How to Diet with no Money
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Oats. Nice slow filling carbs, good for breaky and super cheap (80p a kilo)
I mix with protein powder for flavour which still works out cheap (about a dollar I think) but without is super cheap.
Eggs are cheap and versatile too, save you having the same meal day in day out even with same ingredients.
Beans. You can buy kidney beans in the UK for 18p a can (lidl). I stock up whenever I go there. 25 cans for under a fiver can't be bad.
Potato. Again super cheap and last a long time. Would expect you can buy a bag for a dollar or two.
Frozen Veg. A couple of kilos here is a couple of quid.
The above is all I eat when on a budget, not sure if it would fit under $20 but it hits all your food groups well and I spend less on food than anyone I know. Hope this helps.0 -
Well first I'd suggest either seeking unemployment or benefits from the government, that is why it is there afterall, secondly, check out your local food pantry if you are in need of more options(many times they have some selections of fresh veg). I'd recommend things like turkey chili(ground turkey is bulk is cheap and you can use rice and beans to make large portions and freeze/refridge it). I'd recommend a site called Budget Bites, which focues on cheap recipes.
Thanks for the site recommendation, they have some very tasty loooking recipes on there and it's awesome how they break down the cost of the ingredients. I'm adding this to my favorties!
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I'm sorry you're going through this. I know I've been there. I've actually saved a lot of money by dieting believe it or not. I don't buy too much fresh produce because I don't eat a lot (I gained from eating bad foods, not a lot of it). I buy a lot of canned veggies which is filling and actually really affordable. For lunches I buy campbells vegetable soup! 100 calories for 1/2 a can and its usually about $1. It's not ideal but it is what it is. The diet foods like the healthy choice meals sometimes are good too! The new healthy choice baked taste is only $2.50 for a meal of 180 calories. That helped me when I usually spend about $7 at taco bell or burger king. I hope that helps.0
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The issue with eating those foods is that 1 pack of ramen noodles is around 400 calories. That won't feel you up. If you have a produce junction, they sell produce in bulk for really cheap. One trick I have is making a bag of broccoli, califlower and carrots. A large bag can run around 100 calories and it fills you up. Get assistance! Go you for not being ashamed of posting this. Many of us are struggling. I wish you well!0
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The issue with eating those foods is that 1 pack of ramen noodles is around 400 calories. That won't feel you up. If you have a produce junction, they sell produce in bulk for really cheap. One trick I have is making a bag of broccoli, califlower and carrots. A large bag can run around 100 calories and it fills you up. Get assistance! Go you for not being ashamed of posting this. Many of us are struggling. I wish you well!
*fill0 -
Right, at day's end, it's calories in vs calories out.
Right, now is not the time to focus on anything other than working with what is real and possible.I am currently unemployed. I want to use this time to get healthier and lose weight because I finally have time to cook meals and exercise. When I go to the store to buy mostly fresh produce and proteins my grocery bill triples! Because I have 0 income I feel pressured to buy things that will last longer and cost less such as Ramen Noodles, Beans, Rice, Pasta, etc. I know that these things should not be the bulk of what I am eating but my cabinets are empty and I don't know what else to do. I am truly always HUNGRY. Even though I have been more active, I have actually gained weight because of my carb intake. I have $20 to buy my food for the next month. There has to be an affordable solution to this problem. Please Help.
You don't gain weight cause of high carbs. You don't lose weight by eating protein.
You want to lose weight, burn more calories than you consume, that's it. Don't make it complicated. That means you can eat, ramen noodles, beans, rice, pasta etc... just stay under your calories.
Forget macro's, diets and anything outside your budget.
When the time comes when funds permit, sprinkle your grocery list with lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, low fat dairy, whole grains and some supplements if you like.
Good Luck!
This was my excuse when i was younger, when i was like 14-18. "I can't lose weight cause I don't have money." I realized it was a big lie.
I too was full of excuses.
And yes, poverty sucks...but we are still in control.
Being aware of our excuses is the mark of a successful person on his or her way to potential realized.0 -
the site I use for my meal plan has a section for $1 recipes and less. It changes every week. http://www.soscuisine.com/?sos_l=en
I buy a lot in the discounted bins. After a while if you go every day to check at the store, you'll know on what time and day they usually discount produces and you will be able to get first choice. Same goes for dairy products. Check the dates on the products and come by a few days before the expiry date, chances are the unsold ones will be discounted then.
