First week struggling with syns

I have almost finished my first week of slimming world, and I have found it quite difficult to stay within the syn range. I don't have a lot of money and I have been buying fresh fruit and veg everyday because I use it all within a day. This is very expensive for me. As for the meals. I have been buying ready meals because I'm on my own and only cook for myself, so I find buying ready meals for £1 is the cheapest solution but they are very high in syns.

Any advice or tips for cheap low syn meals?

I would advise you to ditch the ready made meals and cook dinners (such as spagbol, chilli, lasagne, curry etc) in bulk and freeze individual portions to defrost when u want them. That way you will save lots of money and syns!!

Use frozen veg, and bulk cook. For example make up a big batch of bolognase, bag it up into separate portions, eat one freeze the rest. Home made ready meals that could potentially be syn free.

you will probably find home cooked food creates bigger portions and tastier than ready meals anyway, you could get quite a selection going of whTever you fancy. Things I freeze are, chillies, bolognase, casseroles, curries, meatballs, meatloaf in sauce, the list is endless and a godsend for the nights I work late or just cba to stand and cook.

Agree, was just about to post the same thing . Cook in bulk and freeze into portions. You can do this at weekends when you have more time. You can take out what you need when you want to. You can buy frozen veg, which is much cheaper and a great way to get your superfree into food. For SW to work you need to plan ahead. Don't worry you will get there

Another thing is I don't like much veg, so how would I be able to get my 1/3 of free food if I don't like much of the veg

You can include veggies like tomatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms in things like Bolognese, that way you're not even aware you're eating them!

I just made myself grow up and eat veg. Unfortunately my mother was right! My taste buds did change after repetitive eating. I now love all veg except runner beans. Also it might be how you're cooking them? Boiled veg can be gross. In casseroles or roasted or stir fried it can be beautiful

I don't particularly like lots of veg either. I've been buying the asda steamed bags(broccoli, carrots and sweet corn) they are cheap and only take 2mins in the microwave.

i always eat my super free first(just to get it over with sometimes) and then eat my free food as I enjoy it better that way.

Where do you shop? There is a massive difference in veg prices between Asda and Tesco. I tend to do most of my shopping at Tesco but will do a weekly run to Asda for cheap veg and Lynda McCartney sausages (the ones that are free!). I ask a friend to buy my chicken from the wholesalers she goes to... 5kg for £20 which is about 17 massive chicken breasts. I freeze them in pairs and that lasts me about 2 months.

With meat take advantage of the reduced section and freeze anything you won't eat before the expiry date. Also look at offers... 2 for £7 and 3 for £10. Asda do 750g packs of extra lean beef mince for £5 sometimes... when they do I stock up on them and freeze them.

Buy frozen veg... currently in my freezer I have:

Mixed veg
Broccoli
Spinach
Onion
Sliced green beans

Also buy tin veg... I have the following in at the moment and they are all supermarket own or from the value range:

Potatoes
Sweetcorn
Peas
Mushy peas
Chopped tomatoes
Baked beans

I make it sound like I have a massive freezer but I don't. Just a bog standard three drawer one but I pack it FULL!

Batch cooking is going to be your saviour as the others have said. With some freezer bags you'll be set for a week or two at a time. Also make meal plans... this really helps when budgeting and helps you stick to your shopping list. Work a few treats in there too.

Slimming World really is about changing your eating habits so whilst it might work using ready meals if you syn them (personally I would begrudge using syns this way) and you lose weight what happens when you're at target? None of your eating habits have changed and you'll be more likely to put the weight back on.

I'm a single parent and have two very fussy boys who will eat some of the SW stuff I make but not all of it so more often than not I cook for them early on and then myself later on. I quite often have leftovers and either freeze it or eat it the next day. I'm trying to look at the money I'm spending as an investment for both mine and their future... that way I don't get that hung up over the price of veg (most of the time... sometimes I grumble and strop!)