Hi all!!!!

Well, I'm hitting a major snag in my WW journey- the limitation of funds. Major limitations.

I'd love to do Core, since I'm learning to eat only when I'm hungry, and I want to get more "natural" foods into my body.

How can you do the plan (either one) on a budget? Flex is easier I would think, but because some of my meals are hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese (a meal under $.50), it's hard to get enough to be full if you count points.

I've been stepping up the exercise a ton in order to compensate, but I'd love to eat healthier.

Advice on cheap Core foods?

General advice all-together?

Thanks!

I do WW Core. I find that once you build up the basics, my grocery costs seem to be less.

Hope you like beans, white, black, red, pinto, etc. If you have time, you can cook from dried beans. If not, usually store brands of canned beans are cheap. You can use a little bit of lean ham as flavoring if you like. Brown rice is cheap; again if you have time, buy the kind you have to cook at lot. Of course on Core you limit potatoes, brown rice and whole wheat pasta to one meal a day. but no limits as to how much if you're eating enough to satisfy your hunger. With the brown rice, if you cook a lot at one time, it will keep a few days in frig, just nuke it. You could add sauted chopped onions, garlic, chicken or beef bouillion. Makes a nice rice pilaf.

I buy store brand frozen veggies- around here they are cheap, like $.89 to $1.00 for 1 lb bag. I'll cook a whole bag at a time. I'll make veggie soup or add leftovers to salads. Eggs are a good nutrition staple. Cheap protein. You can make omelets with salsa or other veggies. Use canned fresh or frozen veggies. Make sure no added fat. canned tuna & salmon are good too, if you like them.

Oh yeah, can't forget oatmeal. Buy the kind in the big container that cook for one minute. Makes a breakfast that will stick with you.

That would get you started. I certainly know how to eat cheap. I lived about 6 months on Ramen noodles, cheese, eggs & beans & rice. It's do-able without putting on weight. Good Luck.

If I can help you with anymore Core advice, PM me.

I'm not on core, but we're on a budget too.

I gotta agree with the oatmeal. I had bought one of the big containers 2 weeks ago, and I still have about half left, and it helped ALOT. I had 1/2 cup for breakfast and lunch, and it really kept me full. And you can add what ever you like to it. I just stuck with 1 tbl spoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup milk.

I had also bought a bag of apples, and a big container of vanilla yogurt, and had that as part of my lunch too.... and it was pretty cheap.

And I agree with the eggs - pretty cheap, and you can make different things with them.

It sucks being on a budget and trying to eat healthy.... just definitely check out the sales!

~Liz

I'm on flex, but also a tight budget.

I stockpile. If you don't know what that is... it's for us insane coupon queens who buy things in bulk on sale. For instance, I buy canned tomatoes by the case when they're a good deal. Same with anything frozen, canned, or boxed-- as long as I can use it by the expiration date, I stock up. I always have a supply of frozen and canned veggies, which we eat a lot of. My meat is always bought in bulk, which I break down into more manageable portions at home. I use store brands of anything I can (with a few exceptions- dish soap, shampoo, soda, etc).

With coupons... match them up with the loss leaders. (Loss leaders are the front-page items in the sale ads... the ones that draw you into the store.) Trade coupons with others to get some you'll use. I'm in two round robin swaps right now-- everyone puts in coupons they can't use, and takes out those they can use. Last week I got three Laughing Cow cheese coupons-- $1 each-- that I will definitely use soon.

I've long been a member of www.frugalvillage.com The ladies there can give you GREAT advice on saving money in many ways, especially with groceries/cooking. My user name is the same there as here- if you decide to check it out, I'll see you there!

HTH!

Amy,

Thanks for the frugal village website. I went and looked around. I'll go back later when I have more time & register. Looks like what I need.

I'm glad you liked it-- I love that site. It was my home page for a long time.

Thanks for the help everyone!

When I get my own place (soon, I hope) I'll have more room to store food. I don't buy eggs because there's not room in the fridge from all of my roommate's stuff.

I'm glad that the exercise is coming on so well- otherwise, I would have undone all the good I've done!

Thanks again! And any more advice would be appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I have been derailed, but am starting over on 1-9-06 (exactly 6 months after I started the first time! Wow!).

I wanted to share an awesome link I found to help the sistas on a budget, like myself: cecommerce.uwex.edu/pdfs/B3487.PDF

(((HUGS!))) to the sistas! I'm glad you are all going strong!

Great Link F&L!!! Fabulous to have you back!!! I hope you continue to join us!!!!! We've missed you!

Welcome back!!!!

I'm a flex person, eat vegetarian at home and rarely have meat in a restaurant. Costco is how I stick to a budget--huge containers of cheap bulk things and then I store it in smaller containers. Nuts can be very cheap there and are filling in a small quantity. If you're a binger, be careful. But a small handful of chopped nuts, mixed into plain yogurt, can be a great breakfast or snack.

I also agree on the buying store brand or generic idea. I've also decided health is a high priority, so I pay more ($2 for a box) to get 100% whole wheat pasta (the white flour kind, obviously, goes on sale for 33 cents but it's not so great for your body to do a lot of white). Sweet potatoes and squash can be a good deal. I don't generally buy pre-chopped vegetables. But when I buy fresh lettuc I rinse it at home and then wrap in a cloth (clean!) dish towel. Store it gently in an unsealed produce bag--it will keep for several days.

The gallons of milk are also very cheap at Costco. I think they've started carrying the kind without added growth hormone. Organic/hormone-free food is a high priority for my family.

Other bulk grains can also be very affordable (bulgur, millet, couscous, quinoa, etc.). If you haven't tried them, www.epicurious.com will have some good starter recipes. So would most vegetarian websites. (www.vrg.com and others).