Your eating habits may be keeping you from reaching your goals

Last week, faced with a slightly unappealing piece of homemade lasagna I had packed for lunch, I accepted an invitation to go to lunch with two of my co-workers. We settled on fast food, where I ordered a chicken sandwich, a side salad, and hot fudge sundae, spending $3.21. I silently congratulated myself on my frugality. Of course, given that I had lunch in the refrigerator at the office, I wasn’t being frugal at all.

While we sat in our corner booth, both my co-workers mentioned that they wanted to eat out less. One commented about the power of the up-sell; he’d planned to buy a snack and spend less than $3. Instead, he bought a meal and an iced coffee and spent nearly twice as much as he had intended. The other ordered a $5 salad.

This lunch scenario reflects how complicated our decisions about food can be. According to Cornell University professor Dr. Brian Wansink, we make approximately 220 decisions about food every day. That’s a lot of decisions, most of which probably seem small, but together, they can have a significant financial impact. Sure, my lunch only cost about $3, but it was money I hadn’t planned on spending. I also threw away the lasagna and accidently left the chocolate bar I had packed melting in my car, which just upped the ante on my supposed $3 lunch.

Nationally, American households spent an average of $7,514 on food last year--$2,736 of this amount went to eating out. Do you know how much you spent last year on food? If not, you should, particularly when you consider that your eating habits could be keeping you from building an emergency fund, saving for a down payment on a house, taking a vacation, funding your retirement, or reaching your other personal financial goals.

This doesn’t mean you need to stock up on 10-cents-a-package instant soup or stop eating out, but you might consider ways to become more intentional with your food budget. What could you do with the money you’d save by eating out half as much? How much money would you save if you prepared and froze meals ahead of time instead of hitting the grocery store several times a week? What if you bought an inexpensive French press and brewed your own coffee at home or the office? Small changes can add up to a significant amount of savings.

Consider a homemade breakfast burrito. At first, a $2 burrito at a fast food restaurant seems inexpensive. However, I made my own sausage and egg burritos at home for 98 cents each, including tax. Without the sausage, the cost drops to 68 cents—plus, I have more control over what I’m putting into my food. I used all-natural sausage and farm fresh eggs I purchased from my niece. Even when I paid a premium for these ingredients ($3.69 and $2 respectively), the total cost of each burrito was half what it would have cost at a restaurant.

When I add a glass of not-from-concentrate orange juice (42 cents per serving), my total at-home cost increases to $1.40. By comparison, a small orange juice costs $1.59 at a fast food restaurant, bringing the total amount spent for a burrito and drink to $3.59, plus tax. If I ate a homemade breakfast burrito three days a week, instead of eating out, I’d save about $30 a month, or $360 a year.

What could you or I do with $360 a year besides order fast food? That question surely will inspire me to think more carefully about how I spend my food budget.

Create a wholesome breakfast that’s easy on your wallet

Breakfast is serious business around our house—so much so that our 4-year-old son has been known to wake before sunrise if he knows we have powdered-sugar donuts in the kitchen. Even on mornings without donuts, one of our children inevitably wanders into our bedroom and wakes me with, “I’m hungry. Can I have breakfast?”

It’s probably no surprise, then, that children who wake with yawning hunger can eat a lot. (Our donut lover can easily eat five pancakes at one sitting.) With big appetites and busy mornings, the challenge is to have breakfast fare that is quick, easy, and inexpensive and that isn’t overly processed or sugary.

I’m continually looking for ways to create wholesome breakfast options that we can have on hand and grab on the go. That way, on those mornings when we get a late start and the dog bolts out the door and the baby is crying and we have to search for a missing shoe or backpack, we won’t starve or be tempted to hit the drive-thru.

You no doubt have your own morning scenario, and yours probably involves being short on time, too. With a little planning and kitchen savvy, you can prepare breakfast foods that will fuel you for the day ahead without breaking your budget.

One of the most practical, easy things I make at our house is breakfast burritos. My mantra is that anything wrapped in a tortilla is good. I usually end up using eggs, beans, and cheese in our burritos, but if I have leftover meat or vegetables, I toss those in, too. I line up the tortillas assembly-line style, spoon about ½ cup of filling into the middle, fold the burritos and wrap them in aluminum foil. I put the burritos in the freezer, but they never last long.

Whole-wheat banana chocolate chip pancakes are another favorite for freezing. They are easy to make, warm beautifully in the toaster, and are good eaten out of hand—no syrup necessary. Breakfast cookies are in the same category. The idea of eating cookies for breakfast is enough to make everyone love them, no matter what I put in them. One recipe calls for whole-wheat flour, mashed bananas, canned pumpkin, and grated apples. I’ve added mini chocolate chips, flax seed, raisins and cinnamon at various times, too.

