Most people notice on their wallets that everything is expensive. You have to have food, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that expensive.
The food influencers TV 2 has spoken to all agree on one thing in particular: Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost the shirt, but rather be smart when you plan and shop.
Food influencer and author Kristoffer Tvilde is a trained economist and previously worked in a bank, but has now gone “all in” on sharing saving tips on Instagram and Tiktok.
He has no doubt that many Norwegians can save a lot of money by taking a few simple food measures.
Tvilde himself had to take action a few years ago. He and his roommate had a food budget of NOK 8,000 a month, but a terraced house purchase meant that the account was empty. They managed to cut the food budget down to NOK 1,500 a month.
Today, as a family of four, they spend around NOK 7,000 a month on food.
– And we eat well, he says.
FIRE TORCH: Cheese on a taco is superfluous when you have guacamole, says Kristoffer Tvilde. He says it’s money saved. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
Here you can save NOK 1,000
Tvilde says that there is a good chance that you already have food in both cupboards, fridges and freezers.
He advises people to get an overview of what they have at home and to use what they have.
– Throwing away less food is absolutely gold for the wallet, says Tvilde.
He advises introducing a regular leftover dinner per week.
– A family of four can save a thousand Norwegian kroner a month on that, says Tvilde, who calls himself “Krislovesfood” on social media.
LEFTOVERS PARTY: Kristoffer Tvilde recommends introducing a regular leftovers dinner once a week. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
Food influencer and cookbook author Emilie Nereng also shares tips for healthy and cheaper food on her social channels.
She advises people to be creative and plan better.
– I would advise using a lot of the same ingredients in several meals. We throw away an enormous amount of food, and there is money right in the bin, says Nereng.
For example, if you buy a pack of carrots for dinner, try using carrots on the other days as well.
According to a report from Matvett and the Institute for Sustainability (NORSUS), Norwegian households throw away 200,000 tonnes of food every year.
Nereng believes that part of the key to a lower food budget is also about looking at what you actually acts.
– I think there are many people who put a lot of useless things in the shopping basket that the body does not need, such as Pepsi Max, chocolate and biscuits, she says.
THINK ABOUT: Emilie Nereng shares food tips on social media. She asks people to think about where and what they put in the shopping basket. Photo: Sara Johannessen
Improvise!
Another typical saving grace that you can run into is if you are missing an ingredient in a recipe, says Tvilde.
– Suddenly you have to go to the shop to buy one thing, but end up taking five other things with you too, he says.
– I think that people can become better at improvising. Take something you have at home, instead of going to the store, he says.
He highlights two concrete examples.
– If you are making tacos and you don’t have lime for the guacamole, you can use lemon, vinegar or white wine as alternatives to acid, says Tvilde.
– If you are going to make a stew with spinach, you can also use broccoli instead. It is also cheaper, he says.
CHEAP AND GOOD: Broccoli is a cheap and nutritious vegetable and was to be found in Tvilde’s fridge when TV 2 met him last autumn. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
Healthy is still entirely possible
Healthy foods such as salmon and cod have gone up in price, but the experts believe that it is entirely possible to eat healthy without it costing your shirt.
Potatoes, cauliflower, onions and broccoli are still cheap foods, but be aware of which products you pick with you, advises Tvilde.
– If you walk around the fruit and vegetable department, it is very easy to pick the things that are most easily available and not necessarily based on what the price per kilo says, says Tvilde, who has also written the book “Sparekokeboka”.
– A rule of thumb is that fruit and vegetables in bulk are cheaper than those packed in bags, he says.
Tvilde also advises to look at what is in special offers, shop according to season and be flexible based on what you find on offer.
Canning
There is also a lot in canned food that is cheap and good for the body, says Nereng.
– An economic change could be, for example, canned tuna instead of salmon, as well as beans instead of minced meat for the taco, says the food influencer.
There are also quite a few different types of beans, and it is not necessarily easy to know what to use them for.
Nereng gives tips on what to use the various legumes for:
- Kidney beans (price: around NOK 7 per box): – The most usable of the bean types. It can replace minced meat and tacos and can be used in casseroles, says Nereng.
- Black beans (price: around NOK 8): – The beans can be used in pots, like the kidney beans, says Nereng.
- White beans (price: around NOK 12): – The beans taste a bit like potatoes. It is good to fry in the pan with butter, salt and pepper and used in salad and as a side dish, says Nereng.
- Chickpeas (price: around NOK 9): – It’s nice to use in food that has a bit of spice, such as in Indian stews and in a tomato soup to get a bit of resistance. My favorite hummus dip is made from chickpeas, says Nereng.
CHEAP: Legumes, such as beans, chickpeas and lentils, are cheap products. Photo: Karen Setten / TV 2
– Not everyone has to become vegan
Tvilde says that people themselves have to find out what suits the individual when it comes to food exchanges.
– It is not intended that everyone should become vegan, but it is nice to find a middle way, he says.
Tvilde says his mantra is to buy quality over quantity when it comes to meat.
He himself buys, for example, organic chicken rather than cheaper chicken, because he finds that it does not shrink during frying and thinks it tastes better.
– I would rather buy slightly more expensive meat, reduce the amount of meat and have more vegetables in the dish, says Tvilde.
It has become more expensive to fill up the trolley in grocery stores. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
– You get full!
– You hear of people who say you can’t get full from vegetarian dishes and say they contain too little protein. What would you say to them?
– It’s rarely true that you don’t get full. There is a lot of protein in certain green products, and it is wise to think of combinations, says Tvilde.
He highlights, among other things, hummus and bread, beans and cashews and berries and nuts as protein combinations.
Nereng advises to prepare food with chewing resistance when it comes to satiety. She also says that food with fibre, fat and protein makes you full.
– And you get that nicely in a meal with beans and other vegetables, she says.
– It is not a matter of replacing all meat with beans, but reducing the amount is both good for health, the environment and the wallet, says the food influencer.
Both Nereng and Tvilde point out that most Norwegians get more than enough protein. It appears, among other things, in a Norkost report from 2011.
DON’T NEED: Eating unhealthy is expensive, says Emilie Nereng. The body has no need for these goodies. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
– Health has no price tag
Nereng advises people to prioritize health and lifestyle.
– You have to look at food and other things in your lifestyle, such as exercising, as an investment in your own health. You can’t put a price tag on it, because a good lifestyle gives you a longer and better life, less risk of serious illness and makes you feel good here and now, says Nereng.
– It’s important not to forget when talking about the price of food, and it doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult to eat healthy, concludes the food influencer.
