

The most flexible part of a domestic account is almost always food - it is life's marketing budget: the first area to come under scrutiny when the bean counters step in. So, overspending takes place elsewhere it is usually the food budget that is cut first. Simply buying cheap or abstaining can be false economy: we all need a nutritional, balanced diet of healthy food.

• Plan a weekly menu - essentially breakfast and evening meal - and aim to buy foodstuffs accordingly.
• Packed lunches may not appear "cool", but they work out much cheaper than bought sandwiches or eating out and you can put bet someone will take an interest in what you have prepared yourself.
• Make a shopping list that relates to your planned menu - and stick to it.
• Discover the reduced item shelves at your supermarket. They will be reduced for a variety of reasons, but there might well be something you can use.

  N.B. Our mystery shopper found a Coventry branch of Morrisons supermarket has gone one step further. In common with most supermarkets, it has a shelf where they put a lot of the "reduced" foods: dented tins, damaged packaging, things close to being out of date and the like. Occasionally, it has carrier bags full of assorted reduced items, where the entire bag costs 50p.

  They mostly contain a standard assortment of foods - crisps, pasta sauce, tins of tomatoes, mushy peas, tuna, soft drink cans, but can contain a few surprise items such as meat-filled tortellini which normally sells at £1.50 a packet or a Lindt chocolate bunny. You could not rely on the bags for a balanced diet, but they provide some interesting bargains.

• If time is not pressing, a calculator is useful to keep a running total as you shop. Check against the till receipt as mistakes do occur.
• Be aware of "sell by" dates as you shop so as not to be throwing away food that you bought cheaply, but were unable to use in time.
• Consider any offered discounts for buying in bulk - although only when you are sure you will be able to use the items. Tinned goods, toiletries and breakfast cereals are ideal purchases in this category.
• Take advantage of seasonal variations: the prices of many fresh products vary during the year, so include items when they are cheap and avoid them when they are not.
• Explore your local market or greengrocer for fresh vegetables: they can sometimes work out cheaper than buying them from the supermarket, and local is usually preferable to many miles on a lorry.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables that need washing and cutting will be much cheaper than prepared items.
• Avoid prepared instant meals as you are paying for expensive labour and have no control over the quality of the ingredients.
• Consider own brand products: they are invariably cheaper and can be just as nutritious.
• Take advantage of promotional money-off coupons.
• Fresh produce in supermarkets (even those open 24 hours) is often marked down in price at the end of the working day.

By taking a leaf from our grandparents' lives - shopping locally, regularly and preparing our meals - we can save money and improve our understanding of nutrition at the same time.