When you put healthy and wealthy in the same sentence, do you automatically think of other people?

When living on a budget (which is something we could all do) it is important to consider all the essentials.

Sometimes people are tempted to be less healthy in order to save a dollar.

But firstly is that really a good idea and secondly are there ways you can do both?

Over the next few weeks, we are going to review simple ways you can save money, continue making healthy choices and live life with more abundance.

This week’s theme is “what can I save from my garbage bin?”

On average about half of our rubbish bins are filled with organic material, mostly food scraps!

That’s right, about 4kg per week for an average household.

Now you may be more or less than that, but what can you eat and save from what you already have?

And how can we make it delicious?

We will outline a series of simple steps that you can start today and quickly see a difference to your grocery bill.

1. Audit your waste

Firstly, audit what’s getting thrown out, that could be in the rubbish, the compost, getting washed down the sink or given to the dog.

At first it may be a bit of a shock when you really start to pay attention.

Now think about the bits you usually discard.

2. Plan to Repurpose

Or maybe there are some things going to waste that could be used differently, such as food packaged in oil.

If it makes that delicious, chances are it will be good in salad dressing, for stir fry, a stew or baking.

The end of a zucchini or onion, the carrot/potato peel, pumpkin seeds just to name a few.

Lots of perfectly good vegetable ends and peel can be saved, frozen and used to make stock click here

Pumpkin seeds are highly nutritious and only take a few minutes to make into a healthy snack click here.

Then there’s citrus peel……

This one is a tad contentious as I know I don’t like a big hunk of peel in my hot cross bun (you either love it or you don’t).

But what else can you do with it?

Grate lemon rind into cooking or baking, while orange peel goes well in baking and drinks, or use as a herbal tea.

Then raid the jars and sauces in your fridge and cupboard, what gets left behind could go well into a slow cooked dish, used as a condiment or make a dressing.

What about the random tin of beans or bag of dried lentils or soup mix?

These often can fill out meat dishes (especially mince), use half mince and half lentils in bolognese or tacos & will usually go undetected by fussy eaters.

Save old bread and make croutons (how fancy) or try making bread and butter pudding (this makes me think of my Nana).

Now how can this make you more generous?

It’s quite simple…

3. Save and Give

The more you save, the more you have to give.

This brings up another dilemma, what and who do you give to.

Maybe you don’t have enough (or want to) left over to give money, but maybe you have a meal you can share with a friend or family member you know (or suspect) is doing it tough.

Invite them over for dinner, or pop in and say hi and leave some soup / biscuits etc.

Or if your social circle doesn’t have anyone who springs to mind, there could be an elderly neighbours, a single parent with kids, a young adult who is living out of home with 3 casual jobs to make ends meet.

If you happen to need every meal out of your own cupboard and don’t have any leftovers, share these tips including how much you saved each week / month with a friend.

Sharing your skills and knowledge is generous.

We’d love to hear what you saved from your bin this week.

Seriously, it’s worth celebrating what’s good for you and great for the environment.