Look for ways to streamline your breakfast routine with homemade, make-ahead versions of fast foods. If you find yourself grabbing instant oatmeal packets, for example, why not make your own? You can make a large batch of ready-to-eat oatmeal by mixing oatmeal, a little sugar and dried fruit in a sealable bowl. When you need a quick breakfast, scoop out a ½ cup of mix and add boiling water, or try packing individual servings to keep with you at school or work. You can experiment with other flavors and concoct your own custom oatmeal mixes.

If you’re like me and you love breakfast sandwiches, you can make your own. I fry eggs and sausage patties and put them on English muffins with some cheese. I wrap them individually and store them in the freezer. When I know I’ll have an extra busy morning, I put one in the refrigerator to thaw overnight, then pop it into the microwave when I’m ready to eat it. Frozen fruit cups, baked oatmeal, homemade granola, and miniature muffins have also been part of my breakfast repertoire.

A good breakfast is a satisfying way to start the day, especially when you’re eating something quick and nutritious that’s easy on your wallet, too.

Kitchen Sink Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup canned pumpkin
½ cup applesauce, unsweetened
½ cup grated apple
1 cup banana, mashed
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup raisins (or mini chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, applesauce, grated apple, banana and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, pie spice and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins (or chocolate chips); mix well.

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Whole-Wheat Banana Chocolate-Chip Pancakes

Ingredients:

1½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk with 1 tbsp. lemon juice or cider vinegar mixed in
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 mashed banana
½ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix the milk, egg, vanilla, and oil; add the mashed banana and mix well.
3. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Cook on a greased griddle over medium to high heat.

Granola

Ingredients:

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup honey

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients in bowl.
2. Spread on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake for 14 minutes at 300 degrees.
4. Add dried, chopped fruit of your choice.

Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat bran
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup raisins
¾ cup applesauce
1 cup milk
½ cup molasses or honey
2 tbsp. oil
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine wheat bran, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. Stir in raisins.
4. In a separate bowl, blend applesauce, milk, molasses, oil, and eggs.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
6. Spoon into greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups) and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Spend your time and money on what you really want

Design blogs that feature flawlessly-styled homes literally quicken my pulse. When my children are comfortably tucked into their beds at night, I often settle in front of my computer to get my daily fix. I practically drool over the bedroom with matching mirrored side tables and bold ginger jar lamps. I marvel at the perfectly-dressed bed with coordinating fabrics and mounds of graphic pillows.

As much as I‘d like to believe that these images inspire me, the truth is that they often rob me of my time and create a feeling of discontentment. I find myself sizing up my own bedroom, where the linens (in my often unmade bed) don’t match and my side table is a repository for household flotsam, such as Matchbox cars and rumpled burp cloths.

I may not like to admit it, but the blogs I frequent create an insatiable craving, a boundless appetite for design nirvana. Even if I could manage to pull off a bedroom with a seamless look, I know the desire for perfection probably wouldn’t end. I’d feel compelled to move onto the rest of the house and then outside to the garden. The cycle of chasing flawlessness would continue, as I’d likely only be satisfied with what I have until I saw something better.

While I place value on living in a beautiful and restful home, perfection isn’t one of my goals. (It can’t be in a home with one dog, three chickens, and four children.) Still, when I allow discontentment to creep into my life, it distracts me from what is truly important to me. I know firsthand how easy it is to spend my time and money on things that won’t help me to achieve what I really want.

Limiting the amount of time I devote to reading blogs is an important step in making me more content. Instead of pining for what I don’t have, it’s much wiser and more productive to plan for what I want in budget-friendly ways. For example, I can create the beauty I desire in my bedroom by clearing the clutter from my side table and filling a bud vase with a few flower stems. Even a new paint color, which requires a relatively small investment of my time and money, could totally change the look and feel of my bedroom.

It’s helps to be intentional in other ways, too. Maybe you want to upgrade to a lighter mountain bike, for example. If you can’t afford to buy a new bike right now, spending all your free time at the bike shop looking at the newest bikes will only fuel discontent. However, you can draw on your love of biking by finding new or more challenging trails to ride. And, for now, you could set a smaller goal to buy a new bike accessory that fits into your budget and that helps you enjoy your current bike as much as possible.

If you’re eagerly longing to buy something right now, take time to break down the desire. First, ask yourself why you want it. A closer look might reveal that you’re more taken with the fantasy of buying something new than with the object itself. How many times have you bought something that you just had to have, only to find that the thrill of it didn’t last long?

Second, ask yourself if what you want –a new home, a vacation, the latest electronic gadget—will make your life easier or better. If you’ve answered yes to both questions, create a realistic savings plan. In the meantime, if a feeling of discontentment lingers, make a list of things you have now that you are grateful for.

After all, gratitude doesn’t cost a thing.

How to make the most of summer

Have you ever been in a crowded room when suddenly it’s as though everything stops as you hear someone say your name? Why does all the other noise wash over you, but your name is audible among the din of the crowd? It’s not just coincidence, but a highly specialized mechanism working in your brain.

