I want to start doing WW again, I do it at home on my own, and I really need to get my weight under control very soon. The only problem is my boyfriend and I are both currently unemployed, we don't have much money to spread around each month at the moment.
For groceries we have around $100/mth, sometimes $200, so I need to know what we can purchase that is nutritional, healthy and inexpensive.
Dried beans, peas, and lentils, baby! They're very inexpensive, nutritious, and on just about everyone's menu around here. It's a lot less expensive than meat.
In my region (at this time of the year), frozen vegetables are often more inexpensive than raw. I always get what's on sale at the grocery store, and plan my meals around that (try supercook dot com). When I had the time/desire, I'd check the "past its prime" rack in the produce section. They often had things like bell peppers that were slightly wrinkly but still edible, and I'd take them home and freeze them.
When I was unemployed and wanted to lose weight, I went with calorie counting because it allowed me to use the foods already in my cupboard (which saves money).
Do you garden? That would be a good way this spring to save on some things like tomatoes or cucumbers.
I personally don't shop at Walmart, but if there's one around you, I've heard they have good/low food prices.
Also - if you bake a whole chicken/turkey or beef with bones, save the bones and use it to make stock for soups. VERY nutritious, easy to make, freeze-able, and convenient. Later on, take a frozen container of it out and throw it together with whatever vegetables you have in your refrigerator/freezer and it makes a wonderful soup!
Last edited by Hyacinth; 03-15-2009 at 09:02 PM.
Reason: another idea
I agree with hyacinth. Beans, peas and lentils are the way to go. I even make black bean patties and chickpea (hummus) patties. I serve them with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles--even a bun sometimes. Oats are a great option for breakfast. I buy them for .50 a pound at the Farmers Market bulk bins. It is the same price whether I choose plain oats or Steel Cut. I love fresh fruits and veggies and buy whichever are in season and cheap. We also eat lots of egg whites, skim milk and fish. We eat whole grain breads and pastas though too--see if you can find an outlet in your area for Pepperidge Farm. On the fish, again whichever is on sale. Tuna is a low-cost and healthy option. It absolutely CAN be done. Check Hillbillys Housewife website for some great ideas and shopping lists, menus too. I can really stretch a penny with just a little forethought and planning.
Last edited by Thighs Be Gone; 03-15-2009 at 09:10 PM.
Here's one of my favorite ways to save money and calories on ground beef. I brown ground beef (80/20 or the even cheaper 70/30) and tvp (soy protein) together. The fattier the ground beef, the more tvp I use (because tvp is fat free, but it's also pretty much flavor-free, browning it with the ground beef and seasonings gives it the meaty flavor - you can keep increasing the amount of tvp as much as you'ld like to. For example I also do this with chorizo and tvp, but use 3 or 4 times as much tvp as chorizo).
TVP (which you can find in most health food stores, some grocery stores, and online), at least in IL and WI, seems to be about the same price per pound as 80/20 beef (about $2.50 per lb), but a lb of dry tvp is equivalent to 4 lbs of ground beef (so can be considered 1/4 the price), but plain tvp has to be seasoned up quite a bit, and if you like the "real meat" texture, browing it with ground beef is a great compromise (and most folks can't tell the difference at all until you've got a lot more tvp in the mix than beef, and then half still won't notice, in my experience).
Anyway, here's my basic recipe
The entire recipe (using all ingredients I listed) has about 3200 calories, and yields about 16 (3 oz) servings. That is about 200 calories per serving or 67 calories per ounce. The more tvp you use in the recipe, the lower the calorie and fat content. Without the beef, the mixture has about 45 to 50 calories per ounce.
Beef/tvp mixture for recipes calling for browned ground beef
(like chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, tacos…)
2 lbs ground beef (80/20) optional (read “variations” part of recipe)
2 cups dry tvp (looks like grape nuts cereal, and is available in most health food stores, and some groceries)
1 (15 to 16 oz) can chicken broth (or 2 cups of hot water with 2 bouillon cubes dissolved in it)
Seasonings of your choosing (these are mine)
1 medium to large onion, diced
1 medium to large bell pepper diced (or a couple tablespoons dehydrated bell pepper)
2 medium stalks celery, diced fine (or a tablespoon dehydrated celery or celery flakes)
Garlic powder, or granulated garlic
Salt (I use chicken soup base - like powdered bouillon or “better than bouillon“ which is a paste, but regular salt is ok, also)
pepper
1-2 tsp oil (or if you’ve got a nonstick pan, you can use a spray of cooking pray or less oil)
Saute:
In large Dutch oven, over medium heat, sauté vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery) until soft. Add dry tvp and stir. You’re not wanting to toast or brown the tvp, just allow it to absorb any liquid from the vegetables, and pick up flavor from them.
