I may be moving across the country to go to college this August, and I need to start thinking hard about my expenses. I won't have any parental support, and I'll probably be going to school full time and working to pay rent + study in my free time (I'm planning on being a medical office specialist). I know it's totally do-able, but of course I'm going to be EXTREMELY tight in the money department. I've been thinking that I might have to go off of Atkins because of the cost. I've never had to buy my own food so I'll be honest and say that I have NO idea what foods are cheap or how to shop for deals. I've read that things like beans and bread are cheap, and those aren't allowed on Atkins. I don't know what my budget will be but working part time while paying rent doesn't leave much.
Would it be cheaper to just work my meals around sale papers and calorie count?
If you shop carefully you should be able to be on any diet and not have it break the bank. I have done both Atkins and calorie counting and I don't see any significant differance between the two , money wise. Careful shopping is the answer.
If you read the shoestring meals thread, you'll find a lot of tips for low-carbing on a super tight budget. It's possible, but takes extra planning (but that's true of any diet).
If you're carb-sensitive, it can be very difficult to lose weight any other way but low-carb (at least moderately low-carb). For example, I'm hungrier (far, far hungrier - in a rabid, uncontrollable way) on 3,000 calories of high-carb than on 1,000 calories of low-carb. On high-carb eating, I can't eat enough to satisfy me. I could eat 8,000 calories and still feel starved.
It can be difficult to do induction level Atkins, but OWL or South Beach should be doable (and remember beans are allowed in Atkins - just during OWL, not induction).
I've dieted on extremely tight budges (sometimes hubby and I still face really tight months. We're both on disability, and while our income is sufficient for our current expenses, if anything unexpected (like car repairs or dental work) arises, the budget can be pretty tight.
I do calorie count indirectly. I use a low-carb exchange plan I found on the hillbilly housewife website (they've changed the webiste a bit, so I'll try to find the link) and will post it.
Exchange plans help me plan my meals and I can find cheap versions of every food exchange (protein/meat, carb/bread, fruit, vegetable, fat, dairy/milk).
One of my cheap low-carb standards, is mixing tvp with cheap (fatty) ground beef or pork (whichever is cheapest). My recipe is in several threads in the shoestring meals forum. I brown cheap ground beef or ground pork (whatever is on sale - if it's really fatty, I'll drain off some of the fat, but this usually isn't necessary) with onion and celery and then add dry tvp granules (soy - so it's still quite low-carb) . When it absorbs some of the fat and flavor from the beef then I add hot water or water and a bouillon cube. Then I freeze the mixture in a ziploc bag, mushing the bag around as it freezes so that it freezes in scoopable crumbles.
Cheap veggies: onions, cabbage, carrots (not too high-carb, especially raw), and sprouts (learn to make your own sprouts - very easy - and you always have cheap veggies).
Cheap meats: dark meat chicken (especially leg quarters). Pork is sometimes really cheap on sales (ground pork, odd cut pork chops, pork steak), tvp, ground beef.
Aldi is a great discount chain (not usually for produce though). Walmarts are also very cheap.
You do have to learn what is cheap, but if you take a weekend or two to visit grocery stores and look around. Think of it as "research" for your health (In graduate school, I spent as much time studying weight loss as I did for my M.A. degree in psychology).
There are some really great frugality books available at the library or cheap on amazon. I recommend buying 200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes: Healthy Dinners That Are Ready When You Are! by Dana Carpender
Crockpot cooking can save a lot of money (and time too). Learning to make homemade soups is easy. YOu'll have to buy a crockpot of course, but crockpots aren't very expensive and you can even find them in great condition - sometimes still in the box, never used at thrift stores, garage sales and on freecycle. Freecycle is great. See if there's one in your area or the area you're going. You can give and request just about anything and it has to be free.
Good Cheap Food by Miriam Ungerer (not all low-carb, but some are and others can be easily adapted)
The Complete Tightwad Gazette Amy Dacyczyn. There are tons of others that are worth reading, but this is worth owning. Some of the suggestions you'll find weird and even gross, but you take what you can and ignore the rest.
If you go to amazon.com (even if only to browse and find titles) pull up the book (say for argument the book THe Complete Tightwad Gazette) - scroll down the page to the
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
section
For example if you do so for the cheapskate book, there are 31 books listed, including
America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams
Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy
365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money
10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget
Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family: Includes So Many Innovative Strategies You Won't Have to Cut Coupons
If go into each books page and scroll down, you'll find even more titles (you can spend a whole day doing this. I wrote down about 50 books the first time I started looking into low-budget living. I then started borrowing them from the library one by one (ordering them through interlibrary loan if necessary) and then taking notes on which ones I felt I needed to own. And they're still on my amazon.com wish list. I buy them as I can afford them (or find them on garage sales and in thrift stores).
