a cheap 1800-2000 calorie diet

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C0asty
C0asty Posts: 7
in Food and Nutrition
My budget is 200 dollers a fortnight i live Australia. i need help onn dieting because I'm unemployed and living with parents can anyone hit me up with a cheap simple diet i don't mind eating the same thing ev
ery day if possible 100 dollers a fortnight

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  • SinCityFit
    SinCityFit Posts: 96
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    Peanut butter and bread are very cheap and high in calories.

    Two slices of bread and 1 serving of PB will be about 350 calories.
  • C0asty
    C0asty Posts: 7
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    Thanks sin city fit what I'm tryin to do here is take note of all these simple meals
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Not sure about Australia, but in the USA dried beans are cheap (be sure to soak them overnight and drain the water, then cook in fresh water).

    Rice is also cheap here. I find peanuts cheap if you buy them in the shell. I shell them and make my own peanut butter or make trail mix with raisins (also fairly cheap, especially if you have any buy in bulk stores).
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    If you're living with your parents, couldn't you put that $200 into a grocery budget with them? Cheaper to buy in bulk and share than to buy just for yourself.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    If you're living with your parents, couldn't you put that $200 into a grocery budget with them? Cheaper to buy in bulk and share than to buy just for yourself.

    this
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
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    Look around for deals on fresh produce. In the western US, we have 99cent Only stores. I buy boxes of berries and bunches of bananas for $1 or $2 each (big boxes of blueberries), pint of mango juice $1, melons for $1. Throw them all together and make smoothies.
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
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    One risk with eating the same foods every day is that you may not get the micronutrients -- vitamins and minerals -- that you need to stay healthy. A good trick is to eat several different fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors and include nuts and foods made with whole grains. This is the challenging part of eating cheaply, but it is necessary.
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
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    I don't know what veggies are cheap in Australia. I have a cheap $3 behriner veggie slicer from my local Asian mkt. I slice parsnip, carrot, celery,zucchini and kabocha squash paper thin and sautée in olive oil. When almost done I toss in a 2 handfuls of julienned kale. I own a pressure cooker and use it to cook lots of Indian dals because dried lentils and beans are super cheap in America-often $1 a lb. chicken thighs and pork necks are also reasonable and cook up great in a slow cooker with parsnips, carrot,celery and radish. Brown rice in bulk is usually a good bargain at an Asian mkt. they also often have good prices on onion and garlic
  • Rachyroopoo
    Rachyroopoo Posts: 5 Member
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    I'm a student from Australia and generally eat around 1600 - 1900kcal (depends on workouts etc for the day) per day. I spend around $150 a fortnight and eat a very high quality diet.

    Eating on a budget actually forced me to try new foods and new cooking techniques. Weirdly, I'm actually a much better cook and healthier as a result of having to learn how to use "cheap" things like eggs, lentils, beans and seasonal produce. Here are some tips:

    General:
    - Buy your fruit/vege at farmers markets if you can
    - Buy your meat from the butcher - it's much cheaper and nicer than the supermarkets
    - Buy things in bulk and on special
    - Meat is expensive, so I "pad" a lot of meals out with vegetables. E.g. my curries would have 5 times as much veggies in them as meat. On the plus side, this is also very good for you.
    - Make things from scratch (e.g. I make my own Spag Bol sauce from canned tomato, tomato paste, stock, veggies and herbs. Tastes so much better than the jars of pre-made sauce AND it's cheaper).
    - Buy homebrand items for things that you can't tell the difference with (e.g. I can't tell the difference between Uncle Toby's and Homebrand oats, so why pay $2 more?)
    - Eat seasonal produce: it's cheaper and better for you. E.g. I bought some very cheap beetroot even though I'd never really cooked or eaten it before. I made an awesome beetroot frittata (basically beetroot + eggs + cheese), which gave me 4 lunches that I could freeze and use whenever I felt like.
    - I like meat, but it's expensive, so I try and eat wholesome vegetarian foods during the day (like vegies, eggs, lentils, chickpeas, beans, whole-grain bread, brown rice), and I'll eat meat at night. This means I eat a well-balanced and filling diet, but save money.

    Typical meals include:

    Breakfast:
    - Oats and eggs are very cheap and filling. I often make overnight oats (oats, yoghurt, banana, frozen berries) or 2 boiled eggs on toast.

    Lunch:
    - Ham and salad sandwiches
    - Egg and salad sandwiches
    - Vegetable Fritatta
    - Brown rice and vegetable stir-fry
    - Homemade soups (e.g. pumpkin soup, vegetable and lentil soup etc)

    Dinner:
    - Beef / chicken stir fry (lots of veggies, soy sauce, hoy sin sauce, chlili sauce and serve over rice/noodles)
    - Mince is very cheap and filling and meal possibilities are endless. E.g. Spag bol, burritos, savoury mince, cottage pie, rice paper rolls
    - Quiche (add in ham/bacon + veggies)
    - Curry (curry paste + coconut milk + plenty of veggies + meat + rice)
    - Frozen prawns/fish: steam/bake and serve with salad/veggies
    - Homemade pizza: it's actually really easy to make your dough from scratch, and it tastes amazing.

    Snacks (although I don't snack much...):
    - Yoghurt and seasonal fruit
    - Homemade dips (e.g. hummus) and veggies
    - Slice of bread with topping (vegemite, jam etc)

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