Swaying on a budget

[JP2007]

When I first started the LE diet I imagined saving lots of money on my grocery bill. We were spending a lot on meat and of course it is much cheaper to buy rice, bread, pasta, etc. I cleaned out my fridge the other day and realized that we had wasted LOTS of food. DH wants wheat bread, I am eating white. He eats turkey sandwiches and full fat cheddar cheese, I buy the Velveeta slices for me. He wants chips and coke, I am buying rice cakes and diet coke, etc. He still wants to eat meat so I cook regular meals like meatloaf, chicken breasts, etc for him and my son. I try to make small portions but we often have wasted leftovers. My DH has now resorted to buying things like frozen pizzas and other junk so I don't have to cook 2 meals, but that is even more expensive.

I am a stay at home mom and my husband is the only one working so we have to watch everything we spend. I want to save money but I just don't know how when we are both eating opposite things. DH doesn't really care for rice or pasta so I can't just make that and add meat for him. He doesn't like most vegetables either. Most of his meals are seriously a big hunk of meat and some potatoes, a roll, or a salad.

Does anyone have any tips for swaying on a budget? Not just on groceries but in any other aspects as well? I am not able to pay for a gym membership and take my kids there everyday so I walk around the neighborhood or do a video at home. I have to order DH LR and OLE online, the stores here offer good B1G1 free sales here but they don't stock those for some reason.

[carmella_marie]

I got a treadmill on craigslist for $50. Both me and DH use it and so we were able to save on gym memberships.

We plan our meals a month at a time. yes, a whole month. We plan every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with at least once a week left overs night and "meatless mondays." That way we only go to the grocery store once per week to get what's needed for that week's meals. We go to costco once per month and get meat and other items in bulk there. My husband packs all his lunches too: yes this sometimes means he has to eat turkey sandwiches every day for a week to use up the package of sandwhich meat but that's a sacrifice and important to stay on budget! He also often packs left overs.

I'm doing LE diet and for dinner we usually have rice/pasta side dish, a LE-friendly side dish, and the boys and DH has meat or fish. I usually feed my boys the left overs for lunch the next day, so we only cook just enough meat so that none is wasted.

Honestly, it doesn't matter if you're doing LE or not, if your husband doesn't like rice or pasta and won't eat most vegetables I think he's the root cause of the grocery budget so high. Those are healthy, budget-friendly staples he should be eating!

I did the "crash and burn" version of LE with my first sway and I ate so much junk food--velveeta and pop tarts and rice cakes. But you don't have to buy all that to do LE. You can have regular full fat cheese on LE, just watch your portions. You don't have to drink coke, crystal light or the store brand version of crystal light is much cheaper than diet coke and still has lots of aspartame (the ingredient thought to sway pink in diet coke) I'm really not buying much stuff for me specifically: fiber, crystal light, a coke now and then, that's about it. My family eats rice and pasta with me, we all eat the LE veggies together, I eat a little cheese and a few egg whites occasionally, and the whole family likes yoplait light anyway. I am buying white bread and the family eats wheat. But it's still the same amount of bread being eaten if I eat white or wheat so I don't see that affecting the bottom line too much.

I ordered LR and OLE online, it was cheaper than the health food store. I also order OPK's online and you can get rephresh, vitex, SP, zyrtec, baby aspirin, etc. for good prices online as well. I ordered a few months in advance, just to give a little cushion to the budget. So May I ordered a few things, June a few things, etc.

Hope that helps!

[bluebonnet22]

I'm not quite as good of a planner as carmella, but we do plan an entire weeks meals in advance. I'm finding me eating LE is SO CHEAP because 1 lb of meat goes so far with just DH and my 22 month old. I will give you my week's meals as an example, but please know that I do a ton of cardio and eat the upper limits of LE, I don't limit any foods (ie I eat potatoes and spinach and tomatoes freely!), and I drink wine every night so although my meals seem high in fat, when the wine is added in it's always within limits.

Fettucine alfredo: Low-Cal Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe : Food Network Kitchen : Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/low-cal-fettuccine-alfredo-recipe.html) (the portions on this are HUGE, I never eat a full portion). I add some rotisserie chicken to my DH and DS's portions. Cheap and very very delicious! I know you said DH doesn't like pasta, but maybe try different recipes?

Quesadillas: I put bell peppers and a little black beans in mine, for DH I use leftover rotisserie chicken. Cheap, easy.

Foil packets: I cut up new potatoes (or baby yellow dutch or whatever kind you like) and I spray mine with spray butter and LF cheese and tons of salt free seasonings to taste. DH's and DS's I cut up nitrate free sausage. Bake them at 350 for 30 minutes. I always have a bag of shredded low fat cheese for me and regular cheese for them. It doesn't go bad for months and $3 worth of cheese lasts a long time.

Another unhealthy but yummy dinner my boys like is low fat crescent rolls cut into 24 squares per tube. I stuff their half with 1/2 pound of ground beef and cheese mix (baby cheeseburgers) and my half I put low fat cheese and spinach mixture. DS eats spinach and enjoys eating a mix of both types.

We do eat vegetarian pizza once a week or more. It's cheaper to make your own and just put veggies on your half and pepperoni on one half, but we often spend $7.99 on a carry out special and this lasts us a meal + leftovers.