You can also google "frugal living" and similar phrases and there are tons of money saving tips (you can even add in the words "college" or "student" and get specific tips on how to live cheaply as a college student or "saving money college student."
You'll be amazed at all the tips you'll find (and everything you find will lead you to other resources - you literally could spend a lifetime finding ways to save money).
Don't just learn to save money on food. Learn to save money on everything and it frees up more money for food. I never thought I could buy clothes at thrift stores or garage sales because of my size. I saw all sorts of great looking clothes in small sizes, but almost never in my own, but I learned that if I shopped often, I could find some remarkable bargains, but it did take at least one shopping trip a month. I also found bcoutlet.com (it's a clearance site for Redcat stores - plus, misses, big & tall men's, and housewares, jewelry....) I have to check frequently (only takes about 5 minutes) but the bargains can be amazing. I recently bought some nice knit 24/7 pants for $2.99.
It sounds like it's all going to take tons and tons of time, but it really doesn't. You just learn a few tips here and there and you pick up more as you go.
Your post is AMAZINGLY helpful. I bookmarked this thread. I think I'm going to invest in some books and do a lot of research. Once it started to sink in that I'm thinking of going to school out of state, panic starting setting in because I'm so used to my mom supporting me and funding everything (including my WOE).
I don't think I really have a carb sensitivity, but I really love low-carb eating because it helps keep my hunger and cravings in check. I was never a real sweets addict, but I love salty things like Ramen noodles and chips which are all really carby. I find that when I eat low-carb I have no desire to eat anything like that unless it's sitting right under my nose and I hardly ever feel hungry. Now that I think about it, since I eat a lot less on low-carb than any other plan it would probably also help save money.
I know that beans are allowed in OWL, but I was planning on staying on Induction for a bit longer. Who knows what weight I'll be in August. It might be low enough that I feel comfortable moving into OWL but right now I feel like I have too much to lose to start deliberately slowing my weight loss.
A few questions: What is tvp? Also, I'm really interested in the exchange plan that you do.
A few questions: What is tvp? Also, I'm really interested in the exchange plan that you do.
tvp stands for textured vegetable protein (sometimes called textured soy protein). It's made from defatted soybeans and is dehydrated. You can buy it in various forms, flavored and unflavored. The one I buy looks like grapenuts cereal or beige gravel. You can buy it in health food stores and some regular grocery stores in their health food section. I used to buy it for about $2.29 per pound from the health food store bins (one pound of tvp is equivalent to about 3-4 lbs of ground beef). Then our local health food store closed. When I visit my family in Illinois, I always stock up, because I can still get it there for about $2.50 per pound. Walmart does carry it in our area, but it's about $4 for 12 ounces. That's still a lot cheaper than the cheapest ground beef per serving.
Dry TVP is reconsituted with equal parts of liquid, but it's really bland on it's own. I don't mind it plain, but hubby will only eat it cooked with meat unless
it's in something like chili (and he'll still complain, because the texture "isn't right").
As for my exchange plan. The great thing about exchange plan is that almost all of them are based on the original exchange plan developed by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetics Association. The exchanges themselves haven't changed much, so you can use almost all exchange plan cookbooks (like Richard Simmons', old Weight Watcher cookbooks, Joanna Lunds Health Exchanges....)
Here's a basic introduction to exchange plans from the hillbillyhousewife website (they've changed the website a bit, but I found an old link I used that still works).
My actual plan is based on the high protein plan (it's pretty close, but I still adjust and tweak the exact number of exchanges. I like to have a few "flexible" exchanges which is what I call exchanges that I can spend on fruit, dairy, protein, or starch if I choose. Some old WW plans and Joanna Lund's Healthy Exchanges include flexible (or sometimes called floater or optional) exchanges. I like the idea that I can vary my calorie count (1500 - 2000, usually averaging about 1800) and my carb level. So I used the 1500 high protein plan as my base (my minimum) and then added 6 optional "flexible" exchanges that I can "spend" any way I want to (though if I do choose carby exchanges, I'm more prone to water retention, hunger, and smaller weight losses).
Higher carb food might be less expensive but its less healthy too.
