How to LC when you're not Wealthy?

[Mobear]

This has some great ideas but I think I'll wait till cooler weather to make the recipes. Since I only have the freezer on top of the fridge I may have to reduce the volume I make.

I have a question for those who are familiar with using black soy beans. Do those beans cause intestinal distress? I know some beans are really bad in that department but I've never used black soy beans.

[katie in progress]

Erica, we can our own meats. A jar of home canned chicken is the perfect fast LC food. Home canned broth is awesome, and really stretches a budget. You can freeze these things of course, but when it's canned it's ready to go, and not an issue when the power goes out. But you've got to use a pressure cooker to do it safely - this is not something where you can cut corners. See if your local Extension Office has some classes coming up, they can be a great resource.

[Star73]

Originally Posted by sugarless4life

Soups .. I make alot of soup and it always goes for several meals.

Broccoli Cheese
LC Clam Chowder
Chili
Turkey soup (made with 2 turkey thighs), celery, carrots, onions, and 2 cups of dreamfields elbows)
Linda's Southwestern Taco Soup

All winners in our house !

Betty

I'm ready for some soups and Fall weather! these sound delicious!

[Liz1959]

One of my favorite cheapies is canned mackeral. About a 1/4 the price of tuna. It's great with mustard and mayo. Scoop it with celery or pork rinds.

[flatferenghi]

i expect to have my critter expenses decrease, because i will be consuming less of them. On Induction, I did spend more money than I would have liked. However, I cut back in other areas. Love & Profits: FLATFERENGHI

[Erica L. Butler]

Originally Posted by MsWoods

Bumpin this one up because it's an awesome thread and the sauce was great. I'm going to make a batch again soon.

I'm glad that worked for you. I made a Chili variation, and created a "Chili-Dog Bowl", with it.

I took Hebrew Nat'l Franks, grilled them, cut them into bite-size pieces, layered Ground Beef/Salsa Verde over them , then Mexi-Cheese and Sour Cream over that. Worked out well, and used what I had in the fridge!

[Lisa Lou]

I'm an animal lover, but I've actually learned to hunt. I hunt deer and hogs and unless you're buying every new gadget out there, you're investing mostly your time.

[Angeloco]

So many great ideas. Thanks everyone.

[Pumpalumpa]

Originally Posted by Erica L. Butler

Well, it's certainly one of those things I'd have around for emergencies-- I wrote an article recently about LC Planning for Emergency preparedness --stuff to have around that won't go bad, and be usable in case of disaster--and I count being broke as an emergency! Canned meats of any kind might be useful to have --

I'd also like to know is there any way to can and preserve meat (so you know what's in it?)

You might have your answer but yes if you get a pressure canner you can store your own meats, soups, and veggies. Also a dehydrator for some things.

[True Grave]

Originally Posted by Erica L. Butler

There was a discussion on another thread that really made me think of this as a great topic for discussion--

I'd love to see folks talk about their strategies for LCrbing it when you're less than well-off-- or even poor! What do you do when you can't afford personal trainers, when food is sky-high, etc, etc, .

What are the thriftiest strategies y'all have come up with?

Is this more about what we value, such as cutting corners somewhere else in favor of healthy foods and activities? With the economy as it is -- is that enough?

I don't see any problems being on LC financial-wise. These last several years on the LC lifestyle, i've never had a lot to spend but still did well.

Cheap stuff like Vienna sausage, eggs, cheese, almonds, and pork rinds, plus whatever else i can spot on clearance. Just have to keep watch out for those budget LC food options & deals.

I spend less than friends who aren't dieting. So being on LC full-time does not have to be a strain on the wallet in my opinion.

[Pumpalumpa]

I agree, I think it is cheaper with the LC diet. Even with paying for the Cheese you know that you will find room in your meals to use it all up and not waste those leftovers.

[literarymiss]

I buy my meats from a local butcher shop, where they have great prices on really good meat. Kroger often has really good sales on chicken as well! For all of my canned/frozen veggies, and a lot of my dairy, I buy at Aldi's. So cheap!

[BobbiOh]

Here in California we have a store called Fresh & Easy. They're smaller stores with less choices, but the prices are definitely lower. I can get 4 Dolly Parton sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $8-$9. Typically one breast will feed both of us and leave a piece left over for lunch. They have bagged lettuce for $.98. They do produce in smaller packages like 2 peppers for $.98, which is good because it's just DH and myself. If you join their friends club you earn points which you can use like money and they send out coupons like $10 off of $50 and you can use up to 3 coupons. Just shopping there has cut my grocery bill down about $60 per week.

