I NEED support! Weight loss on super tight budget!

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  • Evelyn_Gorfram
    Evelyn_Gorfram Posts: 706 Member
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    I knew about the chicken thing, but never really put much importance on it. my husband LOVES (and INSISTS) on the dark meat for him to take on his sandwiches, and when we grill) i on the otherhand, only eat white, cant stand the dark. i should really do this. i think this will be very helpful for us. :D
    Definitely. And if you're not already washing your own salads greens, chopping your own veggies, etc., there's money to be saved there, too.

    I live on Social Security Disablity, and $ is very tight. Some of the other things I do:

    - Grocery stores' weekly sales flyers almost always have several real bargains (much more so, IME, than the Sunday newspaper coupons). I generally stick with four "go-to" grocery stores that are convenient & nearby, There are some stone bargains (like oranges for $0.47/lb), but there's also a lot of "the good stuff" (cage-free vegetarian brown eggs) for prices more like the "ordinary stuff" ($2.00/doz.).

    - While at the grocery store, I always check out the "day old"/"manager's special"/"marked down for quick sale" racks. That's how I can afford (slighty stale) multi-grain artisanal breads.

    - I found (on Yelp.com) a farmstand about 5 mi from my house with excellent prices on amazingly fresh produce. They also have a bargain bin "dent and scratch table with some real super-deals.

    - Your freezer is your friend. I just finished the blueberries :( I bought at bumper-crop prices last summer & froze - but I still have some of last summer's strawberries :). I also get a lot of my meat from grocery store 2-for-1 and/or Value-Pack sales, and freeze it untill I need it. (For a family like yours, you may want to invest in a stand-alone freezer - look for a good used one with at least some sort of warranty.)

    - Eggs. Eggs are about the cheapest and best form of protein out there. To keep calories & cholesterol down, keep to all or mostly egg whites for yourself, and mix the yolks in with other whole eggs for any hollow-legged men living in your house. :)

    - Complete proteins. Some foods don't have all the amino acids that comprise a complete protein on their own, but do when partnered up with certains other foods - rice and beans, wheat (bread, cookies, etc.) and milk, or mushrooms and spinach, etc. The best guide to all this that I know of is "Diet for a Small Planet" by Francis Moore Lappe (there's a lot in there about the virtues of vegetarianism, and the imperative need to do certain things in order to save the earth, which you can take or leave as you see fit; but the nutritional info is great regardless.)

    - Consider applying for Food Stamps. I know, I know - that's just not what people like you and I do. But if you can get past that, they are a big help. (And they come on a debit-style card now, so no one but you and your cashier have to know. And if you use the Automated Cashier..) And the income requirements have been adjusted recently just to help families in situations like yours.

    - Lastly, veggies, veggies, veggies. They're comparatively cheap, and are the closest I've seen to weight-loss "magic" - the more veggies I eat, the more I lose weight. :)

    Hope this helps.
  • erh12275
    erh12275 Posts: 40 Member
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    yeah, ive heard of BBV, but never tried it. I have a friend that sells it, and I wanted to get some from her, but cant afford it :( And i dont know any1 else who wants to have it either, ive asked my friends and family. Ive tried shakeology as well, and LOVED it, but again, thats too expensive. :( my kitchen includes only things i can get from the grocery store. I cant even get pb2 right now (which i LOVE to cook with)

    Right now we aren't hurting but, we will be in a few months. I talked to my trainer about this and she said...eat the 99 cent hamburger helper...but pair it w/ a salad or a veggie. Lettuce is pretty cheap. And you can make your own salad dressing for pretty cheap. It isn't eating clean..but it will help you feel better than if you ate 2 servings of burger helper(I used to do this). I also used to do the couponing. I had tons of stuff I had gotten for free. Yes most of the food stuff is the bad stuff...but, sometimes the good stuff will find its way in too. We are a family of 5(2 adults, 11, 9,7 year old) and $500 is hard but we have done it.

    Almost forgot...watch for sales....if you have multiple stores figure out which ones have the better deals on which items. An example if I need boneless skinless chicken I check out the web for all 5 stores here and go where it is the cheapest.

    HTH a little.
  • ChristieStearns
    ChristieStearns Posts: 94 Member
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    hi there! I didn't real everybody else's posts so please forgive me if I repeat anything.
    I thought this blog might help you. This guy did some pretty extreme couponing while in a bet with his sister to see if he could eat on $1/day for a month. Much more extreme than what you need to do, but perhaps you could get some ideas?
    http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/eating-well-on-1-a-day/

    Also... this may be a stupid question as you said you are looking to buy a home so maybe you are in an apartment now... BUT... if you have even a balcony, you can plant a whole container garden and grow all kinds of produce. Cali has a great climate for that. A friend of mine in Cali has an entire container garden on her porch since her house was a rental. Corn, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelon, pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, cucumbers... I didn't even know you could grow so many things in containers but you can. Think how much you could save since produce is so expensive! Definitely do some googling and see if that might be an option for you.

    Other than that, I know that things like soups/stews/chilis are very economical because ingredients aren't too pricey and it goes a long way.

