On a budget or just generally I would recommend just counting your calories becuase that way you can still eat what you normally would but with portion control and you know what your limits are. Also, after about a week of doing it, you start figuring out what keeps you full longer what doesn't keep you full at all and so you start adjusting that way and for me at least it leads me to eat more nutrient dense food that keeps me sated longer. And it's free. You can use fitday or dailyplate or any of a number of free sites that allow you to track your calories or a paper and pen and you can just look up the calorie content of foods but i think having a program that does it for you is quicker.
I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts