May is Mindful Money Month

After surviving taxing tax month in April, Makoto and I decided that May should be Mindful Money Month.

We’re extremely blessed to be Canadians and will happily fork over our share in taxes but we still have a little cry fest when our accountant gives us our final bill.

After reviewing some figures, we were surprised and embarrassed by how much we spend on food. One of the few things we agree on when it comes to spending is that our food budget should be very flexible since we both have dietary restrictions and try to eat fresh produce and organic/free range meats only. But then we realized that this has led us to believe that the daily $5+ soy/rice milk lattes are a must, and not a luxury.
Here are some ground rules that we've devised to help us be more aware of what we are spending our money on without having to compromise on the quality of our food:

1. Less meat - we are both meat eaters but will only cook with organic/free range/antibiotic free/hormone free meats. Cumbrae’s is Makoto’s happy place and it’s very rare if we buy our meats from anywhere else. With this said, $15 for a pound of stewing beef is definitely a splurge. Not that we even eat a lot of red meat but we decided to only have it once ever week or two….I’m from Alberta so this is a bit sacrilegious for me but I’m sure it’ll be easy to make this transition since we will be substituting with lots of fresh fish and grilling lots of yummy summer veggies on the BBQ shortly.

2. Veggie breakfasts and lunches – in Toronto, we are truly blessed to have exposure to a huge variety of produce. We definitely try to buy as much organically grown produce as possible but we also buy loads of conventionally grown produce and wash them diligently with our veggie spray. Bonus – veggies are totally affordable and are loaded with fibre and nutrients. We’ve limited our meat consumption to just dinner now and enjoy our veggies creations (ok….many of our creations end up being this weird veggie schlop as Makoto insists on blending lentils into everything…but nonetheless, pretty yummy and totally healthy) for breakfast and lunch.

3. Limit going to coffee shops without limiting quality coffee breaks during the week– as most of you know, Makoto and I are nutty about coffee. We. Love. It. We do drink 1 cup of coffee/latte each on a daily basis but we make sure it is decaffeinated by Swiss water process. We decided that instead of going to the coffee shops, we’ll French press our coffee at work during our coffee break and bring soy/rice/oat milk to work. Our favorite decaf bean is from a coffee roastery called 49th Parallell and you can find it at any Dark Horse or Crema café in Toronto. They will grind if for you and even give you a free espresso when you buy any lb of coffee. We still go to coffee shops on the weekend though as there is nothing better than reading the weekend newspaper with a hot cup of fresh java!

4. Meal Planning – This one is easier said than done. Makoto will really eat anything (thank goodness because I certainly have fed him some questionable meals when I was first learning how to cook) but I don't like to eat leftovers…or anything two days in a row. What works for us is that we keep a list of recipes that we love and are good at making and we choose 4-5 recipes per week and either pre-make them on the weekend or use the weekend to get all the ingredients together so that it’s quick and easy to make during the week. When there are 2 or 3 different dishes waiting for you in the fridge at home, it’s MUCH less tempting to eat out. The only thing we pick up during the week is fresh produce.

5.. Batch cooking – yes…I know what you’re thinking…..before attempting batch cooking, you should learn how to cook in general! I’m not a fantastic cook (yet :)) but I absolutely love cooking and learning how to cook new things. Even for us beginner cooks, there are certainly a few recipes that we are good at that we can make on a bigger scale. I can make a pretty amazing lasagna with Jamie Oliver’s Bolognese sauce…so I just decided to make a ginormous one and freeze it (gluten free lasanga pasta actually works great...try Tinkyada brand lasagna rice pasta but I cook it for half the recommended time to prevent mushiness). Makoto makes the best soups in the world and he’ll spend ½ a day making 1 or 2 huge batches of soup that’ll make several lunches. We also like marinating several (like a dozen) chicken breasts or tofu at the same time since you’re already doing the work. Tofu doesn’t freeze well but it does keep in the fridge for a very long time.

6. Limiting alcohol consumption - Even we try to justify our healthy spirits intake habit with the excuse that red wine is a powerful antioxidant and beer is a digestive bitter. Who are we kidding. Sure…in small amounts, anything can be good for you but the truth is that alcohol is just another source of excess calories, taxes your liver and may prevent you from having that post-dinner workout. Grapes for winemaking are also a highly sprayed crop so it's ideal to buy organic wine.  We’re trying to limit our alcohol consumption for weekends only….but a glass of wine/beer does find itself in our hand midweek. Baby steps….baby steps.

7. Not eating out as much - I am a reformed restaurant/takeout junkie. When I was a bachlorette, I would actually buy Christmas presents for the staff at my favorite restaurants in Toronto because seeing them on almost a daily basis had made them my surrogate Toronto family. I still loooOoOove going to eat out at my favorite digs and checking out all the new restaurants in Toronto, but I definitely have to admit that my body feels much better with a good home cooked meal. We now try to replicate our favorite dishes at home....who knew miso cod was so easy to make at home!

Being frugal doesn’t mean you’re being cheap! It’s empowering to know what you’re spending your hard earned money on and making wise choices...and your body will look and feel amazing too!