My second recommendation is shred your own cheese. Food 4 Less (which is Kroger) has cheese blocks for $3.48lb. Entirely worth shredding or slicing it yourself.

Costco has 6 heads of Romaine lettuce for about $3.00. Buying butter in bulk is a good buy here too. Frozen veggies in big bags if you have the freezer space.

One of my cost savings tactics is to plan out my menu and use products that overlap, so that I'm not spending a lot of money for 1 ingredient that only gets used in one meal. Typically our lunches are a piece of last nights left over meat on a salad. Breakfast is a quiche - 6 eggs - which makes 6 servings.

[Dark Gypsy]

I try to think about how buying a grilling a big ole t-bone at home is cheaper than going out for burgers. Or close anyway. Try not to waste anything (hard for me even though I try to be consious of leftovers). Think of how expensive goodies are--8 or 9 dollars for a box of crispy cremes. 15 dollars for a cheese cake from the walmart deli. I saw oreos "on sale" 2 for 5 dollars. Unless you were just eating rice and some vegatable, probably lc could be one of the "cheaper" ways of eating because you are basically buying unprocessed foods. And you're worth it right?

[Coleslaw]

Hmm, I think what you save by not eating cakes, biscuits, crisps, bread, chocolate bars, ready meals, pasta, noodles and total junk like instant noodles can be spent on real food eg eggs, cream, milk, veg, meat, poultry, game, fish, seafood. Shopping the edges of the supermarket is healthier.

I notice that in the UK comparatively few of the offers at supermarkets are on real food it's all on junk. Is that the same in US and Canada ?

Frozen food seems to be cheaper than fresh here especially veg. I've yet to find frozen organic though.

Ethnic shops can save money on spices and things like tinned beans if your plan lets you eat them. Discount shops often sell these quite cheaply too. Buying them dry and soaking overnight when needed could work out cheaper as well.

[Dark Gypsy]

Prices are going sky high! When I shop I try to get loss leader items and check out the "used meat bin". Ha ha, you know the meat that has been marked down. Sometimes this is a good deal, sometimes it's NOT when you compare to what is on sale. If I get a good deal, I stock up and freeze. I few weeks ago, I got bone in chicken breasts for .69 a pound. I cut the meat off the bone, froze individual breasts, then put the bones with meat clinging to them in the crock pot. Then I took all the little pieces of cooked meat off the bones and froze the broth. It was A LOT of work but if the store does the work for you, they charge you for it!

Check the "dented can bin". My store sells dented cans and crushed boxes for about 1/2. And no, I am not worried about salmonella or botulism.

My store also has a "used produce" section--LOL, a section where some older produce is marked down. Sometimes I get lucky and get cauliflower for .29 a pound or a cucumber for .25.

Dairy has the same mark down section. Sometimes I find heavy cream marked down, in which case I will make lots of cream ladden foods. I occassionally get eggs marked down to .50 a dozen.

Of course you can never get a dozen eggs, a can of green beans and the perfect package of marked down meat at one time! It will be ALL eggs, 10 packages of meat, or a cart full of cans! So you gotta process, freeze, store and plan. Yes, timeconsuming and an ongoing daily issue (What's for dinner is a question every day!)

Use everything. Also hard to do--not so much for yourself....but if you have family sometimes it is. That tablespoon of beans isnt enough for a side dish or maybe leftover taco meat doesn't make a good side to roast chicken! But try to make leftovers lunch, a side dish to the next meal or put it in a stew, quiche or sauce. You will still end up finding moldy stuff in the back of the fridge, but do your best.

This one is hard for me...don't buy stuff you don't like. Sounds weird but think about it....your favorites don't generally get pushed to the back. I think mushrooms are OK, but I usually don't get inspired by fresh let alone mushrooms that must be used today. I will get inspired by a head of cauliflower though...I will be dreaming of making fauxtatoes out of them.

Having some convenience food is a good idea even if it is more expensive for 2 reasons--1) its way too easy to justify going out to eat if your cupboards are bare (and that is more expensive than the convenience food) and 2) its way too easy to cave to carbs when you are hungry and have nothing to eat or it will take an hour to make food.

Not sure what your garden space and conditions are. I grow some tomatoes but that's it--and it's probably not cost effective since I live where it's very hot and I use tons of water, plants die etc. It would be cheaper to buy a tomato every 2 weeks. It's more of a hobby than a food production activity.

Oh and look at all the recipes here!

