Author Topic: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!  (Read 8963 times)

MMMtwinbrain

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How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« on: January 20, 2016, 11:56:26 AM »
Do something called intermittant fasting and skip breakfast and eat free dandelion salads for free lunch and then a paid for normal dinner !!!

asauer

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2016, 01:47:26 PM »
I do IF and have noticed a dip in grocery budget too!  I have two growing kids and a hungry husband so I don't think we'll get the 65% that you're seeing but I'm spending about 15-20% less which is great!

MMMtwinbrain

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2016, 11:14:40 PM »
Good Job !!!! Your kicking ass !!!! I love Intermittent Fasting because we can pig a hair at dinner everyday and maintain weight instead of gaining weight !!! : )

MMMtwinbrain

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2016, 11:16:54 PM »
By the way the no breakfast is 33%
Free Dandelion weed salad for lunch is the other 33%
Also we go out to eat a lot and the trick to save money there is to always split meals and this cuts down on your tip also !!!!

bb11

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2016, 08:33:53 AM »
What if I'm trying to gain weight? I've been trying for months and still struggling to put on any extra pounds (trying to go from 170 to 180). :)

bobechs

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2016, 09:05:15 AM »
If you were not overeating (defined as more calories than you use in a day, on average) before and you are not undereating now (the converse of above and a keystone of "stay healthy') how does shifting your caloric intake into a single meal in the evening benefit you?  And how does that "save money"?

It greatly resembles cutting one end of a string off and tying it at the other end to make it longer.

All you need now is to make it into a MLM scheme, somehow.

MrFrugalChicago

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2016, 10:31:13 AM »
I am within 5 pounds of my goal weight. I would see this as then eating 1 giant 3000 calorie meal, vs the 5 600 calorie meals I eat now. Same cost, most likely worse effects on my blood sugar levels. Seems like a terrible idea.

bobechs

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2016, 10:52:33 AM »
Hi, MrFrugalChicago

Unless, like I said, it can be made into a MLM scheme scam that  goes majorly viral.

Isn't that how all terrible ideas are redeemed?

Mr.Tako

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2016, 05:34:21 PM »
Fasting can help cut unnecessary calories if done right, but you have to eat sometime.

I've got radical idea for saving money on your food budget:  Stop eating so much meat!  Well, expensive meat at least.  Meat is a huge part of a 'normal' food budget, but people in the States look at me like I'm crazy for suggesting it. 

Maybe I am a little crazy .... crazy about being FIREd!

We have a little rule around our house.  Most fruits and veggies cost less than $3/lb in our area.  If we can find meat for $3/lb or less, we'll buy it, if not, we skip it.  Some nights we just go completely vegetarian.  Chicken, tofu, and beans end up being our staple proteins, with the occasional fish/pork thrown in.  The kids love it too.

We try to eat smaller meat portions as well.  Things like steaks and beef end up being for very special occasions only.

I think I need to do a blog post about this soon.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2016, 05:36:12 PM by Mr.Tako »

forestj

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2016, 06:45:35 PM »
I've heard that if you shitpost enough, it is possible to sustain yourself from the laughs you generate alone, no need to eat at all.

jfisher3

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2016, 05:46:38 AM »
I'll start off with... I do intermittent fasting... 16/8 specifically.

I picked it up after reading www.leangains.com


I don't buy into any of the other stuff, but what I have found (YMMV) is that often I'm not hungry in the morning anyway, but I tend to snack and over eat a lot in the evenings. When I do IF, I start at 11am and end at 7pm...

It's not some magic "one weird trick" bullshit, for me it works as a mental block to help me eat less, which at my previous rate of consumption, was a great idea. Now it's closer to a necessary/ideal amount, less of a gluttonous amount.

...but I refuse to eat a 'free dandelion salad'. Sorry, not that hardcore.

Machteld

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2016, 02:24:53 PM »
Eat unprocessed foods, mostly plants, not too much...
Don't eat anything your greatgrandmother wouldn't recognise as food.
Never be overweight.

Why? Because it will help you to stay OUT of the hospital. And we all know that's expensive...

Of your 2000 kcal of you day, eat 800 kcal for breakfast, 600 for lunch, 500 for dinner and 100 for snacks. Don't skip meals, that's bad for your blood sugar and thus for you overall health. I wouldn't follow the tips above about skipping breakfast or fasting and going for the free meal at lunch... If you want to be that cheap: take an extra bag and sneak the free food in so you can eat from it during the next day at breakfast. 

