Poor Person's Guide to Losing Weight?
rebprest
Posts: 149 Member
So I need to pay off my credit card bill and I'm eeking by on about 1400 a month (thanks a lot MLS). I'm looking to cut my grocery list to the cheapest it can possibly go, which I'm thinking is between 75 and 100 dollars a month. Can anyone help me achieve this in a weight-loss friendly way? I'm feeding just myself and I really need a grocery list and meal plan. Grocery budgeting is like my Achilles heel. I have always spent too much to the tune of about 300 a month so I really have no idea how to achieve this. Should I plan by meals or items? HELP MEEEE!!!!
Nearby stores....Fresh Thyme (bulk), Kroger, Walmart, Mejer,
Nearby stores....Fresh Thyme (bulk), Kroger, Walmart, Mejer,
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Replies
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I don't know if this helps, but what I do is I look through the flyers to see what is on sale that week and figure out my meals from there. Good luck, it is hard but doable. Not sure how much 100 buys in the US. In Canada that is about at least 1/2 of what I would spend.0
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I was just reading about this cookbook of recipes that are meant to be both healthy and cheap:
Article Here: http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/01/a-cookbook-to-help-food-stamp-recipients-cook-cheaply-becomes-a-massive-viral-hit/
Free PDF Copy Here: http://www.leannebrown.ca/buy/good-and-cheap
I haven't tried it out myself yet, but it looks good.0 -
Dried beans. Very cheap, just soak them overnight, discard the soak water, and cook as you wish.0
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Buy produce, fruits and veggies, nuts, beans, noodles, cheese, skim milk, OJ, bread, peanut butter, lunchmeat, chicken breast, brown rice, yogurt, cottage, cheese, eggs, oatmeal, etc. You can have cereal and oatmeal for breakfast with OJ, have a sandwich, fruits/veggies, yogurt, nuts for lunch, and have come chicken breast, rice/noodles, veggies with some beans for dinner. Just some basic ideas there for you. You should be able to get all that stuff relatively cheap on sale, use coupons, sign up for your store's website plan (i.e. Meijer uses Mperks, online coupons, rewards, etc), cook stuff and put leftovers in tupperware containers. Weigh out your portions using a cheap food scale.
I save about $50-75 per month on our groceries using coupons and online stuff with Mperks. But we spend about $150 a week with four of us (wife and two kids plus myself). We rarely go out to eat, just eat at home mostly.
Good luck!0 -
I like this site a lot, though some of her recipes are kind of bland from time to time: http://www.budgetbytes.com
Her general principle is to use a few zippy ingredients that might cost more, and a bunch of things that are nutritious and filling that don't cost as much.
I also find that I get WAY more food for my money when I shop at the co-op for bulk things like whole grains and legumes.
Eating more whole grains and legumes is a more cost effective way to get protein than animal sources.
If you need to learn how to cook them, I HIGHLY suggest going to the library and checking out a copy of Mark Bittman's VB6 (Eat vegan before 6). You don't have to soak beans overnight before you cook them.0 -
I'm in Canada. It takes me about $40-50 a week for groceries, as well as an additional $20/week for chicken. Also I eat protein bars which is $7.50 a week, and my whey is $45 a month. Yikes.0
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one of my staple foods is quaker 1-minute quick oats. for under $5 you get 30 servings which are rich in fiber, clean complex carbs and even a little protein. i cook it in non-fat milk and sweeten with stevia, although you could sweeten in with any non-calorie sweetener. sometimes i add a little cinnamon, and it's even yummier. i also make cookies and brownies with it.
dried beans ARE quite cheap, not to mention shelf stable, rich in fiber and full of complex carbs plus some protein. cook them in store brand pasta sauce or any yummy sauce, add a little cheese for a little extra protein. there's also about a zillion recipes for beans online.
greek yogurt (i eat non-fat) can be had fairly cheaply. it's really packed with protein, and can be mixed into anything, flavored and turned into a dip, eaten plain or sweetened and stirred with fruit.
corn or wheat tortillas are inexpensive. you can get lots per package, fill them with beans and cheese or any meat or filling. one corn tortilla is only about 50 calories. throw in reduced fat cheese and some beans cooked in a sauce and it can be low cal, healthy and delish. and cheap ;-)
don't forget bagged rice, barley, store brand pasta. just measure your portions and you can eat all these things and lose weight. and they're very inexpensive - and each package has many servings.0 -
There are some great points here. I'd like to add don't be afraid to shop outside of grocery stores to get items.
