Once having surgery has anyone seen a significant reduction in their grocery bill?

If so, how much do you estimate the reduction?

I know we have to eat healthier which usually cost more, but our stomachs are supposed to be smaller and fill up faster. I'm trying to find extra money in the budget to finance surgery and I thought less food means a smaller grocery bill every week. It's probably wishful thinking on my part.

I still buy for a hubby and kids and now am buying more Proteins and no carbs at all. So I guess the bill went down on carbs but up on Protein and still have 3 other people eating.

So in short who the heck knows

My single friends grocery went down considerably...no more spending $30 a day on fast food plus whatever he bought for his house...I know my bill will go down, there is no way I will be able to consume what I do now after surgery

I know my grocery + eating out bill is MUCH lower. My clothing bill on the other hand...

I am still pre op. too. in fact, I start my 3 month medical weight management on Tues. I began on my own though this past week. I am currently taking daily steroids for autoimmune disease and I am starving from sun up to sun down. Here's my thoughts on my last big grocery shopping last week. When shopping healthy, you pay more for convenience. Meaning the less you have to do when you get the food home to consume it. I still had to get the little things for my Autistic texture sensitive 9 yr old that I don't eat or drink. But, I bought the bulk boneless skinless fresh chicken breast package ( i get 8 big chicken breasts in it) and a ton of veggies and some fruits. When I got it home, I put each chicken breast into a freezer bag and put them into the freezer. Now, We generally eat more than a chicken breast between the three of us, but I've found that by freezing them individually, they thaw quicker. Which in my house can be interpretted as one less excuse to just get fast food. They are thawed in time to make for dinner. The veggies and fruits, I immediatly started washing, chopping (or tearing for the greens) and putting in variety of sized baggies, For example, a head of lettuce cost me under $1. By washing and tearing it up myself, I had a very stuffed gallon sized baggie full of lettuce ready to go. I tuck a paper towel in with it to keep it fresh longer. But, Our fave bagged salad is $3.88 per bag and you get half the amt. I got a bunch of celery. I washed it, and tore off all of the leaves and put them in a baggie in the fridge. The stalks, I made nice thin match sticks out of. Those I put into snack sized baggies. I probably made 12-16 snack size baggies of celery sticks. Same with the seedless grapes. I washed, plucked and scooped half cup size portions into snack baggies. I washed and chopped up two heads of cauliflower. I LOVE roasted cauliflower. I just toss a bunch of popcorn sized florets onto a cookie sheet. spray them lightly with some cooking spray and sprinkle them with dried italian seasoning. I bake until they brown just a bit. Anyways, same with the cucumbers, berries, zucchini, broccoli, and squash, etc. I spent less and did more prep at home, but as my Granny often says " I've got more time than money". LOL. It stretched my same grocery bill with same spending into what is now grab and go healthy food. We typically eat fast food or the likes of fast food 3x per week. Between my health issues and my special needs child's issues and therapy schedules, it's just become a way of life. We haven't eaten out since last Sunday. And we haven't gone without either. You'll have to factor in Protein shakes for your future. My husband is a work out nut. Seriously goes to the gym 7 days a week, plus runs. He goes thru a lot of Protein Shakes. But, I'd guess he spends about $40-$50 a month on the big things of Protein powder. I plan on saving that money for myself every week just by skipping the fast foods and the cokes or dr peppers here and there. I hope this helps a little.

Edited July 13, 201412 yr by rossigrl84

I'm eating way healthier and even with the Protein powders, etc. my food expenses are WAY down..... This includes grocery bill, alcohol, and restaurant tabs. When I used to get something from the deli I would sometimes get 2 medium containers of whatever and eat it all in one day. Now a small container of whatever lasts me 2-3 meals. At restaurants I either order an appetizer and still have leftovers or an entree and have 2-3 meals worth of leftovers. Preop I would order an appetizer, entree and a drink or two....with no leftovers.

My clothes bill, on the other hand......

As already mentioned, food bill way down but clothing bill way up. I like having this issue!

Oh man, I'm saving soon much money! I always cooked healthy at home and that hasn't changed but preop I would make a totally loaded salad with all fresh organic ingredients which could serve maybe eight people, and it would last two meals (for around 30 Euro). Now I'll make something similar, halve the recipe, and it'll last me nearly a week, with a cost of maybe 15 Euro. I almost never eat out and I pack my own lunches. The only problem I have is buying too much and seeing it expire before I have the chance to eat it. I would estimate that between the smaller meals and the not eating out I'm saving between 150-200 Euro a month.

Our grocery bill is actually about HALF of what it was! i'm embarrassed to write that!

i ate out fast food or some sort of take away food EVERY day for lunch plus we ate out at least 4 nights a week for dinner. i also stopped for a belly buster pop every day and often got some sort of hot dog, egg roll, etc with that too.

in addition, sadly, i could eat as much as my 6'2" hubs and sometimes MORE than him (nachos, hamburger helper, etc). Now 3 wks post op, I can make egg salad out of 4 hard boiled eggs and it lasts 3 days for me, or like last night i made some meatballs and had one for dinner, hubs had 3 plus some Pasta. Our kids are both incredibly selective eaters, one due to a medication side effect the other due to being very young, so I always keep their food stocked in the house but it is a very tiny portion of our grocery bill.

i know in time my eating will become a bit more normal and include more than just one ingredient, but i anticipate that in the long term our grocery bill will remain fairly low until my kids get a little older!

I know my grocery + eating out bill is MUCH lower. My clothing bill on the other hand...

Clothing bill....watch out, but it's ok to have a little fun. I look forward to doing some of that.

My name is Val. I just had my workshop to hear the options. I'm going to do the Sleeve. I have my appointment with my surgeon. I'm real psyched to have the surgery. It could be as early as the end of August or September. I'll know soon.

It costs about $80 a week for me to eat, that includes vitimins. I am sure I could cut that figure down it I wanted to down grade what I ate.

Clothing bill....watch out, but it's ok to have a little fun. I look forward to doing some of that. My name is Val. I just had my workshop to hear the options. I'm going to do the Sleeve. I have my appointment with my surgeon. I'm real psyched to have the surgery. It could be as early as the end of August or September. I'll know soon.

Of course, I spent a lot on clothes for a while just because The ones I bought two weeks ago no longer fit. Now that I'm past 6 mos. and losing slower, it is a little different. The hard part about shopping for clothing is that, before surgery, I was used to buying anything that actually fit and didn't look too bad. Now I go in the store and I can always find several outfits that fit and look great - it is hard to pick and choose!