Your main meal should be breakfast, not dinner!

Always prepare your food at home and take it with you.

Only eat meat/fish two times a week. Red meat only max once. Buy it when it's on offer and store it in the fridge. Always buy on offer. Like other elements of frugal existence, you get used to a differerent eating pattern.

What to eat (always whole grain):
Breakfast: rolled oats with nuts and fruits. Or bread with egg and fruits (for weekends).
Lunch: bread with (homemade) hummus or (homemade) nutpaste (buy nuts, grind them, and tata: paste (no additives and extremely healthy, especially walnuts) with fruit or have a salad (that is: eat carrots, selery, cucumber etc.)
Dinner: beans with loads of veggies. Only little potatoe or pasta (60 gr or 2 ounces for 2 persons).
Snack: fruits or veggies (like carrots, selery, cucumber etc.)

How to make cheap dirtcheap: grow the veggies (and especially fruit) yourself.

clarkfan1979

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2016, 10:56:30 AM »
My wife and I want to lose a few pounds over the holidays, so I have been buying a lot of lettuce for salads. We have been buying other fruits and vegetables to put in the salads. Some fruits and vegetables might have the appearance of being expensive, but when you are substituting them for meat, it ends up being cheaper. We are on tack to spend about $50 less this month than normal at Costco and this is with expensive organic fruits and vegetables.

Abe

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2016, 11:08:23 AM »
Note that lettuce (especially iceberg lettuce) has the least nutrients of the commonly eaten vegetables. Try spinach or other darker vegetables instead.

Gerard

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2016, 03:39:39 PM »
Note that lettuce (especially iceberg lettuce) has the least nutrients of the commonly eaten vegetables. Try spinach or other darker vegetables instead.

Like dandelion greens.

Mermaid3011

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2016, 03:51:21 PM »
Fasting can help cut unnecessary calories if done right, but you have to eat sometime.

I've got radical idea for saving money on your food budget:  Stop eating so much meat!  Well, expensive meat at least.  Meat is a huge part of a 'normal' food budget, but people in the States look at me like I'm crazy for suggesting it. 

Maybe I am a little crazy .... crazy about being FIREd!

We have a little rule around our house.  Most fruits and veggies cost less than $3/lb in our area.  If we can find meat for $3/lb or less, we'll buy it, if not, we skip it.  Some nights we just go completely vegetarian.  Chicken, tofu, and beans end up being our staple proteins, with the occasional fish/pork thrown in.  The kids love it too.

We try to eat smaller meat portions as well.  Things like steaks and beef end up being for very special occasions only.

I think I need to do a blog post about this soon.

Oh I like that 3$/lb rule! Never thought about it that way!
Though... fruit and veg have gotten ridiculously expensive here in Canada... because of the bad exchange rate. Still - going vegetarian at least on some days definitely cuts the budget!

tj

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2016, 10:06:08 AM »
One does not have to cut out animal protein to be healthy or frugal with food spending.

Mermaid3011

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2016, 10:14:07 AM »
One does not have to cut out animal protein to be healthy or frugal with food spending.

Completely agree! It's a choice we are making based on our tastebuds and perception of what is good for us. Obviously tastes are different and everybody makes different choices.

Stasher

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2016, 10:31:31 AM »
One does not have to cut out animal protein to be healthy or frugal with food spending.

Completely agree! It's a choice we are making based on our tastebuds and perception of what is good for us. Obviously tastes are different and everybody makes different choices.

We have almost completely cut red meat out of our diet and I don't regret it at all, the costs savings are massive. We only usually get it in the form of ground beef for soups and stews or the rare sausages. We don't eat pork at all except when doing a maybe once a month roast which will create meals for several days. Our main go to is chicken but only when on sale to keep cost down. The MMM connection to other great blogs has changed alot for us and eating much more beans, lentils and less meats has been breath of fresh air.

bobechs

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2016, 11:24:54 AM »

We don't eat pork at all except [when doing a maybe once a month roast which will create] meals for several days.

Note: sentence above slightly edited for clarity

And this is what I love about these forums...start a sentence at the South Pole, then pop up in Calcutta by the end.

tj

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2016, 11:29:06 AM »
For me, I've never particularly liked the taste of red meat myself. I'll have a burger every now and then, or carne asada, but I'm never been much of a steak guy. I've stuck to chicken for the more part since being a kid. I've branched out into pork and some beef (carne asada particularly) as an adult. Chicken and pork (and carne asada) are all pretty cheap from my grocery store butcher.

