How to lose weight on a budget??

nowic

I am so not a cook! I was raised eating mac and cheese, and all that other cheap boxed stuff- so this is what I know I know I should eat more chicken, fish and fruits and veggies- but it is so hard on a budget. We are a family of four and I have about $400 a month to spend on groceries. Its hard to buy a thing of chicken when for the same price I can buy hamburger meat that will go towards 3 meals instead of one. And yes I have heard the saying- that in the long run it is cheaper because you will not have the hospital bills- and I agree! but if I dont have the money, I dont have the money. I would love some advice, recipes- anything will help! thanks!!

Amandac6772

If you have freezer space stock up on your meats when they are on sale. You have to put a little money into it up front but it makes your per meal cost cheaper in the long run.

I don't have a freezer but when I'm really determined I can get a lot of stuff in the freezer in my fridge.

aprilwoo97

Going vegetarian one or two nights a week saves a lot of money. Pasta with tomato sauce and frozen veggies make a good, cheap, and filling meal. Making things from scratch can also save cash. For example, when I want to make that pasta with tomato sauce, I buy a couple of cans of store brand diced tomatoes and run them through the food processor with a clove of garlic, some olive oil and seasonings. I end up spending about $1.50 (figuring that I typically have olive oil and seasonings onhand) on the sauce intead of buying a jarred sauce for $4.

Nmama

I agree, you have to grab all the grocery ads and look for the sales. sometimes you can find it frozen a little cheaper. also putting less meat and more veg, beans etc in your meals will cut down on the amount of meat you use. I make huge salads full of romaine, spinach, corn, black beans, shred cheese, cucumbers, tomatos and a little chicken. They are really filling for using only a small amount of meat

epa422

Switch out your hamburger for ground turkey or pork and that will be a step in the right direction. You can also stretch your ground meats by adding 1/2 C. rolled oats to it. That adds in grains and cuts down on the amount of meat per serving and no one will notice.

Also, Campbell's Kitchen.com has a lot of easy recipes that could be adapted with leaner meats and the low sodium, low cal versions of their products. It's pretty cheap.

CJCagain

What about opting for veggie meals? My husband is veggie, so I rarely cook meat at home and our grocery bills are much lower than friends. Beans and lentils and soy meat replacements are all much cheaper and healthier options. Good luck!

TheKitsune6

So then don't necessarily change what you buy, change how much you eat. The biggest problem with unhealthy eating (most of the time) is portion control. Instead of chowing down on a whole box of Mac N Cheese by yourself, try only eating the serving size.

TXBlockhead

Have you ever heard of the grocery game? www.thegrocerygame.com It takes some work but it's so worth it in the long run!

♥_Ellybean_♥

If ground beef is what you have then make it work! Instead of spending the extra $$ to get ground turkey or ground chicken... just use portion control and add a salad (instead of the potatoes etc) ... not only will you be cutting our costs of the higher starches but adding fresh greens to your families meal! ... Sometimes it's not about WHAT we eat, it's how much!!

I don't know if you have a Jewel by you, but right now they have Ground Turkey buy one package for $3.99 get one free, so it's only $2.00 a pound abut the same costs as ground beef (at least out here)

Amandac6772

oh yeah...beans are cheap and make several meals.

donnak7

I know exactly what you mean. I'm a single mom with 3 kids so budget is a BIG thing with me. I look for the meat that is on sale and buy whatever is the best price that week. I was looking at my local flyer today and Lean Beef is $3.99 a lb, but I can buy Turkey Drumsticks for $1.49/lb, Chicken drums/thighs 99cents/lb, and port roast for $1.99 a lb. So chicken and pork are the way to go in my town this week! There is always something that is on sale in the meat department. I happen to have a large freezer, so when the prices are good, I stock up and buy a larger quantity, separate it, and put it in bags in the freezer. My family loves chicken and turkey and it is very easy to prepare.

MassiveDelta

Jennie-O ground turkey is like $1.58/lb at walmart That's $1 cheaper a pound than ground beef
Tyson frozen Chicken breasts 2.5 lbs were just on Sale at our Grocery store for $4.77 That's slightly less than ground beef.
Frozen fish filets are generally kind of a toss up not on sale as much and harder to find in the Midwest. We do eat lots of tilapia, whitefish, and ocean perch. Salmon is about the only thing that we find on a regular basis that's on sale.