Look for cooking and purchasing groups. The members buy together and get a lower price then they cook huge batches of food together and share the results. You can skip the cooking part and only use the group buying discount.0 -
I am currently unemployed. I want to use this time to get healthier and lose weight because I finally have time to cook meals and exercise. When I go to the store to buy mostly fresh produce and proteins my grocery bill triples! Because I have 0 income I feel pressured to buy things that will last longer and cost less such as Ramen Noodles, Beans, Rice, Pasta, etc. I know that these things should not be the bulk of what I am eating but my cabinets are empty and I don't know what else to do. I am truly always HUNGRY. Even though I have been more active, I have actually gained weight because of my carb intake. I have $20 to buy my food for the next month. There has to be an affordable solution to this problem. Please Help.
Buy frozen veggies. They are cheaper and last longer. look for sales. Tuna is cheap. Eggs are cheap. You can usually find chicken on sale for pretty low prices. Cut out all liquids that cost money. a $2 soda can buy a pound of chicken breasts on sale.
You can still have Ramen noodles, but add frozen veggies and protein to them. Sliced boiled eggs, chicken breasts, pork roast, etc.
Buy meat in bulk and when on sale. Separate it into individual servings in baggies and freeze it for later meals.
Cook all your own food. Convenience foods are much higher priced.
It can be done, just takes planning and good choices.0 -
Oatmeal would be an awesome breakfast idea. It is cheap and super filling. You can use whatever you have extra to make it better (honey, sugar, fruit, nuts, even maple syrup. Like I said, whatever you have)
A big pot of soup is cheap, healthy, and goes a long way. You can make a big pot at the beginning of the week. Potato soup, vegetable soup, chicken noodle, whatever you like. You can choose what goes in so it is much healthier than ramen or canned soup and it is surprisingly pretty cheap in the long run.
Stir-fry is one of my favorite dinners. Buy whatever meat you can find on sale (beef, chicken, pork, whatever will work) and do the same with frozen vegetables. Walmart sells frozen stir-fry vegetables of $0.98. Any vegetables will work. Rice or pasta, meat, veggies, and maybe even eggs if the are on sale. You can spice it up or buy a cheap bottle of sauce. It goes along way and you can always change up the veggies or sauce so you don't get burned out.
Good luck!0 -
do you have an aldis in your area? they have inexpensive frozen vegetables.. buy peanut butter, eggs , tuna and oatmeal.. but really you should go to the local social services and apply for food stamps . you can also go to a food pantry to get things. dont be ashamed to do it either. i was dirt poor at one time in my life and i got help . today im doing well in my life and ive made sure i always help out people in need . good luck with all that!!0
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I completely understand what you are dealing with. Due to my husband's illness, he hasn't been able to work since October 2011 and can't get unemployment benefits because he is physically unable to work. Right now, I have $100 to feed a family of 3 for the next month. It's SO hard. But, I buy tuna, eggs, rice, pasta, meat on sale, dry beans etc when things are this tough. Portion control will help tremendously! A pot of peas or beans and rice can last a week for one person. You'll get sick of eating the same thing over and over but desperate times mean being thankful you have food. I made a pot of chili the other day and we ate off of it for 3 days (would have been 4 but my mom ate with us twice).
Coupons are great and can be found online for free a lot of times, so you don't have to buy a newspaper to get them. Also, if there's a Publix in your area, check out their "buy one, get one free" deals. You can get things like pasta for less than $1.00 per box. Today you can get Eat Smart veggies 2 for 1.
I agree you should apply for unemployment benefits and try the local food pantry. Thanks to the help of family, I've been making it so far. Good luck to you!0 -
If you truly only have $20 per month for food, you need to get some financial assistance of some kind.
However, carbs in themselves are not bad. The focus of MFP when it comes to food is calorie counting. It's basic math: your calorie intake minus calories burned must meet your weight goals. You can be eating Snickers and still achieve a weight goal, although the nutrition factor might kill you.
Many carbs are both low on the glycemic index (GI) and relatively inexpensive such as beans and whole grains. Yes, eating beans and brown rice is not very high on the yummy list, but it gets the job done. I once lost 20 lbs eating primarily small bits of expensive protein together with oat meal, brown rice, and lots of inexpensive beans. (Hint: heavy use of spices can make this diet quite palatable.)
Cheers.