For example, here in Canada we have a bulk store that sells all kinds of healthy things, seasonings/spices, sugary things, protein powder, food/snacks for animals etc.
This week they have steel cut oatmeal on sale for $0.79 a lb! 3/4' s of a cup (dry) gets me 4 good hearty servings so I don't need much. I bought a decent amount for about 60 cents which makes me set for a while! Additionally I bought 2 almond milks and seeds which were all on sale, plus some other things. Lastly I had a coupon as well so I spent less than $9 on things I use quite often.
Which brings me to my next point. Know your prices. Sometimes stores will try to lure you with something like a "2 for $5" deal, but if you break it down you're not saving much at all. It's good to have a general idea of the items you pay for to save money.
Even though prices seems to rise a little each week, our grocery bill for 2 people has dropped considerably by planning out meals, shopping around and stocking up when things when there's a good sale on things we eat or use a lot of. It takes A LOT more work than just throwing things in the cart like before, but it's worth it.0 -
This week they have steel cut oatmeal on sale for $0.79 a lb! 3/4' s of a cup (dry) gets me 4 good hearty servings so I don't need much. I bought a decent amount for about 60 cents which makes me set for a while! Additionally I bought 2 almond milks and seeds which were all on sale, plus some other things. Lastly I had a coupon as well so I spent less than $9 on things I use quite often.
Gotta LOVE Bulk Barn!! LOL I'm heading there shortly myself. Saw the Chia seeds are 15% off, and the dried cranberries are 50% off. Can't wait to head over there
I've also found it quite hard when it comes to shopping. We spend about $500 a month on groceries (and there is only me and my hubby!!) I would like to cut down amount down by 1/2 by finding alternatives. I'm considering next spring starting my own fruit / veggie garden.
I'm still new to this and learning as I go. Eating healthy doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg!0 -
Walmart rotisserie chicken is actually very good. You can buy a fully cooked, seasoned, delicious chicken cheaper than you can buy one that you have to prepare yourself.
Eggs and potato's also come to mind0 -
There are some great points here. I'd like to add don't be afraid to shop outside of grocery stores to get items.
For example, here in Canada we have a bulk store that sells all kinds of healthy things, seasonings/spices, sugary things, protein powder, food/snacks for animals etc.
This week they have steel cut oatmeal on sale for $0.79 a lb! 3/4' s of a cup (dry) gets me 4 good hearty servings so I don't need much. I bought a decent amount for about 60 cents which makes me set for a while! Additionally I bought 2 almond milks and seeds which were all on sale, plus some other things. Lastly I had a coupon as well so I spent less than $9 on things I use quite often.
Which brings me to my next point. Know your prices. Sometimes stores will try to lure you with something like a "2 for $5" deal, but if you break it down you're not saving much at all. It's good to have a general idea of the items you pay for to save money.
Even though prices seems to rise a little each week, our grocery bill for 2 people has dropped considerably by planning out meals, shopping around and stocking up when things when there's a good sale on things we eat or use a lot of. It takes A LOT more work than just throwing things in the cart like before, but it's worth it.
Beat me to it.
I do most of my snack shopping at Bulk Barn. It may see more expensive, but when you break it down per serving, it's cheaper in the long run.
+1 to checking if you're really getting a bargain on sales. Up in Canada, NL specifically, the prices are broken down per 100g for most foods, I can't recall how it's broken down for things like TP.0 -
I used to be really poor too so I can relate. Trust me its do-able. Plan your meals using the flyer of the cheapest store around. Things to stay away from at almost any price: pre-made package food and beverages other than milk cause you just don't need them, no desserts, chips no soda <See how its naturally healthy to be limited in your food dollars - you can't afford the junk. Buy the cheapest protein per pound. Eggs are a very cheap protein. Buy only the cheapest produce which is probably bananas, carrots, onions, potatoes and maybe apples. Buy rice by the 5 pound bag, not Uncle Bens little boxes. Dried beans are much cheaper than canned beans, but both are cheap food source. You learn along the way. You can do this! 0
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bump, for later reading0
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It is possible, but takes some work and maneuvering. When I was single, my budget was about $100 a month and it was when I actively lost the most weight. Watch sales and make a policy never to spend over a $1 a pound unless it is a splurge item. for example $1lb for veggies and then I would splurge once a week and buy fresh berries, etc.