[metqa]

Originally Posted by Dark Gypsy

Prices are going sky high! When I shop I try to get loss leader items and check out the "used meat bin". Ha ha, you know the meat that has been marked down. Sometimes this is a good deal, sometimes it's NOT when you compare to what is on sale. If I get a good deal, I stock up and freeze. I few weeks ago, I got bone in chicken breasts for .69 a pound. I cut the meat off the bone, froze individual breasts, then put the bones with meat clinging to them in the crock pot. Then I took all the little pieces of cooked meat off the bones and froze the broth. It was A LOT of work but if the store does the work for you, they charge you for it!

Check the "dented can bin". My store sells dented cans and crushed boxes for about 1/2. And no, I am not worried about salmonella or botulism.

My store also has a "used produce" section--LOL, a section where some older produce is marked down. Sometimes I get lucky and get cauliflower for .29 a pound or a cucumber for .25.

Dairy has the same mark down section. Sometimes I find heavy cream marked down, in which case I will make lots of cream ladden foods. I occassionally get eggs marked down to .50 a dozen.

Of course you can never get a dozen eggs, a can of green beans and the perfect package of marked down meat at one time! It will be ALL eggs, 10 packages of meat, or a cart full of cans! So you gotta process, freeze, store and plan. Yes, timeconsuming and an ongoing daily issue (What's for dinner is a question every day!)

Use everything. Also hard to do--not so much for yourself....but if you have family sometimes it is. That tablespoon of beans isnt enough for a side dish or maybe leftover taco meat doesn't make a good side to roast chicken! But try to make leftovers lunch, a side dish to the next meal or put it in a stew, quiche or sauce. You will still end up finding moldy stuff in the back of the fridge, but do your best.

This one is hard for me...don't buy stuff you don't like. Sounds weird but think about it....your favorites don't generally get pushed to the back. I think mushrooms are OK, but I usually don't get inspired by fresh let alone mushrooms that must be used today. I will get inspired by a head of cauliflower though...I will be dreaming of making fauxtatoes out of them.

Having some convenience food is a good idea even if it is more expensive for 2 reasons--1) its way too easy to justify going out to eat if your cupboards are bare (and that is more expensive than the convenience food) and 2) its way too easy to cave to carbs when you are hungry and have nothing to eat or it will take an hour to make food.

Not sure what your garden space and conditions are. I grow some tomatoes but that's it--and it's probably not cost effective since I live where it's very hot and I use tons of water, plants die etc. It would be cheaper to buy a tomato every 2 weeks. It's more of a hobby than a food production activity.

Oh and look at all the recipes here!

[greengeeny]

I didn't read all of the posts, so I don't know if somebody already mentioned this, but Planet Fitness, the gym that sponsors Biggest Loser, has popped up in my neighborhood. It is $10 per month! And, they let you pay automatically monthly! If you can swing it, which I am determined to do, for $20 mthly, they throw in a personal trainer!! Plus, masage chairs, red light therapy(for toning skin and cellulite), and tanning(which I do not use). I think this is a great deal since I have heard that one session with a trainer can start at $50...per session. I have heard that a lot of new planet fitness' are being made, so check it out. I joined this week, and it is my first time EVER being able to afford a gym.

[graciejean]

Bumping bumping bumping

[tulipsandroses]

Originally Posted by greengeeny

I didn't read all of the posts, so I don't know if somebody already mentioned this, but Planet Fitness, the gym that sponsors Biggest Loser, has popped up in my neighborhood. It is $10 per month! And, they let you pay automatically monthly! If you can swing it, which I am determined to do, for $20 mthly, they throw in a personal trainer!! Plus, masage chairs, red light therapy(for toning skin and cellulite), and tanning(which I do not use). I think this is a great deal since I have heard that one session with a trainer can start at $50...per session. I have heard that a lot of new planet fitness' are being made, so check it out. I joined this week, and it is my first time EVER being able to afford a gym.

I've been a member of PF since last year. Love it. The 30 min circuit kicks butt. I have the $10 per month package. My cousin has the $20 per month package. It allows him access to any PF in the country. He travels a lot so that really works for him. He didn't get a personal trainer with his package though. I wonder if that varies by location. What we do have at mine are group session classes with a personal trainer. Usually about 4-5 people. All memberships get that. Its kind of a first come. First serve basis though. One thing worth mentioning though is that PF has a yearly membership fee other the low monthly fee they advertise. I got a great deal when I signed up since they were new at the time. When my cousin signed up a few months ago, the yearly membership fee was about 60 bucks. Still not a bad deal though.

[limetwist]

Manager's special, manager's special, manager's special!

My boyfriend and I make it into a sport.