Pour mixture into a bowl.
Brown:
In same Dutch oven, that is now empty, brown ground beef. Add in tvp mixture about a ½ cup at a time, as beef starts to brown (the dry tvp, will actually help prevent the ground beef from clumping). Break up clumps, and add tvp as you go. When beef is browned.
Add broth:
Pour chicken broth or boillon into mixture and add garlic, salt (or powdered chicken soup base) and pepper and any other seasonings you like.
Cool:
Allow mixture to cool before preparing for fridge or freezer
Freezer:
Put mixture into freezer bags or freezer containers. I use Ziploc freezer bags. Make sure there’s room in container or bag to break up mixture as it freezes. Every 20 minutes or so, shake container, make sure you hear that the meat is loose. If it’s clumping, “moosh” bag to break up pieces, or open freezer container and stir with a fork or spoon. Repeat until mixture is frozen. Pushing the extra air out of Ziploc bag will keep mixture fresher, so do this once it’s frozen, and each time you take mixture out of the bag. In freezer containers, if there’s a lot of air room, take a piece of plastic wrap or tin foil and press against the surface of the mixture, to protect it from air (and thus freezer burn). Scoop out in portions (about a slightly rounded ¼ cup).
Variations:
This doesn’t have to be an exact recipe. Only the ratio of liquid to tvp has to remain the same - 1 cup of liquid to 1 cup of tvp. The quantities of the other ingredients can be just guesstimated. You can add more ground beef (or less) without having to change the recipe. It also doesn’t have to be made in such big batches, and it can be made in even bigger batches, as long as you have a big enough pot to brown the meat in.
You can omit the beef entirely. In fact, if you’d like to see if you like plain tvp, Omit the brown step and go on to Add broth step. If you like it, you have a completely meatless (except for the broth, but you can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, or hot water and other seasonings). Taste. If you’re not happy with it, you can go back and do the brown step (it doesn’t matter, in other words whether you do the brown step before or after the add broth step.
I hope my explanation isn’t confusing, but this is a really flexible recipe, or what I like to call a "flex-ipee."
A few things that help my budget are:
the bread store, see what is available with the least calories and fat and highest fiber. The bread is a fraction of the cost and can be frozen for later.
Walmart brand fat free turkey breast lunchmeat (pair it with the bread for a sandwhich)
You can get a head of lettuce and a tomatoe and use the turkey breast for a nice salad as well.
Make some crutons from the frozen bread.....
Beans are very inexpensive, and full of fiber.
Is there a farmer's market nearby? A lot of time everything is cheaper there.
A garden is great, if you don't have a yard, but a balcony there is something called container gardening. With a little effort some really nice veggies.
In our area we have a program called angelfood. It is churches offering food packages at a fraction of the cost. It really helped us through some rough times.
Ad matching at Walmart and coupons help to stretch things as well.
Good luck!
We don't have alot of the stores people mentioned lol the closest wal-mart is 45 minutes away and come the end of april we will no longer have a car We don't have a farmer's market either, or a balcony unfortunatly, were on the bottom floor, a balcony would be nice but they charge extra in this building for units with a balcony!
Thanks for all the great suggestions so far though! I am debating caloring counting vs. weight watchers as well
I hope things get better for you both.
One thing to remind you of is that walking, as exercise, doesn't cost a thing.
Here is just one thing that has worked for me when times are tough, and we have all been there.
Buy a roasting chicken, not one of the oven-stuffer roasters, but a small one. Roast that for dinner and portion control how much you are both having.
Use the leftover chicken for another recipe or for sandwiches.
Then, make a soup from the leftovers.
There are food pantries and maybe you can check out to see where they are. Oftentimes things like rice, beans and canned vegetables are there.
Also, my store has a marked down produce section and often the stuff is near expiring but if you are careful to use the items that day, you can sometimes get good deal.
