How did your grocery bill change post-surgery? Did you find you were spending a lot less on food than you did pre-surgery or was it about the same because you bought more expensive products? I ask the live alones because you only shop for you and maybe the cat, unlike the family bandsters who shop for a whole lot of mouths.

I don't have a large income and I'm a self pay so I'm hoping that a good chunk of the money that formerly went to groceries can now be diverted into paying the bank back for the surgery. If that plan isn't going to work then I may have a potential problem :thumbup:.

I have found that I save a lot of money on food - for one thing I am not eating out and paying for anyone else - I have about $400 a month more -- my children are out of the house and it is my husband and me and 3 pets -

I am writing this because you will save money on food especially is you eat out

I am sure if I did the math -my food bill dropped. I was a huge fast food, sandwich, deli, and pizza shop guy pre-band.

Once I moved over to regular food post band my actual grocery store bill went up but my total food bill dropped. You will be shocked at how many meals one package of ground beef becomes.

However, I did spend more money on "better" things within the store also. Meaning the can keep the 3 for a $1 dollar nasty yogurt give me the $2.00 per yogurt good stuff.

At the end of the day what you might end up in saving in total food is going to have to go towards the purchase of new pants. So don't plan for any savings!!!

I live by myself and just this 1st week post op of liquid hell I am obviously not eating out at all so I've saved atleast $50. I am also hoping to save money since I'm a self pay.

At the end of the day what you might end up in saving in total food is going to have to go towards the purchase of new pants. So don't plan for any savings!!!

I go through a lot of pants anyway as I tend to lose them to barbed wire at work. I already have a budget set to pants so there will be no big change there. By the time they get too big to look decent even with a belt I'll probably have ripped the ass out of them.

I just went grocery shopping today and realized not only am I saving money, but I'm buying more quality products. I'm buying more expensive stuff, but I'm buying it in such small portions that I end up saving money. Pretty cool

I am saving money because I am cooking now where I used to live on takeout.

Like the others mentioned, I buy better quality (organic, free-range, gluten-free), so items cost more but because you're eating so much less, you still come out with savings.

A hard adjustment I wasn't expecting was having to relearn how to shop. I get many more meals out of items than I did before. For instance, a can of Soup is no longer one meal, but three. Overbuying is something I am learning not to do.

I also find planning my meals for the week helps in terms of saving money (I love coupons and shopping sales) and keeps me from buying more food that I really need.

I agree with bookwormswot...there is definitely a learning curve and I'm teaching myself how to shop again. Especially when it comes to fresh produce - at first after surgery I would buy the normal amount of fresh veggies or fruits and I wasted so much of it because I couldn't eat it all before it went bad. I'm definitely still learning how much I'll use and will I use the food before they aren't fresh anymore.

My main shopping expense now is pet food. My food bill has gone way down. As others have said, since eating less, everything goes a lot further. I also find I am buying better quality items and more organic items.

While my food bill itself has improved, my eating out bill has all but ended, I am now spending that money on protein and vitamins and the supplements to make the protein more tolerable.

I am of course finding that food that would normally be 1 or 2 meals are now enough for 4 or 5 meals, which is great.

I made chili over the weekend, I made the same as I would normally make, which would be for 4 persons 1 meal, well it turned into one meal for my boyfriend and 6 meals for me, as I have started packing things like that in 1 cup freezer containers, so I can freeze them and take out later and just stick in the microwave to reheat. Same with spag sauce, Gotta love my freezer containers.