    Hope this helps some!
  • powerofhope
    powerofhope Posts: 10
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    The couponing can be helpful, esp to save money on non food items. I have found that it helps for me to weigh/measure my own portion of food. Then, I'm not eyeballing a portion incorrectly. My hubby does have weight problems, so he doesn't have to worry about protions, nor does my daughter. Also, although time comsuming, planning meals & grocery lists, and going to the store that has the most good sales for what I use helps. Buying in bulk is ok, as long as its something you're going to actually use.

    Good luck and hang in there!
  • MissJay75
    MissJay75 Posts: 768 Member
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    I really would rather cook from scratch than do couponing. Every time I look in the paper at coupons it's all nasty boxed stuff. I would only very rarely feed my family that stuff. Ack.

    We started our own garden, too, and it's so fun picking your own fresh produce! I thought you said you homeschool, maybe you and the kids could start a garden as a school project?

    There are a lot of great deals on 'real' foods too. I got 36 oz of spinach today for $1 using coupons. You can also save a lot of money on toiletries. Which frees up more money in your budget to purchase fresh foods. I buy more name brand prducts now for soooo much less than I used to spend on store brands.
  • carrietehbear
    carrietehbear Posts: 384 Member
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    I am single but I'm on a super tight budget. I try to spend under $100 on food a month (it doesn't always happen but I try hard especially with gas prices going higher and higher).

    Here are my tips:
    1) Meal Plan- I try to plan not only what I'm having each week but how to repurpose parts of my meals. (For me this means eating a LOT of leftovers) Also look at the ads and plan meals around sales. Meal planning also helps prevent unexpected trips to the store. I always end up spending more if I have to go back in the middle of the week.
    2) Buy items that can be used in several different dishes- I use spaghetti sauce for pasta and on pizza.
    3) Coupons/Sales- There are some items I only buy if they are on sale or w/ coupons. I haven't paid full price for chicken breast in 2 years.
  • Evelyn_Gorfram
    Evelyn_Gorfram Posts: 706 Member
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    Um, hey - I've just started a group for this topic: "Healthy Eats on the Cheap."
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4366-healthy-eats-on-the-cheap

    There have been several threads on this lately, so there seems to be a need for it. And I know I certainly have a need for it. :)

    I've never done a group before, so I don't really know what I'm doing (if I'm making some terrible group-starting-related mistake, some please tell me.) Fancy badges & banners and wittily descriptive front page text aren't quite up yet, but you can join anytime.
  • kris4chloe
    kris4chloe Posts: 245 Member
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    I shop the manager mark down bin for meat alot, and just today bought some lunch meat for my kids this week that was manager mark down because it was expiring in about five days (but my kids will eat it before then)

    yeah, i have been cooking from scratch A LOT lately! i really ought to check into this manager mark down bin!? where do i find it!? i typically shop at winco, sams club, walmart, or costco. lucky's if i HAVE to!

    i have found it at albertsons (lucky's), and ralphs and sometimes stater brothers. usually if you go late at night or early in the morning. sometimes they have a specific area with marked down stuff that is expiring that day or the next or sometimes they are mixed in with the other stuff but have stickers that say manager mark down. if you freeze it that same day and then defrost and cook it the day you defrost you are good.
  • MsTeacher74
    MsTeacher74 Posts: 2
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    Asian markets have great prices for produce. Google Asian market and your city to find one near you.
  • Allihexen
    Allihexen Posts: 111 Member
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    Yeah, I'm not going to say it's a "scam" per say (unless avon and pampered chef are scams too, I guess. Lol.)

    But, smoothies as a meal are budget friendly. In the mornings I usually drink a smoothie with kale, OJ, spinach, a pear, and a banana. It's yummy and healthy and cheap.

    Also, I make a lot of stir frys and try to eat vegetarian when possible because meat tends to be expensive.

    Last night I made a pasta with "avocado cream sauce" instead of alfredo and it was good, affordable and healthy. Just cook fettucine, then combine an avocado, juice of one lemon, cajun seasoning, salt/pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil in a food processor and use as sauce.

    Avon IS a scam, dontcha know? Lol. I kid. I think paying what one pays for that Vi stuff or whatever is highway robbery. If you have friends on there, it's all cheap, etc. Someone still has to pay full price.

    As for smoothies, those are amazing, especially first thing in the morning with fresh ingredients. Best. Things. Ever!

    Your pasta sounds delicious! I've tried something similar with rice. It turned out similar to sushi, but it was really good and may have been $2 per person and there were three of us eating it.

    Lol. That is probably a bad example because I *hate* avon. But you know, some people are into it... :)

    I got the recipe off of "oh she glows" (the blog). That is also a good blog to check out. She is vegan, but, like I said, it's usually cheaper if you don't eat as much meat.

    I used to like it then I found out their lipsticks and lipglosses have lead...I paid a bit for that stuff in the past. Good thing I never used it, huh? Lol.

    I definitely have to check that out now. I'm not a vegan by any means, but I don't eat a lot of red meat. I've noticed it cooks to almost pure grease.

    Yeah, I am an ex-vegan, turned ex-vegetarian, turned pescatarian, then started eating meat. But I rarely eat red meat and sometimes crave vegan or vegetarian meals. "Feed me, I'm cranky" is another good vegan blog. :)

    I have a blog problem. lol.

    I used to be vegetarian, but my mother had the worst sense of humor and would purposely cook the most amazing smelling chicken...I love mah chicken!! Lol

    These will actually help the family. Thanks!

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