With the pandemic causing stress and anxiety to parents worldwide, it only makes sense to do everything possible to keep all family members in good health. There’s so much one can do to keep all family members healthy. Aside from sheltering in place and reducing contact with non-family members, here’s how you can maintain family health while on a budget.
Be Wise About Your Shopping List
When you are on a tight budget, it only makes sense to buy the necessities. This could mean reducing your unhealthy snack consumption and only shopping for healthy food items that can be prepared in many ways. Avoid going to the store without a plan and, as much as possible, reduce your trips to the supermarket.
If you shop for groceries once a week, limit your trip to twice or once a month. This helps reduce your exposure to other people. Plan each trip by creating a meal plan and list your missing ingredients before heading out.
Invest more time on the produce section and think of recipes you can whip up using vegetables in season. These are usually cheaper in price and better in quality. When shopping for pasta, bread, or cereal, choose ones made from whole grain.
When it comes to your seasoning, switch to natural ones. There’s nothing wrong with keeping certain condiments in your pantries like soy sauce, vinegar, andfish sauce. Just make sure to consume these condiments in moderation since everything you use in excess can be bad for your health.
Choose real foods instead of processed ones. Stay away from foods that contain more than five artificial ingredients or have ingredients you can’t pronounce. Make each meal more colorful and stay away from junk foods.
Consider Starting a Backyard Garden
Backyard gardening has so many perks that more people started their own gardens mid-pandemic. They used this as a way of relieving stress and in getting their daily exercise. With your own backyard garden, you can entice family members to love nature more and appreciate eating more fruits and vegetables.
Growing your own produce can be a manageable endeavor. The trick is to use the right gardening method and to choose native produce in season. You can even start your own garden if you only have a small land or a few containers to work on.
Compared to traditional farming, backyard gardening is fairly inexpensive. You can take advantage of every square space and still grow certain crops. With your own produce, you can eliminate your need to buy the vegetables you grow from your grocery list.
Rethink Your Family Activities
Family activities bring the family closer and strengthen family bonds. The problem is, one’s definition of family fun often revolves around certain activities that do not involve physical activity. Some families would rather bond over a good movie and video games.
Instead of these activities, think of ways to engage the whole family while incorporating physical activity. Consider activities that will keep every family member moving while having fun. You can do more than ask everyone to utilize the home gym or join you in your early morning yoga sessions.
For instance, walking the family dog to the park can be a great idea. The whole family can enjoy more time walking, running, and playing with your pet at the park. This gives everyone more chance to spend more time in nature and stay active while having fun.
You can also consider certain sports you can safely play inside your home’s property. Use the backyard as a venue for basketball, volleyball, badminton, or table tennis. Having a pool or trampoline is another way to motivate family members to stay active.
Travel with Health and Safety in Mind
If traveling is one thing your family enjoys doing, be sure to always prioritize health and safety. You want to make sure you get to limit contact with other people while on the road and when staying in your travel destination. As a safety precaution, more families turn to RVs or recreational vehicles when traveling with the family.
Plan your trip ahead of time and designate which family members will be responsible for buying supplies and disinfecting the vehicle. Minimize pit stops by bringing more snacks for the group. Be sure to review local regulations in your travel destination.
Have an itinerary in place which involves outdoor restaurant seating and smaller group activities. Choose a hotel or Airbnb that has a strict implementation of Covid-19 related protocols. Don’t forget about pet safety when traveling.
Your family’s health and safety are crucial now that we are living under the new normal. With more families now struggling to make ends meet, this is not enough reason to take family health for granted. You can use this list as a guide if you need more ideas on improving family health while on a tight budget during the pandemic.
Leave a Reply