Healthy eating VS Tight Budget??
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Healthy eating VS Tight Budget??
| Wed, 03-22-2006 - 1:53pm |
I bought a car last night and for the first time in years I have a car payment which is going to reign in my ability to spend $100.00 a week for groceries. How do I eat and continue to lose weight when I can't afford 1/2 of the food I have been eating?
Please help.
F

Hi there.. I"m new to this board.. but something that I have found that helps me are Lean Cuisines. Most of them are decent tasting, and around $2.15 each at Walmart, and it's a whole meal for basically $2. It sucks that healthy eating seems to be more expensive than eating crap..but I think that's the sad fact.
I look forward to what others have to say!
Sara
342-300-200
frozen veggies are great: they still have the nutrients of fresh vegetables (canned ones don't) and go well with everything. unfortunately a lot of the healthy food (boneless, skinless chicken breast, organic fruits, whole wheat pasta) all cost waaay too much to be able to buy on a tight budget.
I've pretty much been living off of toast/oatmeal for breakfast, light buttered noodles or tuna on bread for lunch, and lean cuisine, potatoes, or very lean ground meat patties & frozen veggies for dinner. Theres not a lot of variety, but necessity is indeed the mother of invention and you come up with little meals with the little you have. good luck.
If you're cooking for a family, you can buy whole chicken instead of boneless chicken breast (the difference in price is really big).. you can de-bone and skin the breast and the rest of the family can have the rest of the chicken.
I buy a bag of around 10-12 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts for right at $7. Of course I'm only cooking for me, so that lasts quite a while. the frozen veggie advice is good. What about in season fruit- give yourself a chance to try somethin new instead of the more expensive out of season fruit you may buy.
Get a bag of whole grain rice or whole wheat pasta that you can season yourself. If you have left over chicken/or some other meat, use it in a homemade soup to give it a new twist in stead of the same ole thing for dinner the next night.
If you aren't already, definitely use coupons and shop for the best prices. I use the sales paper from the local markets and put my shopping list together according to the specials they have running.
hope it helps!
My First 10% of Body Weight
Hi,
We are a family of 5 and we spend 150 or under(including 2 dogs and 1 cat) every two weeks....heres what we do.
First off if you have a Fareway or an Aldis.. shop there!
I buy fish in a bag, like Haddock for 3.50 for 5 filays and chop those in half, for you that would be like 10 meals. Buying Chicken in a bag(I can get one for 4.99) can be good if you get a good deal but sometimes its cheaper to buy fresh and again we cut a breast in half. Turkey breasts are less expensive and so is bone in chicken, a bag of legs is like 3.99 at Walmart. If I have left overs I freeze them and later make a soup.
LOTS of Frozen Veggies, store brand..no real difference if you ask me! I usually get those for about 1.20 a bag.
Potatoes, a head of lettuce (not bagged) and a bag of carrots (not cut up ones) are cheap. Sometimes its cheaper to buy a bag of apples too so watch the prices.
I also do the bag of rice, not boxed because it cost more, you just spend 15 min cooking it instead of 5.
For everything else there is always a coupon or store brand items like sherbert, pretzels and popcorn.
During the summer its cheaper for me to go to a Farmers Market to get my produce, check for one in your area.
Last but not least, we have a garden. What doesnt get ate, we can or freeze for later. Dont have a yard or room? If you have a window you can at least grow your own herbs in pots, that can really cut down on costs too.
Hope this helps,
Heather :o)