How much do you save on food?

[Mrs.FullerRN 189]

I assume being thin is cheaper than being addicted to food. I've had times I spent my last $40 on a steak dinner at the Japanese hibachi place. I estimate for my family of 5 we spend $100 a week eating out and then about $150 on groceries. How have your costs been reduced since being sleeved?

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Well, depends on how you eat. Yes eating less is cheaper than eating more, but eating healthy is expensive in this world. Organic this, gluten free that and non chemical laden massaged by virgins meat is expensive.

Then there is the small fortune you're going to spend on your new skinny clothes. And God forbid you plunk down, $12000 on plastic surgery like I'm doing.... It goes on and on.

[Jerzygurl 372]

I'm interested in knowing this too. I haven't been sleeved yet, but I know just cutting back in anticipation of my surgery, I've saved quite a bit already. I ate out every single day..for lunch and dinner..breakfast was Dunkin' Donuts coffee (every day)...and in the last 3 weeks, I've been able to save $300 just by cooking dinner at home and taking lunch to work.

I've started a little fund for any cosmetic surgery I might need... after the weight loss.

[Sleeve Siren 307]

"… massaged by virgins meat is expensive" HILARIOUS

[Susie in Lima 320]

My husband and I actually share a meal when we go out now, or I bring the rest home and have it for one or two more meals.

Like Butterthebean said, it is more expensive to eat healthy! Not fair at all. BUT SO WORTH IT!

[marfar7 1,533]

Haven't saved much on groceries yet. I waste alot of food, however. If I just cooked what we needed, we'd probly be rich. Since I eat more high quality stuff now, it all comes out in the wash.

However, I'm definitely a cheap date. Since hubby tends to get stuff I would rather pass on, I order 1 item and take most of it home. If he ate what I liked, I'd just have 4-6 bites of his and call it a day. And the kids menu tends to be grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza and the like. I'd rather order off the regular menu and take home lotso leftovers.

[Nicolanz 1,484]

Groceries have stayed the same. Buying healthy food is not more expensive at my grocery store. But we never go out to eat anymore so we've saved about 300-400 dollars a month!

[JerseyGirl68 1,172]

I agree with what's been said. I don't have kids to cook for so what I save on some things for me, I spend on others. I have started purchasing some items in single serve sizes. For me that just works better, but does cost a little more. On the other hand, I tend to cook on the weekends for the week and portion my meals into 1/2 cup containers. I don't waste, and can freeze some for later use and use some for the week. Meals out are a little less expensive, I'll either order off the appetizer menu or just take most of my dinner home and have it at another meal. Thankfully, I don't mind leftovers!

The clothing on the other hand has cost. I started buying "in between clothing" on ebay, new but much less expensive than at the stores. Also I scoured the "clearance" sales to stock up on undergarments that I knew would need replacing (4 times so far) I didnt' much care what god awful patterns I purchased for the few weeks I would use any one size. There is a clothing exchange forum on this site and if you want to, you can also sell used clothing on ebay and recoup some of your spendings.

[ashelaine 383]

We have a family of 5- plus my dad and little brother are with me for the next month (god help me!). Our grocery budget is $500/ month with all 7 of us.

[JessicaAnn 564]

Well' date=' depends on how you eat. Yes eating less is cheaper than eating more, but eating healthy is expensive in this world. Organic this, gluten free that and non chemical laden massaged by virgins meat is expensive.

Then there is the small fortune you're going to spend on your new skinny clothes. And God forbid you plunk down, 12000 on plastic surgery like I'm doing.... It goes on and on.[/quote']

I agree with this 100%! I'm eating a ton less, but a lot healthier which is more expensive. I'm also making my husband "convert" to healthier foods. But we do save a ton in going out to eat! My meals usually come to less then $10!

[gamergirl 4,610]

I agree with butter. The Protein shakes, Vitamins, etc all add up. I think you'll spend less on eating out but it will be made up in special things like I mentioned. Plus your kids may not eat what you're eating. Say you make fish because it doesn't bother your sleeve and your kids don't like fish...our youngest decided to become vegetarian just as we started eating meat. Of course when we were vegetarians he wanted meat daily...can you tell he's a teenager?

Sent from my iPhone using VST

[dgoerlitz 96]

OMG...we hardly ever grocery shop anymore! This is a good thing...until I realize that I need something and we don't have it on hand. I actually like this a lot better though because I no longer grocery shop at Walmart or the local grocery chain. Instead I go to a couple of specialty grocery stores (more along the lines of Whole Foods) and buy better quality produce, meat, and seafood. I never buy bread anymore, and only occasionally buy some English muffins. I have dumped more half a gallons of milk down the drain over the past nine months than I care to admit. I will also, sadly, miss the farmer's markets once the weather takes a nose dive for the winter, but even there, I hardly buy anything because we simply can't eat it quickly enough.

We do share sometimes when we go out to eat, or I take the leftovers for lunch for a day or two - just ate the last of some shrimp quesadillas for lunch today from a Sunday motorcycle ride. We are definitely "cheap dates" now as far as going out to eat.

(a little background...my hubs had the bypass two months before I got my sleeve, so we're in this together)

[Macy6 356]

I was just released to mush/fork soft foods yesterday. It has been a change getting used to the portion sizes. 1/4C is so tiny. My brain wants to load the plate... I made pasta-less manicotti last night. It was delicious and hit the spot, when I put it on my plate it was so tiny. I looked over at my dads plate and he had his normal portion, which would have been my portion just a few weeks ago, it was so strange.

[marfar7 1,533]

I was just released to mush/fork soft foods yesterday. It has been a change getting used to the portion sizes. 1/4C is so tiny. My brain wants to load the plate... I made pasta-less manicotti last night. It was delicious and hit the spot, when I put it on my plate it was so tiny. I looked over at my dads plate and he had his normal portion, which would have been my portion just a few weeks ago, it was so strange.

Isn't it amazing on how we can actually LIVE on so little food? Following my lapband almost 4 yrs ago, my portions got so tiny people were amazed I could actually survive on so little. Now I look at others portions and am amazed on how much they can eat.

I can however eat more frequently nowadays!

[notmeanymore 629]

Our grocery bill is half of what it used to be. We could easily spend $200 every 2 weeks and now we dont ever need to 'stock up', we just buy things here and there. Eating out is wayyyy cheaper too. Ill have a couple bites of the hubbys food and a cup of Soup or something like that. But I do spend that money on lots of cute skinny clothes now