Budgeting enough money for food expenses can be a challenge, especially for those with limited resources. Spending a little time each week planning meals can save time, money and effort. The Jefferson County Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant partnered with a recovery center for women for a 7-week virtual nutrition education program using the Healthy Choices for Everybody curriculum. 

The program aims to provide nutrition education as well as food resource management education for individuals with limited resources. The NEP Assistant made these sessions as interactive as possible by engaging the women in the lessons, incorporating virtual activities and using visuals to reinforce the messages being taught. The Planning Meals for Everybody lesson was taught and the NEP Assistant also shared with the group about other topics such as how much food to buy per person, creating a weekly menu and shopping list, planning for leftovers, double batch cooking, and using sales ads and coupons to purchase and prepare meals on a budget. 

At the conclusion of the program, eight women completed the class, and the exit survey shows that eight out of eight in the group, had a 75% success rate, showing improvements in planning meals before shopping more often, comparing food prices more often, cooking dinner and making a shopping list. One client shared with the NEP Assistant, "I have saved $50 this week, just by taking time to create a weekly menu and comparing prices, so I put the $50 in to my savings account."