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Old 07-03-2012, 05:01 PM   #1  
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Default Budgeting on a diet

Last month I tried the South Beach diet. I ate really well, but sadly I slipped off the wagon after 10 great days!

One thing I noticed is that our grocery bill was almost double as I was buying a lot more fresh, and we don't have a lot of the allowed foods in stock at home. Anyone else find this with their diets? Any tips on how to get the cost down yet still eat healthy?
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Old 07-03-2012, 06:14 PM   #2  
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Oiii. I struggle with this, too. I usually google "Low calorie meals for under $3 serving" or $4 or $5 and get my ideas there.

Buying frozen veggies and fruits/veggies that are in season really helps me. It really depends what you're trying to do as far as your diet...I calorie count so we might be different :]

Brown rice is cheap though. Frozen stir fry veggies are delicious (in my opinion)
Also yogurt. Fabulous snack, not too expensive (here at least)

:] Sorry I can't be of more help. I think I'm not allowed to link to other sites or I'd do it. But like I said try googling '$3 per serving low calorie meals" (if you're doing low cal)
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Old 07-05-2012, 09:10 AM   #3  
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I know exactly what you mean! "Diet" groceries tend tally a bit higher than my normal shopping. And Lord forbid, I go to the Farmers Market.

Cupcake, Im going to google these meal , see if it helps me.
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Old 07-05-2012, 10:19 AM   #4  
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We have a section here http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/shoestring-meals-235/ on "shoestring," or budget, meals.

There are a bunch of blogs that are focused on making cheaper foods. Shopping at Aldi, PriceRite, Shoprite, Asian, and farmers markets, I'm able to get pretty inexpensive ingredients, and I find that the less processed and packaged my food is, the less money I spend.

This blog is awesome, and shows that you really can eat well without breaking the bank. She doesn't include calorie counts, but many of her recipes are balanced or can be tweaked easily.
http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

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Old 07-05-2012, 03:09 PM   #5  
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i was going to say budget bytes! i love her blog, her recipes are so great. if you're into indian food, make her turmeric chicken. i made it yesterday and it was...delightful. there is no other word.
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Old 07-05-2012, 03:19 PM   #6  
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The expense was one of the main reasons that I always failed before. Two years ago I tried weight watchers, and it worked for me, but i struggled to pay the membership cost and buy food. Its hard being a poor college kid and trying to buy healthy foods.
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Old 07-05-2012, 05:23 PM   #7  
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Oh thanks for the suggestions! I didn't realize there already was a section for budgeting, i'll have to scour that!

This month I am sticking to my budget. I shopped once, and right now it is healthy. However I can't shop until the two weeks are up, and that's where it will be tempting to eat all the unhealthy stuff as the healthy will have dwindled in the fridge. Then in two weeks it'll be topped up again!
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Old 07-05-2012, 07:15 PM   #8  
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I would say the first thing is to pick one type of diet. Like you observed, if you're switching between vastly different types of foods, it takes a lot of money to stock up your fridge and pantry. Find something quickly that works for you and don't invest in a lot of specialty foods for a diet you're not sure you're going to stick to. Once you pick your diet you can optimize exactly what foods to buy where and at what price.
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Old 07-05-2012, 07:44 PM   #9  
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I TOTALLY get this. I've been trying to eat healthy for some time, and my grocery bill has TRIPLED. TRIPLED!!!! It's unreal how expensive it is to eat fresh, whole, unprocessed foods instead of processed crap. I have a lot of friends that have begun gardening (and freezing, canning in bulk) and hunting to supplement for this reason. We always fish in the summer and freeze for the year but I have to do something for meat and veggies because this is getting ridiculous. I live in Alaska, so we have the high cost of transportation factored in as well, as everything we eat (just about) is imported.
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Old 07-06-2012, 12:32 AM   #10  
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I shop at various stores and always buy things on sale. I also find meal planning helps me stick to my budget and diet. I have also taken to eating a lot of lentils. Buying lentils in bulk is super cheap and they are a great way to bulk up meals along with canned beans.

I try to buy veggies in season and on sale I also tend to stay away from fruit. I find it to be more expensive than veggies and I know personally I would eat fruit all day and not bat an eye not realizing how much I am consuming. I also have eliminated expensive veggies from my diet I don't care how much I like peppers I am not paying $4 for them.

Currently the most expensive items in my budget are cereal (for my BF I don't eat processed grain due to stomach issues), almond milk, regular milk, and cheese.

My BF is a vegetarian so we don't buy a lot of meat since I am the only one who eats it but I will stock up when it is on sale and freeze it. I check the flyers every week for expensive staples like chicken and fish buy enough to last a month and I save money in the end. I also look at the discounted meats that are at the end of their sell by dates and then cook it when I get home or freeze it.