- Mike P0 -
You can also try your nearest church, they will help you with food. :flowerforyou:0
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My brother is super poor and super skinny. Here is how. Beans/Lentils/Brown rice cooked with some sort of seasoning (soy sauce, enchilada sauce/curry powder/whatever spice is in his cabinet) and veggies. Fresh vegetables are CHEAP. Buy 5 carrots, under a dollar. A head of broccoli is also under a dollar. Good grains/Good vegetables/Season - you can make millions of meals this way, never get bored, and stay under 20$. You can do it! He also uses eggs a lot, like, he made breakfast for me once, and it was rice, enchilada sauce (canned, so also cheap), one tortilla ( the little corn ones-cheap!) and one egg over medium. It was great, it wasn't that bad for me, and it was good for the poors.0
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I totally expect my ramen to feel me up, sexxxxy and cheap! That's how I like it.The issue with eating those foods is that 1 pack of ramen noodles is around 400 calories. That won't feel you up. If you have a produce junction, they sell produce in bulk for really cheap. One trick I have is making a bag of broccoli, califlower and carrots. A large bag can run around 100 calories and it fills you up. Get assistance! Go you for not being ashamed of posting this. Many of us are struggling. I wish you well!
*fill0 -
Depending on how much you actually are able to spend on food, you can just practice portion control with really affordable foods like Ramen noodles, dollar menus, etc. Not the healthiest but it's healthier than being overweight. Or if you're a little more flexible, try shopping at Aldi (or a similar store if you don't have an Aldi but I've found their meat and produce to be above and beyond other "discount" stores) and cooking/freezing immediately. This has cut my grocery bill in half.0
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Depending on how much you actually are able to spend on food, you can just practice portion control with really affordable foods like Ramen noodles, dollar menus, etc. Not the healthiest but it's healthier than being overweight. Or if you're a little more flexible, try shopping at Aldi (or a similar store if you don't have an Aldi but I've found their meat and produce to be above and beyond other "discount" stores) and cooking/freezing immediately. This has cut my grocery bill in half.
I didn't notice the $20/month part. Too lazy to read through the whole thing.
Definitely check out food pantries. Canned veggies are still veggies. Good luck!0 -
please go to a church food pantry -- you need more $ than that to eat for a month! I'd do dry beans, brown rice, sweet[potatoes, yogurt and try to find some meat in the clearance section and look carefully for sale items. (P.S. Call your mommy)!!!0
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Frozen veggies. Whole chicken on sale. Yogurt (some brands do not expire for a while and they have good sales). Bananas are usually very cheap u can buy green and yellow ones so they don't go bad right away. Tuna. Bread. Brown rice. Black beans and eggs. Is what I would buy if on a tight budget.0
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you have a bigger problem than weightloss right now. Go to a government or charity food assistance program and get help. Also..go to a soup kitchen for a meal every day. I'd suggest exercising to get in shape..and concentrate on employment.. Good luck.0
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Realizing its winter and depending on where your at you might look it to some farmers markets lots of locals bring in cheap produce to sell and its always fresher than most stores. You should get some assistance from somewhere if possible church or goverment theres no shame in asking for help if you truely need it. But above all else stay positive, you will make it through and be much stronger for it.0
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Eggs are cheap. Good source of protein. Fills you up, gives you energy.0
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I was in the same boat because of christmas... I ended up getting quality advice from my friends on MFP and bought a cabinet-full ($30) of canned tuna, chicken, green beans, mixed veggies, corn, tomato, and chef boyardee for the husband :P
Now we supplement our stock with some perishables every other week, like eggs, milk, etc
actually ive found that having no money is helping my diet because i dont buy a lot of unnecessary junk that i used to.0 -
$20 a month isn't even $1 a day. I don't know how you can possible eat, let alone eat healthy, on that budget.
Beans and brown rice are a very healthy combination. Add in some cheap veggies like carrots, celery, cabbage, and canned tomato sauce, and you have a very low cost, high fiber meal that will keep you full for a long time.
Oatmeal is also very inexpensive, filling, and good for you.
Eggs make an inexpensive protein, as does canned tuna. Powdered milk is less expensive than liquid.
I think the first priority has to be increasing your budget if you're not going to be on a very minimal, near starvation diet. If a job isn't coming quickly, consider asking friends for a loan, using credit, or applying for food stamps. It is just not a sustainable budget.
This. Why are you unemployed but not getting unemployment? If you can qualify, get it asap. There is no shame in wanting to live a decent life while you look for work. And I'd apply for food stamps as well. I hesitated to do it for years, but I was so glad when I did. It makes everything so much less stressful.
I would start with lentils, brown rice, and canned pasta sauce, most are under a dollar. Hunt's pasta sauce is very cheap and contains no HFCS. I would also not hesitate to go to food pantries and get food there. You can call 211 for a list of them in your area if you're in the USA. Peanut butter is another good cheap source of protein, I used to mix it with soy sauce, chilies from my local farmer's market that were $1/pound, and garlic to flavor rice and an egg or two.
