Slimming on a budget

My partner and i started the diet this week, and we have spent an absolute fortune on food which is something i wouldn't be able to do every week. I'll be needing to do another food shop this weekend, and was just wondering how people budget on the plan? Fresh fruit/Veg and the meat seems to be where the price adds up.

Hi hun, there's quite a few threads about this - why not do a search and see what comes up? I have frozen fruit in the freezer and cheaper cuts of meat when slow cooked are delicious and cheaper! I tend to buy whole chickens, cook up and then break down, cheaper than breasts and I think much tastier! Buying stuff in season is cheaper too xx

I find green days cheaper, as you can have lots of potatoes and beans. Meat free mince goes further than real meat too. You could try making soups, they're good for if your veggies have been sitting around too long. I always spend loads the first time I start SW, but once you've got your store cupboard basics and get used to what you can eat you won't spend so much.

I agree with you on this one. I love fruit but only stuff like pineapple, mango, melon etc which are all more expensive than apples and pears etc yuk! I know thats a personal choice but still it does seem more expensive to cook a meal from scratch than to buy a ready meal, saying that though cooked from scratch tastes soooo much better!! x

Comparing prices from various shops close to you will also help. I tend to get a load of stuff from Lidl (fruit and veg), biggest shop from Asda and to be honest the Asda Smart Price range tastes the same as the regular brands (the only thing Hubby wont compromise on is Baked Beans!) and then beef we get from Tesco as the lean mince has less gristle in it than the cheap Asda stuff.
Yes, it involves a little more research, but worth it in the end and also set yourself a budget for the month...mine is £400 for 3 of us and I can often get it to under £80.00 a week and still have luxuries!

Check out this thread and the others mentioned in it.

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world/134042-more-expensive-buy-healthy-food.html

we're on a serious budget at the min in our house... and lots of vege and meat does put the price up.
Although I personally prefer 'proper' meat to stick to budget we have things like birds eye chicken chargrills with SW chips and beans once a week (chicken chargrills tend to be on offer at £1 for two) and meals involving mince like spag bol made with own sauce (cheaper) and lamb kebabs
Are there two of you? Because we buy a whole chicken, roast it, have one of the breast between us as a dinner, then the next day have the other breast with a salad or chips and beans and then the third day have the brown meat in a chilli (makes ALOT!!)
I think the biggest change we've made though is writing down an entire weeks menu, breakfast, dinners, teas and then order online from asda. It can seem a bit boring planning exactly what you're going to eat each day, but I find it actually helps for planning syns. When we've done our shopping list online if we've gone over budget (£40) then we delete items that aren't absolutely essential until we get to budget. We resisted ordering online for ages because we didnt want to spend money on delivery when we were on such a tight budget.. but we never go over budget now, because we can wittle our list down and we used to go over all the time before.

I find green days to be a LOT cheaper. I'm pretty lucky as I only have to feed myself-but I've had to get out of the habit of doing my weekly shop in M&S pretty sharpish!
The SW group members site has a pretty decent sounding student menu on it at the minute-it includes a shopping list with everything priced up; but I've managed to find a few cheaper alternatives as well.
A lot of eating right is about shopping around-Iceland, Lidl and Aldi have become my best friends since I started this plan!

Wow so many good ideas. I have red & green days but the red do certainly cost more.

I do eat a lot of quorn which does work out cheaper than 'real' meat. Not everyone will agree, but Quorn mince is lovely in chilli, shepherds pie & so many other things. Also quorn Italian meatballs are lovely in a tomato sauce with spagetti.

I'd definately try ordering your food online I know the P&P may put you off but you will only order what you want.

I normally do my shopping online anyways, helps save the temptation of adding random rubbish into your trolly!

Soups made from vegetables tend to work out between 10p and 30p a portion.

Also tinned tuna, baked beans, potatoes are all real budget winners !

Happy Holidays said:

Wow Also quorn Italian meatballs are lovely in a tomato sauce with spagetti. !

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Where didi you get these from i cant find them any where!!!!!

I buy frozen rather than fresh veges as much as possible. They're not as nice but you get so much more for your money!!!

Tinned veg = student SW'er lifesaver!!

Happy Holidays said:

. Also quorn Italian meatballs are lovely in a tomato sauce with spagetti.

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I'm SURE I've seen these in sainsbury's-they were between £2 and £3.

I've also seen quorn meat style balls on tesco's website. Dunno if they're the same ones or not.

i n ow buy bags of chopped frozen garlic from asda@69p a bag, it lasts for ages and you don't throw away, also tend to buy, bags of frozen mushrooms at £1.00 a bag to add to cassorles, curries etc.

I had a look in the quorn section of sainsburys and couldnt find them maybe they've hidden them from me!! lol our tescos have only got the mince! Its a mission now - i must find the meatballs!! HAHA

My bad, Tesco online only have Quorn Swedish style balls!

Frozen chopped garlic!! I've never heard or seen this, what a bloomin life saver That's on the shopping list, I'm always throwing garlic away.

Thanks very much oh knowledgable one (maclynn)

GracieMai said:

Frozen chopped garlic!! I've never heard or seen this, what a bloomin life saver That's on the shopping list, I'm always throwing garlic away.

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Really ive just had to pop to the market and buy 4 more cloves for £1 i eat it like its going out of fashion!! lol