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I'm on my 2nd week of p90x and am loving it. Although my wallet isn't. Are there suggestions out there of how I can not break the bank? I don't want to quit the meal plan part, but eventually I think I may have to, so I can save money.

They say it is more expensive to eat healthy. This is due to the fact that most of the cheap processed foods in the grocery store are pure carb/fat combinations. Not only not good for people whom are exercising, but not good for anyone.

We track our food dollars pretty carefully, and have found we are about even before and after, but we did make some changes. The big ones are

1) Eliminated all pop (soda), bottled water, coffee, beer, wine (except 1 night per week on Xstretch night) etc. We drink green or black loose tea if we want caffene. Filtered water only. This really cut costs.

(hint - find a good chinese market and buy in bulk. Will be MUCH cheaper. You only need about 1 tbsp full steeped 1 minute, and you can re-steep about 3 times (at one go) adding 30 sec each time).

2) With the above, eliminated all trips to starbucks, etc. Saved about $20/week and eliminated tempting the lemon pound cake

3) Gave up going out for lunch at work and brown bag it. Net savings $25 each week

4) We buy butterball frozen turkey breasts, about 3 lbs, and cook them at home. Amazingly cheap for what you get and good lean protein is always at hand for snack, on a salad, in a wrap and my 3/5 year olds love it. We have a salsa recipe with black beans that the turkey is great with. If you want it, contact me through my profile.

5) Gave up 1 meal out per week.

With these changes, we are about even, even with eating fish about 3 nights per week.

I agree with the tips to substitute in local seasonal veggies. Go to a farmers market if you can rather than the grocery. You will save money, and support local farmers.

Don't know if this will help, but it works for us.

quote:

Originally posted by Advice Staff:

I think you'd be happier with a bird that just has one ingredient: Turkey.

I would too, but have not found an option, other than cooking a whole bird or paying $10/lb at the deli, to do this?

Any suggestions as to brand?

Here is another suggestion that might help you in buying in bulk.

If you have a local Sam's club or Costco, buy there as well. I find that you can get quite a bit of produce as well for the buck. I especially love to buy their Romain lettuce that comes in like 3 or 4 heads in a pack.

Alot of people say that it is more expensive to eat healthy, but in the long run it isn't.

Let's take a look at what you are doing to your system as you eat the processed food. From an internal standpoint, I have found that people that eat processed food tend to visit the doctor more often than those that eat the non-processed foods. This of itself is a cost-saving measure.

As David mentioned, processed foods are loaded with "fluff". I like to relate it to popcorn. You get alot of fluff and you feel content, but not alot of nutritional value....Alhthough popcorn is a great snack and provides good fiber..

You could also look at growing your own garden if you are able to do that or join a local co-op with people so that the cost isn't as much.

Keep up the work!!

Robert, Rob, RLo

quote:

Originally posted by Advice Staff:
How about Foster Farms?

Thanks. Have not seen that brand at Kroger, but will try a few other stores in the area.

Ooohhh! Don't quit the meal plan altogether. Here's a question - are you feeding your entire family with you new eating habits, or are you trying to cook separately for them? It's much more expensive if you're trying to serve more than one kind of meal for different people. Also, something that us moms are accustom to doing...shop "on sale". One example I can think of...fruit and veggies... if apples are on sale this week, I eat apples, if bananas are on sale next week, I eat bananas. Same with the veggies. Another example; I love salmon, but only buy it on sale (usually at about a 30% savings!). I stock up on it at that time too! I'll put another 2 or 3 meals worth in the freezer. Obviously, you can stock up easily with canned and dried goods (only if they're on sale). Before long you'll see the benefits - both to your wallet and waistline!

Good luck - lots of good suggestions on these posts here!

Some more goodies along the it ain't neccesarily a bargain - or is it - lines:

Catfish nuggets are farm raised fish at usually under 3 bucks a pound... same fish they sell the fancy cuts of at twice the price or more - flavor's the same, so is the nutrition.

Watch the cheap canned tuna - some brands ok but others are more water than tuna fish, resulting in paying slightly less for way less actual tuna.

Canned salmon often beats tuna fish in actual fish and protein delivered per dollar...

Can't agree more with the view that anything processed costs more and is usually less healthy. Generally, run screaming from bulk bagged processed foods - imho lousy bargain.

If like us your water is chlorinated and you figure you need to buy bottled water so you aren't drinking a gallon of carcinogens a day - think of a cheap charcoal filter ahead of the water tap instead. For around 30 bucks you get everything you need to get off the bottled water bandwagon - and one 5 dollar cartridge will drown you in drinking water for many, many months.

Another goodie - we've been buying chicken and manually removing the fat - even chicken thighs can be made nearly fat free if you are careful - and they are a darn sight cheaper than the fancy prepared skinless stuff - with one caveat. What we found is you should look at the fat on any chicken you buy, less expensive stuff usually has so much more fat that by the time you get done removing it you are actually paying more than the good stuff costs.

Example - 79 cent a pound chicken, defatted, yields lean at $1.34 equivalent. Next grade up is a more solid, preservative free chicken, $1.14 a pound - and defatted it yields $1.23 a pound equivalent cost. Less work, better quality - despite the initial sticker price shock.

Plant a garden or buy in season from local farms and freeze or can it yourself is a proven saving for quality versus price... even though canning jars cost $$$ they can be reused indefinitely.

If you plan to buy canned veggies and stock up on them when on sale, unless you know the brand, buy one can of each and check them out first - or you could spend substantial bucks and be stuck with a shelf full of lousy veggies.

Another tidbit - protein being pricey, phase 1 is the most expensive part of the program - as you progress to phase 2 and phase 3, it gets cheaper to do P90x - a little offset of course by the fact that by then you are eating more calories.

I love that place. You can also get really cheap cage-free eggs there, if you're concerned about that type of thing.

He's talking about tea -- and how you can reuse the leaves to make multiple cups.