Point being, I don't see changing a primary meat diet to fruit and veggies to be any more financially advantageous, but it would certainly be a more balanced diet. For me, part of it is just pure laziness. With most animal proteins, I just throw it on the grill pan and flip/rotate it a bunch of times, with fruit and veggies there is a lot more involved with chopping, peeling, etc. Veggies are not the lazy man's friend. (Anyone have any ideas?)

bobechs

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2016, 11:42:19 AM »
Sure, buy several bags of frozen mixed vegetables and stack them in your freezer compartment.  Most stores have about a dozen or so different mixes cheek-by-jowl (that's a red meat reference).

When you need to cook, slit open one end of a package and pour as much as you need into a wok, saucepan or microwave dish for the meal at hand. 

Stir fry, soup&stew, etc., etc.

tj

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #22 on: January 24, 2016, 11:48:16 AM »
Sure, buy several bags of frozen mixed vegetables and stack them in your freezer compartment.  Most stores have about a dozen or so different mixes cheek-by-jowl (that's a red meat reference).

When you need to cook, slit open one end of a package and pour as much as you need into a wok, saucepan or microwave dish for the meal at hand. 

Stir fry, soup&stew, etc., etc.

I'll have to check out the frozen veggie section, that sounds awesome.

Mermaid3011

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #23 on: January 24, 2016, 03:43:15 PM »
Sure, buy several bags of frozen mixed vegetables and stack them in your freezer compartment.  Most stores have about a dozen or so different mixes cheek-by-jowl (that's a red meat reference).

When you need to cook, slit open one end of a package and pour as much as you need into a wok, saucepan or microwave dish for the meal at hand. 

Stir fry, soup&stew, etc., etc.

Yup - actually frozen veggies - according to my nutritionist - have the same vitamins and minerals as fresh veggies since frozen stuff is harvested and instantly processed and frozen. The fresh fruits and veggies are traveling for a while then they are stored and eventually get into the supermarket... until then they have lost lots of their nutrition, so there is nothing wrong with using frozen fruit and veg!
(Though living in SoCal where most of the veg is from you may have a better timeline than us up here)

I'll have to check out the frozen veggie section, that sounds awesome.

Stasher

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #24 on: January 24, 2016, 04:32:27 PM »

We don't eat pork at all except [when doing a maybe once a month roast which will create] meals for several days.

Note: sentence above slightly edited for clarity

And this is what I love about these forums...start a sentence at the South Pole, then pop up in Calcutta by the end.

LOL love it :) you made me chuckle there

Maybe I should have worded as such.
Pork rarely makes an appearance in our household. When it does so it is in the form of a roast as the ROI is terrific in the fact that one good supper turns into a week of leftovers.

Kitsunegari

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Re: How to cut 65% out of your food budget and stay healthy !!!
« Reply #25 on: January 24, 2016, 04:43:59 PM »
Eat unprocessed foods, mostly plants, not too much...
Don't eat anything your greatgrandmother wouldn't recognise as food.
Never be overweight.

Why? Because it will help you to stay OUT of the hospital. And we all know that's expensive...

Of your 2000 kcal of you day, eat 800 kcal for breakfast, 600 for lunch, 500 for dinner and 100 for snacks. Don't skip meals, that's bad for your blood sugar and thus for you overall health. I wouldn't follow the tips above about skipping breakfast or fasting and going for the free meal at lunch... If you want to be that cheap: take an extra bag and sneak the free food in so you can eat from it during the next day at breakfast. 

Your main meal should be breakfast, not dinner!

Always prepare your food at home and take it with you.

Only eat meat/fish two times a week. Red meat only max once. Buy it when it's on offer and store it in the fridge. Always buy on offer. Like other elements of frugal existence, you get used to a differerent eating pattern.

What to eat (always whole grain):
Breakfast: rolled oats with nuts and fruits. Or bread with egg and fruits (for weekends).
Lunch: bread with (homemade) hummus or (homemade) nutpaste (buy nuts, grind them, and tata: paste (no additives and extremely healthy, especially walnuts) with fruit or have a salad (that is: eat carrots, selery, cucumber etc.)
Dinner: beans with loads of veggies. Only little potatoe or pasta (60 gr or 2 ounces for 2 persons).
Snack: fruits or veggies (like carrots, selery, cucumber etc.)

How to make cheap dirtcheap: grow the veggies (and especially fruit) yourself.

I loved that book too! :-D

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!