Guess what? Walking is 100% free, and burns calories. And walking while looking for work still counts. I would log your calories and focus on walking whenever you can, take the bus if it's too far to drive so you will walk between stops. You'll save money by not buying gas. Just make sure the numbers are green everyday, you'll lose weight even if you resort to eating twinkies and mcdoubles for every meal.0 -
I don't know where you live but I live in Chicago, and I know lots of social workers. There's about 7-8 food pantries I can hit, one even gives you a month's worth of produce to take home. Most of them tend to give you basic, non-yummy goods that are healthy if prepared properly.
There is one that gives you these pig in the blanket smoky sausage things, a metric ton of them and it's bad, bad bad.
Soup kitchens, too usually serve healthy meals. No shame in it, really. I do get funny looks because my clothes aren't threadbare and I have decent shoes, but there's all kinds of food insecurity.0 -
You have so many choices that are cheap. These are my things. I make sure I keep. bananna, apple grapefruit, brown rice, eggs, chicken, fish almonds, frozen vegetables,carrots.0
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I can say we've been there. I am also responsible for 5 teen in the home. Eating with a very very strained budget gets so worrisome and I had many days where all I could do is cry. So, I figured out the local food banks and got to know some of them. Let them know we were trying to eat healthy and some of them would let me load up on fresh veggies and proteins if they had it. Sometimes they didn't and need to make it stretch. During those times we downsized where we could in order so save (even more) money. Dropping a cell phone and having only one for the fam. No netflix. Shopping for even better rates on auto insurance. Not driving anywhere when we didn't have to in order to save gas. One day I was walking with my daughter in the neighborhood and we came across a house with english walnuts all over the ground. We knocked on the door and asked to gleen what they didn't want and they said "go for it!" Man that was a BLESSING! Those walnuts were so so good. I don't mind saying there were alot of times that I was scared. I also don't mind saying that it's been 3 years surviving a major lay off that my husband went through. He was let go and re-hired as a contractor. Many weeks we saw no payck. Yet getting a company to give him the time of day when he was at the top of his pay scale was next to impossible. We lost our home after 13 yrs, my 2007 family car (that was even harder). We spent the whole summer walking everywhere and if we had to, load the whole fam up in the back of our 95 pickup and pray for no traffic trouble. Things are looking up now and you can do it. Stay away from what I call the "pig foods" corn, flour, sugar and fight for healthy choice. You have lots and lots of great advice on this forum
) Blessings to you. 0 -
If you have an Aldi's near you, they have pretty cheap produce and meats. Also, you should seek out your local food pantry through your township, they can help you by providing you with food, and many of them have fresh produce days. I hope your situation gets better soon, wish you the best of luck.0
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Make pots of soup! Low carb, high protein soup like chicken veg soup, beef veg soup, or even just veggie soup is good for a diet. You can also make huge pots of it at a time freeze what you do't eat or portion it for the week.
Use a low sodium broth if you ate watching your salt.
Good luck! Keep searching for a job and don't give up
Also: if you live by one, shopping at an Asian/Middle Eastern grocery store is better than a chain (e.g. safeway, giant, food lion, etc) because they get imported foods at lower costs. You can save money on fresh produce, spices, and often the items are in bulk sizes (rice, beans, nuts, etc).0 -
Make stews, soups and cassaroules. If you need to lay off the carbs just swap the carbs for veggies :frown: even if there frozen .
Soup
Crock pot
-water
-seasoning
-onion (long shelf life)
-garlic (long shelf life (both can be powdered if necessary)
-black beans -1 cup
-green beans -1 cup
-carrots-1 cup
-celery-1 cup
- cut up chicken -1 cup
-dark leafy greens (turnips-kale-chard-whatever is on sale)-1 cup finely cut
put in your crock pot and cook for a few hours ( 1 cup is easily on meal and if you need a thicker broth add milk or coconut milk) you can also freeze it and eat it later.
Cassaroule
squash
tomatoe
basil
thin sliced potato
chicken broth
string cheese (2 individual packets) cut them up and put it on top
bake till soft
( you can do a cup of each veggie)
:flowerforyou: hope it gives ideas
You just have to remember your staple ex: fruit-veggie-water-ezekiel bread- fish/chicken breast, buy generic, look for the deals , skim and alter recipes and take time to create a meal:glasses: it takes practice but you can do it. Oh and if you can get your hands on some cheap protien powder (meal replacer or otherwise- sometimes there on clearance and some stores) it will help with the fullness---keep your self busy and delay gorging: do self inventory-do i need to eat-am i just bored-is my body hungry-am i possibly just dehydrated etc....0
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