We always talk about how our mums lose weight with The Healthy Mummy, but often our mums also see the numbers slashed off their family budget as well as the scales.
To show you just how you can save money with The Healthy Mummy we asked a few of our best budgeting mums to share how much they’ve saved, how they did it and what tips they have for other mums.
Read all their tips and advice below…
Budget Mums share how much they have saved over 28 days with the Healthy Mummy
Nicole Bradshaw – Lost 20kg – Saved $106.55
Nicole is a mum of 3 from Victoria who has been part of the Healthy Mummy for 11 months and lost an incredible 20kg in that time. She decided to do a review of her family’s budget and the financials of her partner’s business, so what did she change to help lower the numbers?
“It’s been so much fun, and it’s made me look at all aspects of our financials, including my partner’s business! We looked at ways to reduce costs at home and in my partner’s business.”
“Somethings we changed were….
- Swapping takeaway coffee for homemade or having a Healthy Man smoothie for my partner, and he added coffee to that.
- Weekly big shop and doing click and collect
- Less Kmart trips for me
- Calling business suppliers to see if they can sharpen product prices
- Shopping around and comparing things like insurance (business & personal) & comparing tv subscriptions
- Mindset changes ‘do I want it or do I really need it’
- Any coins we had at the end of the day went into the camping fund jar
- Buying meat in bulk and freezing in 500g lots
- Being smart when meal planning, repeating meals, freezing leftovers, cooking in bulk”
With all those changes and the help of Healthy Mummy, she saved $106.55 in the month of July!
“So excited to announce that we have saved…$106.55, keeping in mind that we are a household living on one wage, and winter is my partner’s quietest time of the year!”
“We will definitely keep looking at ways to save and challenge ourselves next month!”
Nicole’s budgeting tips
So what tips does she offer others who are trying to combat the rising cost of living?
“With the cost of living skyrocketing, we all have to knuckle down and start budgeting.”
“My top tips are:
- Make your own fakeaway on the weekends get the kids involved they will love choosing their own pizza toppings and getting their hands messy making the dough!
- Compare supermarket prices online, and make sure to check out Aldi for some great savings too!
- Place online orders. This really helps me to stay focused and not overspend on things we don’t really need. You can see your shopping add up every time you add to your cart so you can keep an eye on the total.”
Kira Poliseno – Lost 19kg – Saved $207.70
Kira is a mum of two from Melbourne who’s lost an amazing 19kg with the help of The Healthy Mummy. And with that weight loss, she decided she would review how her family’s budget has also been helped by the healthy changes made with The Healthy Mummy.
Kira says, “I decided to have a look and see how much my family have saved over the course of the month… $207.70!”
So what did Kira and her family exactly do to cut $207.70 from the family’s monthly spend?
“We have done this by:
- Cooking meals at home instead of having takeaway using the Healthy Mummy App (sometimes, if we get burgers or Chinese, we can spend up to $70 on takeaway!)
- Preparing more snacks at home for my husband and kids and buying less pre-packaged foods
- Using the 7/11 app and locking in when petrol is at a good price
- Buying home brand/ cheaper brand products
- Doing a big top-up shop at Aldi
- Stocking up our regular products when they are on special
- Shopping at the op shop for clothes and hunting around for a bargain!”
Kira’s top 6 budgeting tips
Kira wanted to help other mums and families also make cuts to their budgets with the current cost of living crisis many families are facing.
“With the current cost of living on the rise, now is more important than ever to be paying attention to how we can save on food and also prevent wastage!”
“My top tips are:
- Plan all snacks and meals in advance and do your food shop based on these. Buy only what you will need and use! If you do this, you will find you aren’t throwing anything in the bin at the end of the week, and there is much less waste.
- Make use of the freezer – if you have bananas you won’t use in time (either make banana bread/muffins – OR freeze them! Bananas freeze really well and can be added frozen to smoothies), put your bread in the freezer before it goes stale or out of date and thaw when needed.