At the base of your brain stem, you have a group of cells that sorts and evaluates incoming data. This control center is known as the reticular activating system, or RAS. Your RAS works like a filter, sending urgent information to the active part of your brain and sending the rest to your subconscious. My RAS allows my baby’s cries to rouse me from sleep, for example, but lets me block out other non-essential noises, such as a snoring basset hound.

You might think of your RAS as an executive assistant for your mind, determining which messages will receive your full attention and which you’ll ignore. On one hand, your RAS protects you, helping to prevent sensory overload. (I’d go nuts if I wasn’t able to tune out the dog’s snores.) But it can also keep you from paying attention to things that may be important to you, such as goals you want to achieve. Still, you can “retrain” your mind’s executive assistant by telling your brain precisely what you want to focus on.

This summer, my husband and I plan to “retrain” our brains with what I have dubbed “Our Summer Manifesto.” Too often, house and yard projects consume our money and our time; I want this year to be different. I want to be intentional with our resources and plan for fun so that summer doesn’t just slip away from us. By putting our summer goals in writing, we’re literally sending a message to ourselves that says, “Pay attention. This is important.”

Interestingly, the word manifesto comes from the Latin manifestus, which means “evident to the senses; apparent to the mind; easily apprehensible.” By definition, a manifesto will keep our summer goals at the forefront of our minds.

To make our manifesto more obvious, I wrote our summer ideas on poster board in large, colorful letters. Next to each item on our list, I drew a one- by one-inch square so that we have the joy of checking it off when we’ve completed it. When I tacked the finished chart up on the wall, everyone (even those who can’t read) buzzed with excitement. Amazingly, the majority of items on our list are simple pleasures that require more planning than money.

Our summer list includes making homemade fruit popsicles, water gun fights, grilling peaches, making homemade ice cream, sipping wine on the front porch, camping in the backyard, eating the zucchini before they’re the size of small children, building a chicken coop, bringing in fresh flowers from the garden, creating art outside with our children, inviting friends over to roast hot dogs and play bocce ball, and perfecting a grilled pizza.

We haven’t set dates for completing the items on our list, but this isn’t necessary because we’ve stimulated our RAS. When we see “eat zucchini” on the list as we go by the back door, we’ll be more inclined to pick the prolific vegetables when we are working in the garden. When I’m at the store and see peaches are on sale, I’ll remember that grilled fruit is on the manifesto, and I’ll buy them.

And, by summer’s end, my manifesto full of check marks will remind me of all the pleasures I took time to enjoy with family and friends.

Involve children in meal planning to make the most of your food budget

My children will eat anything that grows in our garden. By mid June, they beg me to let them eat sugar snap peas from the vine. They snatch carrots from between the tines of the pitchfork, chomping on the thick, dirt-covered roots before I can encourage them to rinse their bounty under the garden hose. The novelty of eating chive blossoms makes them forget that they might not otherwise enjoy the taste of onions.

Getting our children involved in the garden makes them enthusiastic about eating fresh produce. It’s not only good for them, but it also saves us a significant amount of money. Succession-planting a $2 package of seeds will give us snap peas all summer long. By comparison, snap peas at the grocery store cost approximately $4 a pound. We easily eat a pound of them a week, which would cost us over $50 if we bought them at the store instead of growing our own.

A garden may not be practical—or even possible—for everyone, but it is important to get children interested in what they’re eating. When it comes to food, if you don’t capture their attention, specialized food advertising campaigns will. According to the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, advertisers spend an estimated $4.5 billion on youth-targeted promotions every year and an additional $3 billion on packaging specifically designed for children. Food marketers target children as a means to build brand recognition. In turn, children use this recognition to influence what their parents buy. Has your child ever pleaded for a sugary cereal he or she saw advertised on TV? If so, you’ve experienced the power of marketing to children.

You can counter this trend and stretch your food dollars if you can get out in front of marketing messages. The key to doing this is to present children with choices that have parameters you set. For example, take advantage of a toddler’s desire to help by allowing him or her to choose fresh produce. If seedless grapes and apples are on sale, ask your child which one he or she would rather have. Then give your child the tactile experience of picking up the fruit or vegetables you choose together and putting them in the bag.

Let your children pitch in with food preparation, too. My 5-year-old can peel potatoes and carrots almost entirely unassisted. With a little help, my 4-year-old can crack eggs and handle a whisk. Even our 2-year-old enjoys helping in the kitchen, always willing to stir or dump anything he can get his hands on. Time together in the kitchen builds kids’ confidence and gives you a chance to teach smart eating habits, basic cooking techniques, and even simple math skills.

As children get older, you can turn over more food planning and preparation responsibilities to them. Give them a budget and allow them to choose and buy ingredients for a meal. Be available to answer their questions, but let them handle all the preparation and clean-up duties. As they grow more comfortable making food choices and honing their cooking skills, let them cook a meal on the same day every week. Children who get to help prepare foods are more likely to eat them – and less food is likely be rejected by picky eaters. You get a night off from cries of “What’s for dinner?” and a grocery budget that you know has been carefully spent on food you and your children will enjoy.