I am currently unemployed and have found feeding the two of us on a budget to have a bit of a learning curve. I also find that processed foods are a lot more expensive than fruits and vegetables. By cutting out frozen pizza and junkier foods we have actually managed to save money. I really scrutinize my purchases now and really look at what I am buying and why I am buying. Also shopping on a budget has also completely eliminated our unhealthy reliance on take-out and has also managed to curtail my urge to binge.

I think dieting on a budget comes down to planning in the end.
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Old 07-06-2012, 09:27 AM   #11  
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I also buy what I can on sale. I'll eat whatever fruit and veggies happen to be the best deal that week, and I'll also switch grocery stores depending on who has the best prices for what I need (or sometimes, I'll hit a few of them if they are close to one another, or pick up things on sale at ones on my way to work). Make sure you know what fruit and veggies will spoil first, so you can plan what needs to be eaten first, and if you can't finish something before it's going to go bad, then freeze it.

I buy meat on sale and freeze it, or otherwise buy large, already frozen quantities at a wholesale store. I don't have a membership for costco or anything, but there is a wholesale club that doesn't require a membership close to where I work, and I generally buy my chicken there.

I also buy my pantry stuff in large quantities whenever it is on sale, and if I run out, I only buy the bare minimum until it goes on sale for a great price again.

You may find that you have to spend more money to do this initially (if there are a lot of good sale items on), but you will save a lot in the long run.
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Old 07-06-2012, 11:13 AM   #12  
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Like Veela, planning and cooking ahead of time has been a real budget and time saver for me. A huge pot of soup with homemade stock (made from bones or veggie scraps that I would have otherwise thrown away) can give me lunch for two weeks if I portion and freeze it. I do that with so many dishes so I'm not losing time or money with leftovers I don't eat. Plus they're portioned out for me and since they're frozen, I'm not tied to eating the same thing all week.

Beans and eggs are great, cheap sources of protein. Fruit like oranges or apples are little self contained snacks and are pretty inexpensive. Cabbage and cauliflower are my favorite cheap veggies and can be eaten raw or cooked, or mixed with rice, pasta, or potatoes (all inexpensive too!) to bulk up a serving and provide more nutrition.

One jar of tahini ($6 ish around here) will provide you with many, many batches of homemade hummus for so much cheaper than you can buy it premade. Similarly, salad dressing, yogurt, seasoning packets, and bread products are cheaper to make at home. We often pay for convenience - laughing cow cheese is so much more expensive than store brand neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese), but we use it because it's portioned/flavored for us. 100 cal packs seem so easy to grab and go, but if we get nuts in bulk, we can portion them out in baggies ourselves and save quite a bit!

It takes some time to figure out balancing food, time and what is worth to make at home, but it's entirely possible to make cheap, healthy, delicious foods. If you check budget bytes or eating richly, you'll see a lot of ideas that you may be able to implement.
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Old 08-17-2012, 06:27 PM   #13  
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I don't really have that problem. We eat lots of fresh fruit and veggies, beans, whole grain breads, etc. most of the time. If I wasn't one of 6 people eating in this house, we'd probably see a reduction in the grocery bill because I'm eating less desserts, sugar, grains in general. I also end up with less impulse buying of stuff from the grocery store bakery and nice cheeses, which probably makes up for any extra buying of produce or low fat feta.
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Old 08-19-2012, 04:46 PM   #14  
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I have actually found that switching to entirely whole foods has actually brought my grocery bill down a tad.
Now that I'm no longer buying the little "extras" (pre-packaged salads, pre-seasoned/marinated meats, fish, veggies, the occasional frozen meal, jello mixes, lunch meats, laughing cow cheeses, flavored almonds, etc.) I focus more on whole unprocessed foods which tends to be cheaper.

Plain oatmeal is cheaper than the low sugar flavored variety. Plain cream is cheaper than the sugar-free coffee creamer, and a big package of plain chicken breasts is less expensive than pre-cooked chicken or lunchmeat.

I also buy my fruits and veggies for the week and plan my meals around what I purchased for the week in order to make sure I use it all before it spoils. Chicken is baked in big batches for the week, lentils and quinoa cooked and refridgerated for later use, and veggies get chopped as needed. If I have some berries that look like they might turn and I don't have them worked into my meals, I'll wash and prep them and toss them in the freezer to munch on later (I love frozen berries) or throw in a smoothie. Same goes for any proteins I buy; if they aren't being cooked immediately or the next day they go in the freezer for a couple of days until it's time to use them.

It takes me a few more minutes each night to prep for the following day and pack my meals up, but the food tastes fresher, it's better for me, and the little bit I save on my bill is icing on the cake!
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Old 08-20-2012, 12:39 PM   #15  
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There are a few sites that you can google that you punch in what you have in your pantry and it comes up with recipes with that stuff. It's great for the end of the week before shopping.

Also, I use pinterest a lot of new ideas. On the health and fitness pages lots of people post sources for cheap meals.

I've also found that meal planning can really help out here. This helps me not to waste any produce and I "recycle" my menus every month.

Last edited by Lauracore; 08-20-2012 at 12:39 PM.
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