So, for example, I would buy a 5lb whole chicken and cook it whole in the crockpot or oven. That would be 3-4 nights of dinner (chicken tacos, chicken breast with veggies, etc) whatever I was feeling. Then I would make broth from the bones with a few cheap veggies and make a veggie soup with a fresh chicken broth. In that way, I could stretch a 5-6lb bird for at least a week of recipes. I would watch the sales for chicken to be 99cents a lb, which happens every few months or so, and buy as many as I could fit in my apartment freezer.
I would eat tons of fresh veggies during the spring/ summer months and switch to frozen veggies in the fall and winter. Kroger brand frozen veggies go on sale for $1 pretty often. Also become awesome at cooking carrots. Always cheap and can be made so many ways (carrot fries, carrot salad, spicy carrot soup, baked carrots, grilled carrots with pesto).
The bright side of this way is that you save money, but also you learn to really be creative in how to cook the same boring veggies. Use pinterest to find new ways to make veggies creative. My friends and husband often tease me because they say I have ore ways to cook cauliflower and carrots than any one person they know.
Good luck. Its hard but it can be done. The challenge can be fun and it really helps you learn to expand what veggies can do.0 -
I second budgetbytes.com - some great ideas.
When I was living on a student income (a.k.a. dirt poor) I ate a LOT of beans, frozen veg, rice and tofu in different combos. I bought a variety of (cheap/sale) sauces and spices to liven things up; for breakfast I would do eggs or oatmeal.
Wasn't the most fun ~3 years I've ever had but it's pretty healthy and gave me a greater appreciation once I could afford to buy items outside of that scope of food
Also I would "splurge" on fruit.
Disclaimer: vegetarian 0 -
Hubby & I are losing weight on a budget of $200ish (for two of us) a month, and this is how we do it.
Shop for meat sales. There meat section in Walmart has an area where they put 'yellow stickers' on meat that only has a couple of days left. We get a lot of cheap beef this way and freeze it. Sometimes whole chickens are on sale for 69c/lb - we buy several and freeze them. We got a bunch of Jenni-o Turkey coupons and got the ground lean (93/7) stuff for really cheap.
Next is seasonings - they're expensive to buy if you get them all at once, but you get SO much use out of them, and IMO they are the trick to not getting 'bored' by healthy eating. Aside from salt/pepper, our staples are parsley, rosemary, sage (for 'classic' flavours that I associate with England), oregano & basil for more italian flavours, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper for mexican/spanish. Onion & garlic powders are cheap and I put them in everything lol.
What meat we have determines our meal plan for the week, so all we really shop for that week is carbs & veggies. If we have a whole chicken, day 1 is usually roast chicken with potatoes & veggies. We eat the legs/thighs and take off the breast for day 2: chicken stir fry. Chopped breastmeat is amazing in a stir fry, with rice and veggies & soy sauce. A chicken lasts us 2 days, but since you're just 1 person it will probably last you 3-4.
I make pasta bakes, shepherd's pie, enchiladas, tacos & spanish rice, all really cheaply (using turkey meat) and our suppers are usually planned between 600-800 calories each. I don't use those 'healthy' dinner-under-500-calories recipes, because I am hungry right afterwards lol. With beef I make sweet potato fries (baked, not fried) and plain steamed veggies. We cut costs by buying the generic brands ($1 per lb of pasta, the cheapest diced tomatoes/tomato paste cans) and choosing the cheapest veggies at the store.
Our breakfasts/lunches are usually pretty basic, eggs & toast, sandwiches for lunch...
We could cut costs even further by having meat-free meals occasionally & buying beans instead of meat, or going to the store where the item is cheaper (we always go to Walmart, where the milk is 3.50/gallon even though it's often 1.99 at another store). We also buy a lot of diet sodas and expensive stuff for making our own sushi, so a lot of our 200 a month is 'excessive' and we could probably REALLY cut back and live on $150. But it's important to find a balance between living the way you want, and spending less overall.
