Very broke and getting slimmer x)

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I have three jobs but I'm very frugal about spending (want to save up for mortgage and college) so I've been getting slim on a diet of mainly oatmeal, soups, rice (or pasta) and tea (buying everything in bulk) - occasionally milk, eggs, and toast. It's not the most dense nutrition wise, but it's what I can afford with my budget/what I'm able to stomach. What do other frugal people eat to stay slim (if anything lol) :))

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  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    Dry beans and canned tuna are great protein sources that are cheap and frozen vegetables are usually cheaper and sometimes more nutritious than fresh.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Your diet sounds very unbalanced. If it were me, I'd add some frozen vegetables and beans, neither of which are expensive.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    I agree, you need to add some type of vegetables. Whatever is most affordable for you. Frozen and canned are comparable nutrient-wise as fresh, as long as you don't overcook them, and generally cheaper, especially if you can find them on sale or use coupons.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Crock meals are tremendously great for the budget. Most times you can 8 - 10 servings when you cook soups, chilis, etc... there are hundreds of ways to use the crockpot and sometimes you can find meals or things to cook that are only 5, 6, 7 ingredients to cook with.

    Also, I buy bags of chicken at our Winn Dixie it is always BOGO.. I always have chicken to cook. I also look for frozen (not fresh) veggies, beans and peas, fruits like strawberries, blueberries, etc... They will not go bad as apposed to wasting money on fresh if you do not plan to eat it right away...

    In stead of buy whole eggs, I will buy whites in a carton and I get so many servings from a carton of egg whites.
    You can buy whole eggs this way as well, I omit the yoke in my breakfast..

    I always look for BOGO's at my local grocery store and alway go by the freebie stand where they have marked down day old items or items they are just trying to clean the shelf off with in order to update the shelf with newer "sell by date" items.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I enjoy getting the maximum nutrition out of a single chicken. I put a chicken in with new potatoes to stew for the day in my slow cooker on Sunday, reaping a whole bunch of meat, potatoes, and home-made chicken broth. The potatoes were fried up as hash browns the next day, and the chicken served with an Alfredo sauce. I packaged up the rest of the meat for three more meals, and I just used half the broth and some of the chicken to make white chili tonight.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    Certain vegetables are also extremely inexpensive. Last weekend I saw cabbage heads 3/$1. I like sauteed cabbage added into soup, in my eggs or frittatas, as a vegetable base for something saucy, mixed with sliced kielbasa and mashed potato or egg noodles (my child loves this one), sliced and roasted in wedges, or in soup.

    Other inexpensive vegetables are root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, even turnips, parsnips, radishes, etc), and squash.
  • wearmi1
    wearmi1 Posts: 291 Member
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    I make a chicken casserole that's pretty cheap and I eat it for about a week.
    1 chicken breast baked and shredded
    1 can cream of chicken soup
    1 cup of dry brown rice cooked
    diced celery, spinach, carrots and onions and garlic... or whatever veg you like sautéed together
    1/2 cup parmesan cheese
    1 cup sour cream
    mix it all up, put it in a baking dish, top with some bread crumbs and bake at 425 until golden brown.

    This makes quite a bit of food and freezes pretty well


  • misterdale67
    misterdale67 Posts: 171 Member
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    wearmi1 wrote: »
    I make a chicken casserole that's pretty cheap and I eat it for about a week.
    1 chicken breast baked and shredded
    1 can cream of chicken soup
    1 cup of dry brown rice cooked
    diced celery, spinach, carrots and onions and garlic... or whatever veg you like sautéed together
    1/2 cup parmesan cheese
    1 cup sour cream
    mix it all up, put it in a baking dish, top with some bread crumbs and bake at 425 until golden brown.

    This makes quite a bit of food and freezes pretty well


    This I have to try!
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    I'm not sure what is available for location and cost (for equipment if you have none yet, license, etc.) where you live, but fishing and hunting are some ways to add protein to your diet. Fishing is generally easier, safer, cheaper. It sounds like you have a lot of carbs presently (oatmeal, rice, pasta) in your diet, so that may be a way to get some protein on the cheap.
  • NikaBlake
    NikaBlake Posts: 46 Member
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    wearmi1 wrote: »
    I make a chicken casserole that's pretty cheap and I eat it for about a week.
    1 chicken breast baked and shredded
    1 can cream of chicken soup
    1 cup of dry brown rice cooked
    diced celery, spinach, carrots and onions and garlic... or whatever veg you like sautéed together
    1/2 cup parmesan cheese
    1 cup sour cream
    mix it all up, put it in a baking dish, top with some bread crumbs and bake at 425 until golden brown.

    This makes quite a bit of food and freezes pretty well


    This sounds fab! Deffo going to try :smile:
  • totaldetermination
    totaldetermination Posts: 1,184 Member
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    As well as the ideas above, I make yogurt from milk.

    Its important to get enough protein. When you lose large amounts of weight (your profile says 50lbs), the body can use muscle as well as fat as an energy source.

    I try to include enough protein in my diet to minimize the amount of muscle loss. Its takes a lot of time and effort to build muscles. Even if it costs a bit more, I think its better to keep what you already have !

  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Frozen fruits and veggies will help you get more nutrients in without breaking the bank. Dried peas and beans are cheap, too.
  • Photograhicsoul
    Photograhicsoul Posts: 23 Member
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    I agree with all said above. I have had times like that with less money...and I was living in dormitories with only one kitchen for a whole building(which you have to reserve in advance). Partially for lack of time, partially for other reasons, I didn't take that challenge well at the time and also ate a sort of a diet of a number of things over and over, just as you mention...except mine was may be worse. Since I rarely got to cook, I would be waiting for my money to arrive, eat one good cooked meal for the week(bought out- it was some cheaper deal) and then the rest of the week I was on bisquits/croissants, coffee, white cheese, some bread, lots of noodles and soup "cups", cabbage and things like that...(basically the cheapest things where I was at the time- though not the cheapest if I found time to cook, but that's a whole other thing...).
    My point is, while I was my skinniest at the time(no surprise there:P) it did also get me to malnutrition and took me few months to get myself to normal. I know it's hard having money trouble, but try to be creative and have more balanced meals still.
  • healthy_hermione
    healthy_hermione Posts: 64 Member
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    I'm a college student so I definitely know what it's like to be on a budget. Get some frozen bags of mixed vegetables and buy some fresh fruit and try to add a fruit and/or vegetable to every meal. I also recommend boneless skinless chicken breasts because they're high in protein and can last for months. Get some whole wheat tortillas and a block of cheddar cheese and you can make quesadillas too.
    For snacks, things like all natural peanut butter (you could add Apple slices with this too), string cheese, unsweetened applesauce, and Greek yogurt are some tasty and healthy ideas.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    definitely not protein powder, power bars....what a rip off!
    On the other hand, homemade soup goes a long way and is pretty reasonably priced. Tuna, frozen veggies, frozen fries fill me up and are cheap (some would argue they arent healthy but they are kind of a staple of my diet)
  • CardiLuxe
    CardiLuxe Posts: 89 Member
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    Looooool.