This is where my struggle is right now. I am unemployed, my family is on welfare, and we use the local food shelf once a month. Kids are fed school lunch, and sent home with weekend meals. So we basically eat what we can get. We can eat really healthy for the first 2 weeks when we have money on the food card. I can get fresh fruits and veggies, and stock up on meat for the month. But for the other half its making dinners out of cans. I really wish we didn't have to use so much canned goods because of preservatives, and salts, and whatever extra ingredients are within. I really strive to have home cooked meals every night at the dinner table.

Finding a meal plan where I can lose weight and not consume so much of our budget on just me.. is my biggest struggle at this moment. Is there any family diet plans out there?

By the way my children are very healthy. They are both the tallest in their classes. Their weight charts are right in line with their height, both at the 95% for their age groups. I make sure to keep them active with sports, and other activities.

Canned food is not cheap, either. On your food card can you spread your purchases out over the month so you can have more fresh food during the month ? Watch your supermarkets for sales, the stores I go to often have buy one get one free,watch also for seasonal foods. Make a big pot of beans, use ground turkey instead of ground beef, this makes a healthy meal that all can eat and it is not expensive. Can you get surplus food ? Where I live in California we call it Brown Bag and it is all food donated by stores as well as individuals .A lot of it is canned but often contains things such as apples, eggs and an occaisional chicken. Churches , too will often have food giveaways to those who need it.

Have you seen our "Shoestring Meals" forum? It's a whole forum about eating healthy meals on a budget.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/shoestring-meals-235/

Thanks I'll check that out mandalinn82! After I posted I think I posted this in the LA weight loss forum.?... oy, Still a little new at this.

bargoo, I have really tried focusing on eating with the seasons, and with what should be available to your land around. Like right now I should be eating wild rice, venison and fish.

You can always try cooking in bigger batches with your fresh fruits and veggies and freezing them to last until the end of the month.
Dried beans are a staple in our house. Really healthy, filing, and great on the food budget to a meatless meal 2 days a week.
Rinse your canned goods before you cook them. It helps cut down on the salt and preservatives.
I remember seeing some very helpful blogs about dieting on a budget, you might want to do a google search and see what info you can pull that will be helpful to your family.
Best of luck!

Would buying frozen veggies and fruits help stretch your food card budget any? I know some of it isn't as great as fresh, but I find it to be good enough on average. Towards the end of the month, if possible you might want to slightly up your movement to compensate for eating a bit higher calorie.

Legumes, barley, brown rice, and other dried goods such as oatmeal are your frugal, healthy friends! They are all inexpensive, are full of nutrients and fiber, and can be cooked in bulk then put in the fridge or freezer. Use online recipes sites to get ideas and don't be afraid to try them. Your kids will get used to eating this way if you teach them. Compare oatmeal (whole oats, not instant or quick) and how much you can get for $1.99 compared to how quickly a box of cereal gets eaten (and with oatmeal, you control the amount of sugar; I add 0 calorie stevia).

I shop the reduced bakery and produce sections. I've often found whole grain breads and rolls for half price (the sell-by dates are either the same day of purchase or the next day, but those dates are misleading, and the food lasts much longer, especially if put in fridge/freezer). I get reduced fruit and "process" it right away, for example- recently I purchased 4 reduced pomegranates (25 cents each compared to $2 each!), took out all the seeds, and froze in freezer bags. I add the seeds to yogurt, oatmeal or salads.

I'd suggest looking at some frugal, whole-living type blogs as well. You'll get tons of healthy eating ideas on a low budget.

We're a family of 8, suffered 3 job losses in 4 years, and know what you're going through. Hang in there, this too shall pass!

I'm on a tight budget too and eat tons of porridge, soups and frozen veg. Why not try frozen veg instead of canned? Is it much more expensive where you live.

Porridge is ridiculously cheap. To make it tasty I add six spoons of stewed fruit that I make before with cinnamon and honey. It fills me for ages and it's only 160calories a bowl. (i make it with water, then add the fruit) Cooking apples are the cheapest fruit to stew and I do add frozen blueberries or other fruit at times. If you have cheap breakfasts you can spend more on dinners.

I live near a fruit and veg market. If you know of one talk to the owners you may get cheaper veg at the end of the day or at least once a week. Saturday evenings everything is pretty much half price where I go so that's when I shop. Butchers near me do offers on eggs too. 24 for €3. Ask in the butchers if they ever do offers on food. The main problem I find with living on less money is how long it takes to shop. I shop in six different places instead of one or two. If you could find some other Mums in the same position you may be able to go to a farmer who sells at a farmers market and buy in bulk from him/her instead and split the produce between you. Do you know of any farmers markets?