Additionally a standard serving of chicken breast is 3-4 oz that's 10 servings of chicken for $4.77 My wife and I found it was actually cheaper to just eat the proper portions. We were over eating and spending money on crappy food and complaining that we couldn't afford to eat properly. When we cut back to the right portion the costs came down.

I do understand. It took us a while to really get a grip on meals and grocery shopping. Fresh fruits, veggies, and whole grain items do cost more but you really have to learn how to cut some of those costs by buying at the right time looking for things that aren't necessarily marketed as healthy but actually are. Don't get caught in deceptive marketing.

msemejuru

Watch your portions. I have a family of 4 and used to struggle keeping down costs of healthy food. Being married to a semi-vegetarian doesn't help. My grocery bill hovers around $35-$40 a week.

Buy different bags of frozen veggies and steam to add as sides, keeping them on rotation. Peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, and green beans normally top our list. Top with any Ms. Dash, sprinkle of Parmesan or salt and pepper. You can buy an in-pot steamer that folds down to 2 inches tall and fits in your regular pots from Bed Bath and Beyond, Target and sometimes Wal-Mart for $7.

Also, adding a side of beans (lots of frozen varieties but rinse first if you use canned) or whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce will make the meal more balanced. Alternate the pasta from bow tie, penne, ziti etc. and no one should get bored. Brown rice is pretty easy to cook once you get used to it and you can make it ahead of time to add to your meals during the week.

If you have kids you may want to serve the food in two courses leaving the entree on the counter and plating the veggies first while they are still hungry. If you need more ideas let me know. Good luck!

countindowntothin

I agree with the above poster, and would like to add to that thought. The Harveys in my hometown always puts their "leftover" meats for REALLY cheap. By Leftover meats I mean the meats that have been there all week that hasn't sold at regular price. I always makes sure to go get my meat then. I once got a 10lb bulk of perfectly good hamburger meat for about $6. I've gotten chicken, and pork really cheap as well! Also, at Harveys and most other grocery stores, they cycle their sales every 6 weeks. Everything in their store is on sale every 6 weeks. EX: they may have hamburger helper on sale 5 for $5 for a week. 6 weeks later it will be on sale again for the same deal (or better). When its on sale stock up on that item (if its non perisable in a 6 week time frame) and only buy neccesties at full price.

ChubbieTubbie

I am so not a cook! I was raised eating mac and cheese, and all that other cheap boxed stuff- so this is what I know I know I should eat more chicken, fish and fruits and veggies- but it is so hard on a budget. We are a family of four and I have about $400 a month to spend on groceries. Its hard to buy a thing of chicken when for the same price I can buy hamburger meat that will go towards 3 meals instead of one. And yes I have heard the saying- that in the long run it is cheaper because you will not have the hospital bills- and I agree! but if I dont have the money, I dont have the money. I would love some advice, recipes- anything will help! thanks!!

I feed a family of 7 on a budget of $500 per month. It can be tricky, but it is possible! We buy the bags of frozen chicken parts (each are between 6-8 dollars) and I buy a lot of fresh veggies and fruits, it's low cost per pound. When you see something is on sale, buy a bit extra and freeze it--I stock up on chicken breasts this way. We do a lot of sandwiches--bread is pretty cheap too. I try to sub veggies and fruits in place of chips and sweets. We buy big bags of shredded cheese, a pack of tortillas and various meats (pepperoni, hamburger, chicken) and make different types of quesadillas. I do a lot of scrambled eggs, eggs are cheap!

carcar63

We're on a tight budget also for groceries, I've found ground turkey is cheaper then ground beef, so I change alot of recipes to grd turkey, we also eat alot of beans, lentils, kidney, black, etc. they're usually pretty cheap if you buy the bags instead of the cans and just soak them overnight before you use them.

Also, like everyone else siad, portion control. Right now, that's all I'm pretty much doing is watching portion sizes and I'm losing weight, I know that'll change eventually but you'd be surprised what just doing that will do for you. Add a salad if the portion is to small. If you buy bagged salad mixes, take them out of the bags and rap them in papertowel and put in a new large bag and it'll last longer, about a couple of weeks.

Nina74

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, RUN (don't walk) there! They have great produce for MUCH cheaper than the regular grocery store.

Also, like someone else said, I buy meats on sale---like when chicken breasts are buy 1 get 1, i buy about 6! LOL! Same with ground turkey.

Also staying on the outer perimeter of the grocery store- int eh fresh fruits & veggies, meats, dairy, etc is healthier for you, but saves you a lot of $$. Skip the sodas, juices, etc and go straight for water. Make your own 100 cal snack baggies (MUCH cheaper than buying the pre-done ones!). You can buy the snack sized ziploc baggies at Walmart for cheap. Once I get home from the grocery store, I wash all of my fruit, veggies, etc that I would use as snacks and put them in the snack sized baggies. It helps me with portion control AND it makes more economic sense! I bought a bunch of grapes for $3.00 and got about 8 servings out of it. Much better & healthier than 100 cal doritoes or what not.

Lots of luck!

jmessina205

Our local grocery store always has a spot in the meat section that is "Pick 5 for $20". It is all their meat that has a sell by date coming up in the next couple days, still perfectly good, especially if you stick it in the freezer as soon as you get home. Also if you watch the sale ads you can sometimes get whole chickens for really cheap, good for at least one meal, always good to make chicken salad for the left overs! Making things from scratch instead of from a box is cheaper and most of the time healthier.

themommie

making homemade soups are healthy,low cal and you dont need to use as much meat, also using beans or pasta and adding some meat and veggies help to cut down on the amount of meat you need. ex: I made a mexican ground turkey soup the other night, you can get jennie-o ground turkey for about $1.79 lb I browned it with some salt pepper, garlic, cumin and chili powder and added water and chicken bullion cubes, then added a can of corn , a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of kidney beans, it was really yummy. you can also make mac n cheese and add a can of tuna in water to it and also some frozen peas, and then eat a proper serving size it is good and makes it lower in calories and better for you, if you add a salad or some canteloupe to it , it is really filling

cardbucfan

Also, do you have any friends who belong to a warehouse club like Sam's that would take you there? I do major stock ups there. I actually shop there every week for some staples like fruit and milk. I have 2 teenage boys and they suck down milk like crazy. I check the grocery store flyers first to see if something is on sale there and if not, I'll guy it at Sams.

sarahwright01

Go to this website:
www.fistfulofcoupons.com

she has a bunch of stuff on there about couponing.

Heres the other thing, you need to MEAL PLAN. That way, you don't over buy each month. You only buy enough of what you need. Anythign that happens to be left over goes towards the next month for eating. Meal plan out your lunches and your dinners. Begin to measure things.

Also, chicken is SO SO CHEAP! At Costco, you can get a BIG bag of Foster Farms Chicken breasts for $1.99 per pound, boneless and skinless. So it ends up costing $24 ish dollars a bag, and you get A TON of chicken. Those breasts are 7-9 ounces each. thats 2 full servings!

An even cheaper way to buy chicken is to buy it wiht the bone in and skin on breasts. These run around $.99 cents a pound! Just peel the skin off before you cook it. Cooking it on the bone makes it juicier too. Then you just cut the bone out before you serve it. Or you can clean up your chicken breasts before you freeze them. 1 extra hour of prep work on saturday or sunday can save you BUNDLES of $.

Finally, here is an example of a meal plan i do for my hubby and myself. This is what we are having this week for dinner:

Monday Lunch: Whole Wheat Turkey Wraps
Monday Dinner: Chicken Stirfry (cook 6 total breasts. 2 for dinner, and 4 for the week to use with lunch.
Tuesday Lunch: Chicken and Spinach Wraps (Chicken that was grilled on Monday)
Tuesday Dinner: 1/3 of a Pork Loin Roast in the Crock Pot with Salad (I buy the HUGE loin roast from Costco and cut it into 3, 4-5 pound Sections) Refrigerate the Leftovers. You shoudl have enough left over to make 2 more meals!
Wednesday Lunch: Chicken Salad (Chicken which was grilled on Monday)
WEdnesday Dinner: Using half of the pork roast left overs, make BBQ pulled Pork Sandwiches with Sandwich thins
Thursday Lunch: Tuna sandwiches or Tuna and Spinache salad
Thursday Dinner: Pulled Pork Verde Taco Salad (Using the remainder of the pulled pork, make Pork Verde. Put this on top of a taco salad!
Friday Dinner: Grilled Chicken and Zuchini Skewers



There, that is an example of a meal plan!

Good Luck!