Atkins Budget crisis!!

How do you lower the grocery bill?
ours per week (for a family of 5 but the two girls dont really get junk food) was 300+ the last two weeks for spices, veggies, and meat???
How can i stay on the low carbs, still have the variety, but lower the bill??

mmmm now this is a problem, I must have spent the same buying meat etc for fresh foods to eat, getting out of hand really, and who says healthy eating is cheap pmsl

are you shopping the ads and using coupons? do you have extra freezer space to buy bulk when thing are on sale?

when you first stock up on low carb staples it is rather expensive, but once you get into the swing of things it gets cheaper. meal planning helps a lot too.

1. Come up with creative ways to use eggs. Eggs are cheap and really versatile.
2. Don't have fresh meat at every meal. Opt for canned tuna and chicken or whole (as unprocessed as possible) lunch meats sometimes, especially in salads.
3. Buy inexpensive cuts of meat and cook them in the Crock Pot for a long time. You won't know the difference.
4. Cook whatever meat is on sale and portion it in your freezer. If you have a membership at Sam's or BJ's or Costco, buy it in bulk
and keep ready made portions around. It comes in fantastic handy!
5. Come up with creative meat free or less meat dishes. Cauliflower salad (think potato salad) with cheese and bacon bits is
insanely good and gives you a good source of fat without expensive meat. One big head of cauliflower will get you about a dozen
servings-- and it costs about $7 for the whole batch. Lots of other ideas as well involving cauliflower. Have you riced it?

Good luck!

Didnt realize you posted this twice... but.... I had posted suggestions on the other thread you started.

Clipped from duplicate thread:

Well.... you have to be good at researching which stores give you the better deals, or perhaps check out your local Sams or BJs, or Costcos even.

I dont spend any more money on fresh food at all.

Every three months I purchase bulk meats that I clean at home (half a cow, half a pig, whole roaster chickens, whole turkeys, whole fish, etc)... I clean them myself, break them down into four-portion meals, some get marinated, some get season rubbed, while others are left plain and are frozen in individual 4-packs *(dated as well).

Fresh vegetables I purchase weekly. When I find the reduced rack has produce, Ill raid it first... one time I emptied the entire rack - completely perfect food and nothing wrong with it. Went home with that, prepped it up - froze half for future meals (my own veggie mixes), the other half I broke down even further: one stash was roasted in the oven, the other stash was used for the next couple of days.

Bread/pasta/rice/corn is purchased minimally and that all goes to my husband. I cant eat those foods due to a metabolic disorder.

I only get berries for myself, but any fruit my husband wants, he gets.

You just have to be good about knowing where to go for bargains, bulk pricing and perhaps the occasional produce rack with reduced packages. Often you will find its not even old... they just need to move product to bring in the next shipment...

where do you shop? If you ahve an Aldi near you, go there and you will cut your food bill in half. All the products are their own label and just as good, if not better, than name brand stuff. The meat is good and the produce is usually good. The produce availability also tends to change based on what in season, but they always have the basic fruit and veggie staples like apples, bananas, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce,tomatoes, etc

Good question, this is what I've learned: I actually noticed since I stopped buying things that are packaged my bill is much lower. When it comes to veggies I buy whatever I want. It's still cheaper than packaged processed foods. If I am getting any fruit, I'll look to see what is on sale. When it comes to meat, I stock up big time when the meat is on sale. Spices you can get off brand or generic. Even from a generic grocery store like Aldi. I usually cook on Sunday for the entire week. I have to have things on hand otherwise when I'm hungry I go for what's easiest. So I like to have prepared meals on hand. So I only buy what I know I'll use.

Our family only shops once a month for the big things. We do go as needed to grab veggies, milk and bread. We have started growing our own veggies as well

I would buy meat in bulk and invest in a vacuum sealer to save your meat in your freezer. I have one and I love it. I use it for quiches, meat, sauces, all sorts of stuff.

In my area, the lowest priced meats I have found are chicken and ground beef. You can get chicken for $1.77 a pound for boneless skinless chicken breasts or even cheaper if you are willing to deal with cooking a whole chicken. Ground beef I can normally get around $2.75 a pound for the 85 percent lean. If you want it to be leaner, you can wash it and that will help remove the fat. Eggs are pretty cheap, nuts I buy in bulk and on sale, same for cheese, butter, and olive oil. For my fruits and veggies, I have been hitting up a small farmer's market or Aldi's. I just try to shop the sales as much as I can, stock up when things are dirt cheap, and avoid processed things as much as possible.


And for the poster who said the bulk of what you lose when eating low carb is water....This might be true at the beginning, but you can't tell me the 43 pounds and 2 sizes I have lost were all due to water loss! I know darn well that I was not carrying 43 pounds of water on me. My body fat has gone from 44 percent to 33 percent, so yeah, definitely not all water loss. If low carb doesn't fit your lifestyle, fine, but what you have stated is not true for all people. I feel WONDERFUL eating low carb, have more energy than I did eating a diet higher in carbs, and less cravings. Low carb eating is not a diet for me; it is my lifestyle change.

awesome

The good news is that spices aren't something that you should have to buy repeatedly. Seconding buy meat in bulk as much as possible if you've got the freezer space to do it.

you can cut costs of spices considerably by growing them and eating them fresh. i can't believe the price tag on herbs at the grocery.

If I were you I would not do a low carb diet. Really, the only reason why people see such great results when they try this is because its ketogenic in nature. Basically the bulk of weight you see disappear is water weight and your Glycogen stores depleting. Then when you return to any sort of normality you will gain few pounds strait away as these stores are built up and the water weight returns.

Low fat and Low carb diets are awful and leave you feeling drained. We need fats and people should stop being afraid of them as these are the primary source for our hormones and if we restrict fats too much its messes up your biological balance.

If you want my advice just avoid simple carbs, Just eat complex carbs (wholegrain sources) while you are trying to lose weight and make sure you get enough protein so you feel full.

Just advice though. Good Luck with your journey.

On a side note I have been trying Intermittent Fasting for the last 7 days and it seems super effective if you want to know more check Leangains.com. It seems to be making my Bodyfat percentage drop much faster than my previous method of eating 6 small meals a day.

please don't spout such nonsense. its obvious you don't know anything about low carb and ketosis.

if you look at ANY eating plan as a short term diet, you will gain weight once you eat junk food again.
the key is to do it for life.
once you lose your weight on low carb, you do eat carbs again!
shock! awe! i know, no one ever remembers that part.
/eyeroll.

Don't go low carb. It's bull****.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator, at 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese [when he died]." -- Snopes.