I assume you have the internet at home still? IMO it's a great resource that can pay for itself - have you considered searching for any local organizations/groups that offer food co-op, etc?

One thing my mom used to do, and I'm not sure if you are open to this, but was to buy food that was 50-80% off because it expired the day before. She worked in grocery stores all her life (she usually got this from her own store0 and knew the food was still good but it had to be sold or given away per store regulations. I grew up eating this way, perfectly happy and healthy. This is similar to being "freegan". My parents were always poor but we always had good food this way. Maybe something to consider.

As for "mom being on a diet", I can relate, but I choose to just eat small portions of the same food rather than anything exceptional. If you want to buy pre-cut fresh veggies daily then fine, but when you can afford it. Until then, other methods will work just as well and it's always good to sit at the table and eat all the same. Good luck!!

A lot of people/doctors I have read say..
anything is fine in moderation.. So if thats what is given..
eat it. but in portion. and excerise!
go walking its free!
do squats, get those cans of soup use a weight...
There are so many excerises you can do for free. and dont forget WATER!
FREE!! well. mostly free lol..

Good luck!! just dont give up!!
Grace

I don't know much about prices in Wisconsin but can you rely more heavily on froozen fruits and veggies? We had some really tight years in there and there was a time when pretty much all our veggies were frozen. BUT make sure to really check the prices because sometimes it is cheaper to buy fresh.

Also BEANS. Do you know how to make beans (i.e. from dried, soak them cook etc). They are really inexpensive and go along way. They can also help to flesh out meals that are sparse on protein.

We also often buy super cheap noodles (I prefer whole grain but sometimes they are much more expensive) and add in a lot of frozen veggies+meat. We do the same for soup.

Speaking of soup, that's normally a great go to meal that's cheap. You can even make the broth yourself using a a chicken with bones (normally legs/thighs are cheaper and have the bones with them) and then just throw in some veggies/noodles.

We've also had to look at our budget and really scrutinize even the health food at times. Where we live cheese is super expensive so if things are tight we make do without it. Same with certain kinds of fruit that we love but really are luxuries for us.

I can relate, I don't have too much advice. I use coupons alot; sometimes I get the frozen vegetables very cheap or free with coupons. Also soups, canned tomatoes, beans (although dried beans may be better), cheese, eggs and ground turkey is sometimes cheap on sale and with coupons, so I'll get as much as I can when they are cheap. I also get cheap/free toothpaste, mouthwashes, floss, soap, shampoo, tampons and other personal care so then more money can go towards food.

I make chili, my own soups, oatmeal, sometimes a pasta dish if there is nothing else, buy plain regular oranges, apples and bananas.

Well, the good news is you are forced to control your portions and can't really afford to buy junk food otherwise you'll be literally starving for a few days of the week...

I use a lot of frozen vegetables instead of canned. Less preservatives and I think they taste better. I also make a lot of my own soups, using the frozen vegetables and broth from scratch (water, spices and carrots/celery goes a long way) or I purchase it when it's on sale).

While not a weight loss blog, I love this one for budget meals - most are generally balanced, healthy meals or just need a little tweaking depending on your meal plan http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

I tend to go meatless very often (or use small amounts of meat and supplement with veggies) and I am lucky enough to be close to several discount grocery stores like Aldi, PriceRite, ShopRite, and Asian markets where I can buy my food cheaper. I love rice, root veggies, any kind of beans, noodles, eggs, and apples for cheap staples. It's cheaper to forgo convenience and make things yourself:
-I make two huge pots of soup every week and freeze them in portions rather than buying cans of soup.
-Making homemade applesauce is cheaper than buying it.
-Dried beans are a lot cheaper than canned
-Homemade bread is cheaper than buying a loaf

I use my weekends off to be able to prep or cook partially so that I can provide home cooked meals every night without slaving in the kitchen for hours everyday.

KDee Bug - Alot of great directions here, but I also want to add; Since you are on a food card, each state has a program called "SHARE" that you could also get involved in. Each state varies in execution, but the 2 ways I am aware of: 1) you give $14 and receive approx $30 worth of locally grown products and an advantage of receiving more when big crops take place... 2) you donate some community time (can be in a school, library, etc) and receive that same food allotment. Sort of the state-funded way of getting kids and adults to add more fresh things to diets, while helping local growers, and also being able to "pay it forward" with a good deed of sorts. Maybe worth checking in with your local state location to find out more? I have helped direct many towards fresh potatoes, citrus fruit, etc - you don't pick and choose is the only downfall, they pack your package for you...and it's every 2 weeks for most states