Check out the shoestring meals forum
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/shoestring-meals-235/
There are a lot of great tips, recipes and discussions on the topic of weight loss on a budget (and saving money in general).
If you have a TOPS chapter in your area (check the website tops.org) I'd highly recommend giving it a try. You can attend a meeting free to see if you're interested (if there are several chapters in your area, you can even visit each one - you just can't weigh in until you choose). The cost is $28 per year (and an additional $14 for another family member in the same household). Then there's monthly dues (usally between $2 and $5).
In most groups there are ways to win free monthly dues and small cash prizes. For example in our group, if you have any loss during a month, you get the next month's dues free. There's also "biggest loser" prizes for the person who loses the most weight the previous week, and other contests.
I've been a member of my current chapter for almost two years, and my goal every year is to "break even." The first year I didn't break even, but I came pretty close (my expenses exceeded my winnings only by something like $5).
This year, it looks like I'm going to make a profit (I'm almost at the break even point and I still have three months to go), so in a week or two, I'm going to be "getting paid" to lose weight.
Another advantage of TOPS is that it allows members to follow any diet plan they choose (though unhealthy plans are discouraged). And in most chapters, there are quite a few members are people on tight budgets, so discussions of money-saving tips and recipes are common.
I find the weekly weigh-in and group support very helpful (necessary, really). If I'm the only person looking at the scale, I tend to procrastinate and eat off-plan, vowing to "start fresh tomorrow." The weekly weigh-in keeps me focused, and the weekly support keeps me motivated. I also enjoy the contests and games that make weight loss fun.
I follow a low-carb exchange plan. Like "straight" calorie counting, exchange plans (an estimation form of calorie and food group counting) are free and easy to learn (and there are tons of online resources).
Low-carb diets have the reputation of being expensive (mostly because of the cost of red meat and fresh produce), but even low-carb diets can be done inexpensively. You just have to plan a little more, and spend a little more time and effort using savings-strategies.
One of the reasons I love exchange plans, is that they make grocery shopping much easier. I know exactly how many exchanges/servings of fruit, starch, fat, protein, veggies, and dairy that I have to buy, and then I shop by category. For example, I need to buy about 30 exchanges/servings of fruit. Bananas are usually the cheapest, but bananas aren't my favorite, so I'll buy then occasionally (or when the budget is really, really tight), but there's usually some type of fruit that's on sale. I tend to buy the fruits that spoil the slowest (apples and oranges will last a really long time in the fridge). Frozen strawberries are usually pretty expensive, but our Dollar General now carries a 12 ounce bag for $1. This comes out to about 33 cents per serving.
I have goal prices for each food group (exchange group). For example, I like to pay under 25 cents per "exchange" (for most fruits - about one small fruit, half a large fruit, or about 3/4 cup). I'll pay a little more for my favorites.
For proteins, I try to pay less than $1 per pound (or about 10 cents per protein exchange serving).
I learned a lot of my budgeting tips through the book, "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" which is a book containing the three volumes of the Tightwad Gazette books that were published previously (you can buy the combined books or the individual books on amazon.com pretty cheaply - though sometimes it's cheaper to buy the individual books Volumes 1-3 than the combined book).
When it comes to dieting cheaply, or saving money in general, it really is true that "if you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves," meaning that it's very hard to find a single strategy that will save you tons of money, so you have to use a bunch of smaller strategies to save bits of money.
It doesn't seem like that bag of pre-washed lettuce or pre-cut carrots are much more expensive than the veggies you have to wash and cut yourself, but in the long run you can save a lot of money, if you do your own washing and cutting.
Bagged lettuce is convenient, but it spoils extremely quickly. A head lasts a much longer.
I found a vacuum sealer (like seal a meal) on a garage sale (new in box, with the bags) for only $3. Gosh, I loved that thing, because it really extended the life of fresh veggies like you wouldn't believe. Unfortunately, it eventually died on me, and I don't have the money to buy a new one. I'm keeping my eye out for a replacement whenever I go to the Goodwill or garage sales.
When my hubby and I moved to Wisconsin, our budget was so tight that some months we only had $25 to spend on groceries for the whole month. I learned to budget out of necessity, and now it's become a hobby. I get a big thrill out of saving money, and finding ways to get things super cheap.
(I just bought five pairs of long pants and 2 pairs of capris from BCOutlet.com. I paid just over $23.00 in total, and that included shipping - so just over $3 per pair. They have a drawstring waist, and there's a nice drape to the fabric, so they're going to be nice looking and will fit me through quite a bit of weight loss).
Every penny counts, and it's a lot of fun to see what you can save or what you can buy for next to nothing. It's a bit harder with groceries than other expenses, but if you save enough on the other expenses it frees up more money for groceries.
Eating right on a tight budget