- When your favourite items go on special, make sure you stock up. I often buy in bulk when a favourite of mine goes on special (tuna, tea & coffee, washing powder, for example) & I almost never have to pay full price for these items.
- Buy home brand products where available. Often the taste and quality are the same for a fraction of the price.
- Get creative with takeaways and make it yourself at home – a nice bowl of pasta, a burger, or pizzas, for example, can be made quickly at home, and you can save so much money! (And it’s also much better for you!)
- Limit processed and packaged foods. Often full of hidden sugars and, you can make something healthier & more nutritious at home for much cheaper!”
But that’s not all Kira and her family do, they also shop the shops by checking which one has the best specials each week and choosing the best option for their shop.
“Another thing I do is look at the catalogue for both Coles & Woolies and shop at each buying what is on special each week from the catalogues. I also go to Aldi for some things (especially their frozen stuff. Dishwashing liquid etc., as that can be very well priced!)”
She also uses the 7/11 to help her lock in the price of petrol when it’s cheapest and predicted to go up.
“I also have the 7/11 app on my phone, and I lock in the price of petrol when it’s cheaper. Every little thing you do adds up!”
Krystal Neda Poles – Lost 20kg – Saved $290
Krystal is a mum of four from Coffs Harbour who has seen an amazing 20kg drop from the scales thanks to the Healthy Mummy. The last couple of months have been tough for Krystal and her family, the current cost of living increases have hit her hard, but The Healthy Mummy has helped her cut the costs by $209 and stay healthy.
Krystal says, “June/July has been full of ups and downs. Price hikes going up with petrol and groceries; it’s been a bit of a struggle. But with the help of the Healthy Mummy, I was able to save some cash, $290.”
“Petrol, groceries and kids for the school holidays. It’s been an awesome month. To be honest, I don’t usually keep track of spending. But being a mother of 5, sorry, I mean 4, not including the partner. I needed to keep track of where the money was going.”
Despite never really having tracked her spending before, she used the Healthy Mummy App to help track what she spent on groceries.
“The Healthy Mummy App has helped me keep track of my spending with groceries. It helped me be aware of other areas of my spending.”
A few changes she made to help keep the costs down include:
- Petrol, instead of driving, I walked
- Instead of buying take-out for my kids when we went to the beach or park, I packed our own food.
To help her keep on track of her savings goals, Krystal made a goal of treating herself to a massage and facial with the money she saved by making these small changes. She’s also able to help her kids enjoy some fun activities!
“With that money saved, I’m shouting myself to a message and a facial, plus my son came home from a sleepover today and went to a free session of boxing with his mate and grandad today. He loved it! And I’m able to pay for the whole term for once a week of boxing training for a whole term. when you put your mind to it, anything is possible.”
Krystal’s top budget tips
Here are four tips Krystal has for other mums or families looking to help minimise the shock of the cost of living.
- “Put aside at least 20min a week to work out your family meals.
- Online grocery shopping is great because you put in exactly what you need. This way, you don’t overspend.
- Catalogues are great. See what specials are on at your local grocer.
- Find out what time at night your local grocer puts their products on sale. Coles and Woolies do this a lot.”
We love all these tips from our mums! Want more ways to save? Check out these blogs:
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Are you ready to become a Healthy Mummy?
If you are wanting to lose weight and improve your energy – not to mention – help improve your overall health and wellbeing – our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is an awesome program to check out.
Our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge includes:
- 28 days of at-home exercise routines (no gym needed) – with video instruction
- Customisable and breastfeeding-friendly meal plans (including 7 Day Cleanse)
- Time-efficient exercises for busy mums
- Challenge combines Pilates exercises with interval and circuit training (HIIT)
- Suitable for basic to advanced fitness levels
- Home to thousands of EASY-TO-MAKE recipes!
To learn more about our 28 DAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE, CLICK HERE or purchase our Smoothies.