Hope this helps 0 -
You can find healthy items at dollar stores if you look hard enough. Our 99¢ store here in town even has a produce section. A lot of the time healthy snacks are sold to these dollar stores because the general public would rather buy junk. ;-) Most of the summer my go-to snack was a Kashi black bean bbq chip that was delicious... 99¢ a bag, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one buying their stock. Haha.0
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Do you have an Aldi's by you? I agree with everything above and some of my staples are:
Oats, brown sugar, potatoes, lettuce, fit and active light salad dressings, 2 lb bag of wild caught salmon for 7.99, and Kirkwood chicken breasts about $5.00 that you can cut in half and have 6 breasts (I cook them on Sunday for the week) freeze some, have with a potato, salad, and their produce is very inexpensive. Yogurt, fresh fruit and vegies, beans are awesome too. They have pantry foods that are priced great like pasta and sauce, beans, rice.
Good luck with your new budget and paying off the credit cards - great job working on this goal!! I hope this helps, feel free to add me as a friend good luck on your journey!!
missjeannemarie0 -
You can find healthy items at dollar stores if you look hard enough. Our 99¢ store here in town even has a produce section. A lot of the time healthy snacks are sold to these dollar stores because the general public would rather buy junk. ;-) Most of the summer my go-to snack was a Kashi black bean bbq chip that was delicious... 99¢ a bag, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one buying their stock. Haha.
Our dollar stores also have fresh bread for a dollar, I like Nature's Own whole wheat, just have to ask what day the bread truck comes because they just come once a week & it goes fast. Also I shop at Aldi's for the best prices on fresh fruits & vegetables.0 -
I was just reading about this cookbook of recipes that are meant to be both healthy and cheap:
Article Here: http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/01/a-cookbook-to-help-food-stamp-recipients-cook-cheaply-becomes-a-massive-viral-hit/
Free PDF Copy Here: http://www.leannebrown.ca/buy/good-and-cheap
I haven't tried it out myself yet, but it looks good.
This PDF is a real find! Thanks for providing the link.0 -
Do you have an Aldi's by you? I agree with everything above and some of my staples are:
Oats, brown sugar, potatoes, lettuce, fit and active light salad dressings, 2 lb bag of wild caught salmon for 7.99, and Kirkwood chicken breasts about $5.00 that you can cut in half and have 6 breasts (I cook them on Sunday for the week) freeze some, have with a potato, salad, and their produce is very inexpensive. Yogurt, fresh fruit and vegies, beans are awesome too. They have pantry foods that are priced great like pasta and sauce, beans, rice.
Good luck with your new budget and paying off the credit cards - great job working on this goal!! I hope this helps, feel free to add me as a friend good luck on your journey!!
missjeannemarie
A great grocery list Jeannemarie! Thanks!0 -
Just show up at friends and family's around dinner time. I did this all the time when the kids were small.
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Bulk foods and Frozen foods!!! Whoever says you can't eat healthy on a budget is sadly misinformed. I buy frozen chicken breasts and frozen fish and frozen veggies. A bag of brown rice goes a long way!!!! Also look for sales and if you find something on sale that's non perishable or will last a long time in the freezer adjust your budget if you can to buy as much as you can!!!0
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I'm just going to reiterate what other posters have said that I agree with, and add my own tip.
1. Find your nearest and cheapest fruit market. Fruit market produce tend to be a lot cheaper, and their meats also. Stay away from packaged foods at these places because their prices on these items are often much higher than the grocery store.
2. Build your diet on things you can afford. Tilapia instead of salmon, ground turkey instead of steak.
3. Buy a rotisserie chicken. For 5 or 6 dollars, you get a lot of meals. (1 breast, bbq, baked potato, coleslaw), (2 breast Asian stir fry) (thigh, fajita seasoning, onions and sweet peppers, flour tortilla for fajitas) (thigh, salad, dressing) (2 legs, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli). I like it better than raw because you save money on seasoning and time.
4. Use sales and coupons for packaged/processed food items at your regular store.
5. MENU PLAN!!!!
You will save so much money knowing that you will have XYZ for dinner at home than wondering what you will cook and swing by the drive-thru instead.
Hope this helps.0 -
Thanks for the link to the pdf!
That's super helpful.0
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