Serious budget help please

Rice, black beans, and veggies are your friend. You can get a lot of these three things for very little money. Get some seasonings like soy sauce and garlic powder, keep some olive oil and butter on hand. For meats go with whatever's cheap, chicken breasts are usually pretty cheap and very versatile. Buy in bulk, cook it, and freeze excess portions whenever possible so you have your own microwaveable meals on hand.

Weight loss comes down to calories in/calories out. Your body doesn't care if it's frozen boxed dinners, lean, chicken, oatmeal or eggs as long as you eat at a deficit.

Plan your shopping ahead of time and avoid the snacks and empty calories. Eggs are good protein and relatively cheap for the food value. Beans and rice are good value as is oatmeal. You can totally lose weight on a budget.

Dried beans and lentils are incredibly cheap. Also if you buy the big 5 or 10 pound bags of rice, it works out to pennies a serving.

Some supermarkets sell their ripe produce at a big discount. If you can shop every day you can save money buying this stuff and eat it same day before it goes off. If you don't see an "eat today" display, ask the produce manager; it's not always easy to find.

Also, as I think has been mentioned, you can pick up the supermarket flyers and plan your menu around what's on sale.

SOUP! I make a big batch that costs my about $5-6 and get a weeks lunch out of them.

If the budget will support the initial investment, I seriously recommend some brand of food vacuum seal device. My grocery will put meat on sale in "Family" packs before the smaller single meal sizes. If you can vacuum seal the meat, you can purchase the larger pack sizes and not have them freezer burn as quickly.

Just last week, my husband and I got a family pack assortment of pork for $14.00. Once we portioned out the meat, we figure we will get about 18 meals out of it.

Yep, I do this. When I see meat on offer I make the most of it. Take it home and then portion it up for the freezer. The big trick to sticking to a budget is planning your menu. I sit down the night before my weekly big shop and write out not only my shopping list but my menu for the coming week.
I write the menu using ingredients from the freezer and store cupboard (things I have normally bought on sale/special offer) and then buy my fresh veggies and fruit. This way of shopping reduces a lot of waste and impulse buys, helping you stick to budget.

Other cheap and healthy meals include homemade pizza. Make your own bread dough for pennies and then top with tomato paste, veggies such as tinned sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms and a little low fat cheese. What about a spanish omlette packed with veggies, a bean chili rather than using meat, use any leftover veggies to make a pasta sauce or a soup.

Another tip, if you have one, use a slow cooker. It's amazing what healthy and cheap stews you can make with a little thought and imagination as the meat goes so much further.

Good luck

I've switched up my diet so I'm not eating them anymore, but I lost the first 50-60 pounds eating microwavable lunches every day. Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, etc. They are filled with sodium which is the biggest drawback, but they are low in calories (always under 300) and filling enough to get you through from lunch to dinner. Worked for me.

Do what you can, just keep your calories lower than what you are expending. No one has to be perfect to lose weight and there's no certain diet you need to be on.

I use the microwaveable lunches on work days, about as cheap as brown bagging it. Sometimes they are on an extremely good sale too, and I'll stock up the freezer.

I second the "soup" suggestions, and throw in "chili" too. I buy frozen veggies in $1 bags at the grocery; they are good on their own with a bit of butter, or stir fried, or in soup.

You can lose weight eating anything, it's the amount consumed that matters. Be sure to check the nutrition information though, so your health doesn't suffer.