Just a thought, if you live in the US, would you be eligible for food stamps? I currently do not but have in the past (and my mom and sister are currently on it). It's just a debit card thing nowadays. Even if you're only eligible for a small amount if it helps you eat healthier it would be worth the applying for.
Oh but I will say my Aldi has much better produce than our Walmart and even the regular grocery store most of the time. I use them as much as possible for salad stuff even when I had more money. They just don't have a huge selection but they have what I need. (great lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, etc I guess their berries leave something to be desired but i'm not eating those now lol)
also, consider growing some of your own food. kaploids suggested growing sprouts, you can also grow your own lettuce right on your windowsill! at my stores, 1 bag of salad mix is 3 or 4 dollars. that bag goes bag in a week, or less.
for that same amount you can buy a whole pack of seeds for months of salad. depending on if you buy heirloom seeds, organic, or just reg. seeds, you can buy maybe 6 mo or a whole year of salad for $3! it's amazing! i can't wait to grow it myself. and they have all kinds of different kinds spinach too. make sure you get the loose leaf lettuce, then you can cut it, it grows back... first batch ready in 4-6 weeks depending on what kind you get.
you can also grow your own strawberries, dwarf tomatoes, radishes, herbs like basil, and many other veggies.(all in containers) i'm not saying grow a whole garden, but there's bound to be something you like. and it would only take a few mins each day to check the plants and water them.
Last edited by katy trail; 02-25-2011 at 11:00 AM.
A full time student working a full time job is going to be BUSY! I think one of your biggest challanges will be staying ahead of the curve by planning your meals. For example, it's going to seem easy and convenient to grab pizza or a sandwich at the cafeteria on campus if you aren't prepared. And that works against both carb and calorie counting. You've had great success with carb counting but whatever you end up doing - planning will be the key to continued success. I wish you well. I was an older-than-average college student and I LOVED the experience even though I was so busy between work and school and family that it seemed like a blur. You will likely meet people at college that will be friends for the rest of your life!
I thought I'd be spending more on a low-carb plan but I am finding that this is not the case... I guess because I am not overeating constantly, I am consuming less food in general even if meat is expensive. You've gotten some good advice already... In general, shop sales and focus on fresh foods. Are you moving into a dorm or an apartment? A dorm would be considerably harder... If you have a full kitchen you can buy meat in bulk and freeze it. My fiance and I spent $280 on Jan 2 on meat and cheese at BJ's and we are STILL working through the freezer... We've only had to do $40 worth of produce every two weeks to supplement the freezer food. I expect the meat in the freezer will last another full month, so $280 over three months plus $40 twice a month over three months = $520/3 = $179/mo for two people = $89 per month per person....... Which to me is really cheap!!
there's great recipes online for freezing your meals. you cook one or two weekends a month and have your meals ready to go! and having a slow cooker if you don't have one yet, will be REALLY handy.
I have worked two jobs 7 days a week for the past now going on 7 years to stay a float. I am on the HMR program and purchase my products through hackley health. They run monthly coupons and you can be put on a at home program where you get 10% off and free shipping. Something to think about. Their website is www.hackleyhealthmanagement.com
There are some excellent ideas here!! My grocery bill is about the same as when I was not following any diet plan. My husband is not following Atkins exactly but he has improved his eating and lost some weight. So we still buy whole grain breads and fruit for him and my daughter, as well as her lunch snacks etc. We do save money because we do not eat at restaurants anymore so we are saving in our 'entertainment' budget. If we all did Atkins in our house, our bill would be cheaper for sure.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think my parents have two slow cookers so maybe they'd let me take one of them.
ElizabethG: Would food stamps go off of my parents income? Since I'm considered their dependent, I can't get much for financial aid even though I'll be living on my own. I'm assuming food stamps would be the same situation.
firkindness: I'm going to be working part-time, not full time. It's still going to be hard though. I plan on taking out loans to help cover my tuition and expenses and I'm praying that my parents and grandparents will be able to help just a little bit. I'm definitely going to have to plan plan plan.
when you move, the food stamps application will count only people that live with you and their income. so it doesn't matter if you're counted as your parent's dependent for college apps or other stuff. if you're living on your own, in an apt, making low income, you could qualify. you can look up poverty guidelines in the state you're moving to online.
Money difference in Atkins vs. Calorie counting
They just don't have a huge selection but they have what I need. (great lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, etc I guess their berries leave something to be desired but i'm not eating those now lol)