Try to also sell some of your things on Craig's list or on eBay, that will generate some extra cash.
Always save leftovers and use your imagination to make things out of them. It can be a fun challenge.
Good luck.
Trixie, I see you are in Ontario...I do most of my shopping at FoodBasics and Bulk Barn. Bulk Barn is great for things like dried beans & peas, rice, oatmeal, pasta, TVP for Kaplods' ground beef recipe, etc. The ones near me also have protein powder, if you are into that sort of thing. At FoodBasics, they are really good about marking both the meats and the produce down when it still has several good days left (not like at ValuMart, where anything in the reduced-price bin has already started to mold!).
I know I didn't make this post, but I think a lot of us are strapped for cash at the moment and I know I find all of these tips useful as well. Thanks for all of the ideas.
I am not sure if there is an Aldi's there, but they have very reasonable prices here, lower than WalMart and are adding light/low fat items to their stores. Their meats are also priced lower. A whole turkey has always been a budget stretcher for me. You can get quite a few meals out of one of those big birds, freezing the leftovers in separate containers or ziplocs. You can substitute turkey in almost any chicken recipe. Canned vegies can be a good option, just rinse them if you need to watch your sodium. The library is always a good source for recipe books for ideas and if you like to read, entertainment as well when money gets tight.
Hi. It's tough struggling!! So sorry to hear your troubles. You and your boyfriend are currently spending approximately $50 -$100 per person per month. That's actually not too bad. We shop for our family of 5 on $85 per person per month and we have a gigantic freezer stocked and 2 other freezers in our house that are loaded and 5 pantry shelves in the basement. We are famous for our budget savvy ways in our area. So...first, it can be done. Second, make a list of all the foods that you and your boyfriend like to eat. Next, come up with a "magic price list." This may take some time to compile but basically, it's a notebook with all the things you normally buy and the LOWEST price you find it at. Then, NEVER pay more for it than you've seen it at the lowest. Frozen generic veggies are a great value. I'd say take the trip to Walmart...it would be your best bet. They also have canned beans very cheap and can be made into soup easily. If you know anyone who runs/owns a restaurant, ask them if they could buy things in bulk for you. My husband works for a chinese rest. at night and he buys 40 pounds of chicken breast through them at $1.33 /lb. It's a big expense up front but saves us tons in the long run. We have bread outlets here...check to see if you do. Also, dented cans in your local store and day old bread. If you shop early in the morning, the meats are marked down. I never pay more than $1.69 per pound for ground beef just drain the fat. Potatoes go onsale often and apples, generally, are the best option per pound. I have so many more ways, if you're interested, PM me and I can give you more specifics. It really is doable...Hang in there. Hopefully you will find a job soon!!!
Hi. It's tough struggling!! So sorry to hear your troubles. You and your boyfriend are currently spending approximately $50 -$100 per person per month. That's actually not too bad. We shop for our family of 5 on $85 per person per month and we have a gigantic freezer stocked and 2 other freezers in our house that are loaded and 5 pantry shelves in the basement. We are famous for our budget savvy ways in our area. So...first, it can be done. Second, make a list of all the foods that you and your boyfriend like to eat. Next, come up with a "magic price list." This may take some time to compile but basically, it's a notebook with all the things you normally buy and the LOWEST price you find it at. Then, NEVER pay more for it than you've seen it at the lowest. Frozen generic veggies are a great value. I'd say take the trip to Walmart...it would be your best bet. They also have canned beans very cheap and can be made into soup easily. If you know anyone who runs/owns a restaurant, ask them if they could buy things in bulk for you. My husband works for a chinese rest. at night and he buys 40 pounds of chicken breast through them at $1.33 /lb. It's a big expense up front but saves us tons in the long run. We have bread outlets here...check to see if you do. Also, dented cans in your local store and day old bread. If you shop early in the morning, the meats are marked down. I never pay more than $1.69 per pound for ground beef just drain the fat. Potatoes go onsale often and apples, generally, are the best option per pound. I have so many more ways, if you're interested, PM me and I can give you more specifics. It really is doable...Hang in there. Hopefully you will find a job soon!!!
Very Tight Budget, Need Ideas!
We don't have a farmer's market either, or a balcony unfortunatly, were on the bottom floor, a balcony would be nice but they charge extra in this building for units with a balcony! 