Agree with carmella that him not eating rice or pasta is a big reason why your grocery bill is so high! I will either buy one rotisserie chicken per week for my boys to eat off of for 3 days or I will buy a pound of ground beef and brown it and then make meals with it. It's easy to make a casserole in 2 dishes, one with beef, one without. I do that often.

My son eats tons of veggies. I buy tons of organic frozen veggies and just boil/steam him 2 kinds every night. It's extremely easy and makes sure that he isn't missing out on healthy foods just because I'm eating like crap.

Lastly, I cannot afford a gym either and I wake up at 5 AM to run outside while my DH and my son are still sleeping. I love the alone time and I love getting it over with early in the morning.

[JP2007]

Thanks ladies, I appreciate the suggestions and recipes! I agree my DH's eating habits are driving our grocery bill up! I guess we just saved money before because I was eating the same stuff and none of it went to waste because I would always eat leftovers, or finish up the lunchmeat before it went bad, etc. I think I am going to take your suggestions and make a meal plan. I also think part of my problem is that I go into the store and buy the exact amount of groceries I would buy previously, and then I am also adding all of my LE stuff to it. My DH is so picky it is ridiculous!

[bluebonnet22]

Gl! Also wheat bread is completely fine for swaying. A lot of things like that I just buy one loaf of wheat rather than white for myself

[atomic sagebrush]

What I did (and I was on a super tight budget as some may recall) was just cooked the regular foods for my husband and kids and skipped the meat for dinners. Breakfast (well I delayed it till 12 but still) and lunch were easy because I just had whatever I personally wanted. I think it's fine to eat potatoes and rolls and salad for LE dinner. Rice cakes are kinda expensive so I'd skip those - there is nothing magically girl producing about them. Eat chips, I did.

Can you plan for leftovers at all? I do that anyway. So like if he wants a hunk o meat for one meal, and you don't have any, then can you chop it up for his next meal or his lunch? I sometimes put meatloaf into spaghetti sauce or even crumbled on pizza and meatloaf sandwiches, my mom used to put those in my dad's lunch all the time.

For bread, I like weird breads compared to everyone else so I put loaves into the freezer and then just take out enough for a sandwich when I want them. that way they don't spoil.

Pizza is a good LE Diet food. Have you ever tried making it yourself? You can half and half with meat and veg and one pizza will work for you both. or a storebought cheese pizza topped with 1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 veg for you will serve the same purpose.

I don't think anyone needs to buy a gym membership to do the exercise for swaying pink!!!! I think videos at home or walking are both great.

[atomic sagebrush]

Gl! Also wheat bread is completely fine for swaying. A lot of things like that I just buy one loaf of wheat rather than white for myself

:agree: the wheat vs. white debate is one thing I freely admit I am on the fence about. There are things about whole wheat bread that I think could potentially sway pink. Honestly, most of the blue swayers really don't eat much bread anyway (most of them drop or reduce bread intake to save calories) so it is not like we are seeing tons of boys with gals eating whole grain bread.

[JP2007]

Thanks Atomic for the great tips! I am not very good at re-creating leftovers into something else but you have inspired me to try! Pizza is a family favorite but I have never made it myself. Looking forward to having it next week!

I took all of your advice and went to the store today with a meal plan in mind for the next two weeks. I only spent $85 which is about half of what I have been spending! I will have to go back for a few fruits and veggies, bread, and some baby food in then next few weeks but I think minimizing my trips to the store will keep my spending down.

This week we are having:

Burgers (potato wedges and veggies for me)
Red Snapper (rice and a veggie for me)
Club Sandwiches (cheese, lettuce, tomato and lowfat mayo for me)
Lasagna rolls (no meat in mine)
Crockpot Chicken Tacos (no chicken for me just small amount of beans, and rice and veggies in corn tortillas)
Pot Roast (potatoes and rolls for me with a salad)

I am really excited because I don't have to cook 2 meals! For lunch I picked up some bagels, and bread and velveeta. I am pretty boring when it comes to food and right now I alternate between a bagel or grilled cheese for lunch depending on my mood.

I keep telling myself I am going to wake up and early and run but it has yet to happen. I think I would enjoy it if I could just force myself to get out of bed early.

[atomic sagebrush]

Sounds perfect! I do have the "diet on a budget" essay for the blue swayers, I should make one for pink!

[essnce629]

You definitely don't need a gym membership or to wake up at 5am to go running to have a successful girl sway! I think there's several girl swayers who do the Walk Away the Pounds dvds. They are all cardio and the 4 mile one is an hour. That's what I have.

http://www.amazon.com/Leslie-Sansone-Pounds-Express-Challenge/dp/B00008DDJD

[JP2007]

I actually have the 5 mile Walk Away the Pounds DVD and I love it! The only problem is that my 2 boys are always under my feet and I end up having to stop to get a snack, change a diaper, etc. They used to nap at the same time but that was a short lived luxury. If I could wake up early enough I could do my video in peace or go for a run but I just hate getting out of bed so early!!!

[essnce629]

I actually have the 5 mile Walk Away the Pounds DVD and I love it! The only problem is that my 2 boys are always under my feet and I end up having to stop to get a snack, change a diaper, etc. They used to nap at the same time but that was a short lived luxury. If I could wake up early enough I could do my video in peace or go for a run but I just hate getting out of bed so early!!!

I do mine once the kids are both in bed. Sometimes as late as midnight! But I'm a night owl! Maybe you can try doing it as soon as you put them down though?