Weight Loss and $

It's interesting, I've been doing calorie count for about 2 weeks now. I can't tell if I'm saving money or spending more (perhaps I should keep better records). I buy a lot of produce which tends to be expensive, but I'm not buying packaged foods or eating out as much. Anyone else notice a difference in their spending while doing this?

I am definitely spending less money on groceries!  I thought I would be spending more, healthy foods are more expensive than packaged, processed crap.  But I am eating less, + I am eating what I buy (instead of buying stuff with good intentions but then gorging on fast-food and other junk so no room or energy for cooking).  My husband says we're spending almost half what we used to spend at the grocery store. 

However, I keep going down in sizes, so I keep buying new clothes, so that's a difference in spending of another color.  MUCH better problem to have!

i was initially spending more on groceries, as i started buying organic and getting higher quality protien, but now im spending less, primarily because i eat everything i buy, i buy enough for about three days (i live alone) and dont buy things i dont need (except the periodic evil chocolate madness)

and i dont go out as much. my strategy for the challenge of eatting out is to tell friends to bring the protein and i'll provide the rest of the meal. we all save money and get a much nicer spread than we would have dinning out. i have control of the majority of the menu choices, and its alot more functional for my diet plan. plus its fun, the booze is cheeper, its all good. 

EDit to add: and i pack my lunch every day now rather than getting take out. that saves quite a few bucks a week. 

like mad4moon says, clothing is a different issue, but as i've made it into regular sizes, i am delighted that i can shop the clearance racks, so i think i can now get about 8 things for what i would have spent for one, over priced, big girl thing previously. that is very cool! 

oh, and i've started buying some things, like oat meal, p-nut butter in bulk, and skinless boneless chicken breasts in family packs, since i now know i'll use them up before they go bad. that saves a bit. meats, i individually package them, weigh and label the weight on the outside of the bag before freezing, and then i can take out the size i want depending on what i'm cooking down the road. i never did that before and i save a couple bucks a pound. its fab! i'm so proud, as if i'm the first person to discover such a system! it does make it easy tho. 

I spend way less when I am dieting.  When I am not dieting I would get fast food breakfas, fast food lunch and candy bar and chips and pop at work...adding up to about $12 a day..

But when I am dieting I bring everything I am going to eat or drink from home.  But it is still way cheaper..For instance lunch out runs $5-$7 dollars depending on what you get.. When eating right  a frozen meal is $ 1.88 (they are on sale right now and have been since the first of year! YEAH! )

I noticed my grocery bills went down.  Not because I was buying different foods, especially but because for weight-loss purposes I started to plan the week's menu more closely.   I think a few people have made the same point that if your eating is more structured you spend less, use less and waste less.  I also saved a lot of money by cooking/preparing more foods myself.  Simply packing a healthy lunch for work each day saved me about £15/week.   Ditching old fatty-bum-bum habits like takeaways and bottles of wine was another saving.

I've been doing this a long time now so it's difficult to remember what I used to spend.  However, when I hear friends talking about their shopping bills mine seems pretty low by comparison.

I know I save money.  I buy in bulk, make my own TV dinners.  Utilize the freezer, measure everything and portion out in advance.  I might stop in at Wendys once a month for 5 chicken nuggets (my day to splurge), but even those greasy calories are accounted for.  Since I'm not buying bags of candies, I can afford the bags of fruit!  I clip coupons, cook with powdered milk, watch sales and know that 10 lbs of bananas for 29 cents a pound is no bargain (for me) when 8 lbs of those might go to waste.  I take advantage of my friend, the crock pot.  He's such a good cook!  It's not such a big deal to buy Bob's Red Mill products when you're only using one or two tablespoons at a time.  I also shop at places that sell bulk foods.  I make a larger breakfast for myself when I know I'm going food shopping.  I always have a bag of baby carrots with me as well, and I'm I'm out, I head to the produce aisle and grab some more before I even start to shop.  I am far from knowing it all with shopping or nutritional eating, but I think I've got a pretty good handle on it so far.

It's hard for me to see a difference in my grocery bills - I buy all the good stuff for me and buy bulk frozen chicken breasts and bulk oatmeal - but then I find myself buying lots of good stuff for my husband! I have an issue with going overboard with food - that's how I got to where I am rignt now! I also don't want him to feel like he needs to eat boring, low fat stuff because that is what I am doing now...

However, if I were just buying groceries for myself....the bill would be way down. No more expensive lunches with friends - salad with turkey and fruit for me from now on....No more going out and grabbing a few martini's after work....that save me a lot of $ because I am not wasting the groceries I have at home anymore!

I don't know about groceries, but I read a study that found that willpower in other areas decreases when you diet. So you are more likely to impulse buy--clothes, etc... I think it could just be true! Especially with the mentality of "I want a reward, but I don't want it to be food." And that could certainly add up! Anybody else notice that?

I think my grocery bills are about the same, but the quality of the foods has increased - more fish, less red meat, fewer chips, candies, ice creams, etc... more fruits, veggies, and baking supplies to make my OWN baked goods.  I'm of the mindset now of "If I can make it myself, why would I buy it?".

OH seems to think we spend a lot.  It's just the 2 of us, and he compares us to his friend's family of 4.  What I point out to him is that the food they eat (frozen meals, cookies, chips, canned pasta etc...) is cheaper, but they have little fresh produce or fresh meat in the house, and we're certainly eating healthier and better by comparison.

I estimate that I saved $4,000 in 2008 from dieting alone.  The bulk of the savings comes from not eating out.  As I get closer and closer to my ultimate goal I have found that I have little to no interest in eating out.  I eat mongolian bbq once a month and eat a salad or a sandwich some where once or twice a month.  I used to eat out at least one meal a day and prolly about 12 time per week.  I am also savings tons of money on alcohol consumption.  Happy hour, dinner and drinks after would routinely cost me $150 and that happened prolly 4 times a month.  Now I never do all three at once.  I may hit a happy hour, but I will go home after.  I may have dinner out but i will not drink at dinner.  And I may go out on the town later in the evening but I do not pre-party with drinks at Happy hour and at Dinner.  I use my credit card for everything to get Airline miles and I noticed that my bill every month was at least $400 less than what it was in 2007.  The cost of everything has gone up but I am consuming far less of everything so I am really not feeling the pinch of the recession because of my weight loss goals.

I'm not sure if we're saving or spending more.  We eat out to fast food a lot less which probably saves just a little bit of money but we're spending a lot more for the food we do get.  This is because we're very picky about what to get anymore and can't really shop for sales as much.  We are eating more of what we buy though and so that saves some money.  I also used to get a few free lunches here and there via work that I don't get anymore so there goes that savings.

However, that's just food.  If you throw in the extra money spent on clothes, a treadmill, workout equipment, Wii Fit, etc... losing weight has definitley been accompanied by a lighter wallet.