Advice Needed for a Low Income, Limited Transportation Situation?

@minabailey Just looked at your website, fantastic advice

Some good pointers are to: 1) shop in the bulk section, especially for things like nuts, oats, beans, and any grains that you can tolerate; 2) check out blogs/sites that have recipes for all kinds of dietary restrictions and budgets (I like skinnytaste and Chelsea's Messy Apron); 3) cook in batches whenever possible - if you make something for dinner, make enough for leftovers the next day, or make a casserole on Sunday that freezes well, and you have enough lunch for the rest of the week.

What's your food storage situation at work? I make sure I always have snacks on hand, and am fortunate enough to have personal storage space along with a shared refrigerator and microwave to make sure that happens. Some things I eat that are easy (and inexpensive) enough:

- Greek yogurt with chia seeds, berries, and sliced almonds (shop the bulk section at your regular grocery stores, if possible)
- Oatmeal with chia seeds, peanut butter, and cinnamon (can be assembled ahead of time and popped in the microwave at work, if possible)
- Canned or pouched tuna/salmon/sardines/chicken (canned is cheaper)
- For snacks, I have dried fruit, roasted almonds, multi-grain crackers, and granola bars at my desk and then veggies and hummus in the fridge. Packaged hummus is pricey, but it's super easy and cheap to make at home. I like using it as a condiment in wraps or sandwiches, as well..

Don't give up on yourself. It's hard to navigate at first, but once you've done it for a while, you'll get the hang of it and it will become second nature.

I love Aldi's boneless/skinless frozen chicken breast. It is much cheaper than most places and since you are not fighting with bones and skin also faster. They also have a great selection of frozen veg.

betsser wrote: »

Greetings everyone!

I just need some advice and suggestions on a purchasing healthy, filling, but inexpensive on the go food as I am earning pretty low income (close to minimum wage in Texas) and about 75% of the time I'm limited to public bus transportation, and I'm limited on time as well...so meal prepping for a week is extremely difficult. I only really have access to Joe V's Smart Shop, Wal-mart, and Aldi's. I am looking to lose 100 pounds or more, but since I work at a job in the downtown area of my community, I have a lot less time on my hands to prepare a meal for every single day. I am lactose intolerant, and I tend to bloat badly when consuming whole grain, pasta or rice, or anything heavy-like really. I apologize for this being so long, I'm just stuck and I don't want to give up on myself. I thought maybe I could get some great ideas from others who are on a journey. Thank you in advance.

The real key to most diets is going to be doing the food prep and make your own convenient foods to go. Since you don't do grains (like me) spend an hour or two on the weekend dicing veggies for quick salads and steaming for dinners, boiling hard boiled eggs, cooking/slicing up meats for servings, and cutting up a block of cheese into small sizes (or grate the block to sprinkle on eggs, salads...etc.) if you can tolerate cheese (I am lactose intolerant too, but cheese has so little lactose). Make portion size baggies and plastic-ware of veggies, nuts, plain yogurts w/fruit, salads...etc.