SW.....Expensive?

[sarahm85]

I've found SW is no more expensive, the key is good planning of food and meals so there's no waste and looking for bargains. There's a local farm near me where I can get cheap fruit and veg, but most supermarkets have those deals on the fruit and veg. I also buy a lot of frozen fruit and veg. Most things I buy are value range for basic staples unless there's a good offer on branded foods and works out cheaper, I can't taste the difference anyway! I have saved loads on not buying jars of sauces like I used to and make them from scratch with passata or tinned tomatoes, tastes better and less syns (often syn free!). Another thing I often when cooking meals is make extra which can be frozen for later or be tomorrow's lunch on placement/at uni - as a student myself I know how expensive and unhealthy uni canteens are. When I'm at uni so have no access to microwave it can be tempting to buy something at the canteen - I take in cold pasta salads which can be done very cheap. I have even took in a mugshot and ask the canteen people for a cup of hot water for it

Branded food like alpen lights and Batchelors pasta n sauce can be pricey in supermarkets even when on offer, but places like Home Bargains can do them very cheap - it's always worth looking in there for food items.

I am also lucky in that I know someone with an allotment who keeps chickens but ends up with more eggs than they can handle, so get my eggs very cheap!

 

[funcurls]

as a student myself I know how expensive and unhealthy uni canteens are.

I work in a hospital Sarah and I refuse to eat in the canteen there- you should see the fat swimming on top of the lasagne and it's overpriced considering the poor quality! A lot of my colleagues go there for 'something and chips' every day! Annoyingly they're often the slim ones, but I take comfort in the fact I'm enjoying healthy, nutritious food I've made at home and saved a lot of money too!X

 

[sarahm85]

A lot of people on my course always eat in the canteen, eating greasy food AND snacking on chocolate and crisps from the vending machine. I too have noticed they're all slim and when they see me bringing in my own food and snacking on fruit and Alpen Lights, they always say something like "Ooh, you always eat healthy things!". Teacher training is pretty stressful and most of my friends have moaned about how much weight they have put on due to stress and comfort eating, so I feel quite smug when I say I've lost just over 2 stone since starting the course!

 

[funcurls]

Hehe I'm a bit the same! Nursing is also stressful and the shift patterns and poorly spaced out/lack of breaks can cause havoc! I too get a bit smug now when people point out how much weight they've gained! Isn't it awful how we get on our high horse a bit when we see other people eating badly!! I find myself thinking "She really shouldn't be eating that" when I see a large person eating a burger walking down the road!! But that's terrible, because who am I to judge?!!! For all I know 'she' could have lost 5 stone and have saved up lots of her syns for that burger!! It actually really upsets me when I decide to spend 2.5 syns on a Quality Street (behind the nurses station in work) and someone makes the comment "should you be eating those"?!! But there I am judging others! I must stop thinking like that!!XXX

 

[lesserme]

s/w have a new book out called feed a family for a fiver.

I didnt buy it because there is only hubby and I here but, my friend says its great.

 

[funcurls]

I've got the book but haven't tried anything from it yet! There's only myself and dh too, but I always cook enough for a family, because it lasts 2 days and I love taking leftovers to work! Sometimes if I've really made too much of something and don't want to be eating it for days, I portion it up and whack it in the freezer for future quick meals!X

 

[abigail09]

I've got the book but haven't tried anything from it yet! There's only myself and dh too, but I always cook enough for a family, because it lasts 2 days and I love taking leftovers to work! Sometimes if I've really made too much of something and don't want to be eating it for days, I portion it up and whack it in the freezer for future quick meals!X

just me and my boyfriend here too, i always cook enough to feed a family but we get hungry later on and just have some more!! hahahaha. no wonder im back to slimming world again!

 

[ilovelife]

I have just ordered feed the family for a fiver, can not wait to try some of the recipes

 

[Roz]

I hate frozen veg except for peas and sweetcorn I always think it tastes soggy.

I find if you steam frozen veggies they don't go soggy x

 

[Roz]

I too work in a hospital, in A&E, and fortunately, we don't get left many tins of chocolates like the wards do... lol.

 

[Mummoth]

I recommend the Feed the Family for a Fiver book. I was really lucky - I won a copy the week before it went on sale, in the 2lb+ weight loss raffle

 

[Purple_Star]

Hi

I was just wondering, do any of you find that buying all the healthy food and special ingredients for SW is rather expensive? Is there a way to do it more cheaply

I really want to start but I have 3 children and a baby on the way and our food bills seem, to be so high already (and will soon be higher as a family of 6), if I start adding in things like Mullers etc it will increase it even more, and I can't really afford to do that!!

I would love to hear some tips on keeping the cost down

Mel x

Personally I spend way more when I do sw, but thats because I end up buying a lot more fruit and yoghurt, eggs etc - but you obviously don't have to buy those things to do sw. I was buying muller yogs which are really expensive, because I didn't know what other yogs were 'free'. When I do ww I can buy any brand of foods cuz its easy to point it. Plus I tend to stick to meat and potato and veg on ww, so don't spend much, but like I say on sw I bought a lot of eggs, yog and fruit - whcih is of course healthy anyway.

 

[evanesco]

Our main meals come in at under £35 for the whole week for a family of four. It's everything else that bumps mine up. Last week £86. And that's without feeding the pooch and the kitteh.

 

[abigail09]

i think its true with anything you can do it the cheap way or the expensive way, you could live on lobster and organic free range chicken etc. and that would eb expensive or you could do a lot of pastas, rice dishes, beans on toast, jacket potatoes and buy a brand lower than what you usually do (if you buy asda's extra special buy asda's own brand, if you buy asda's own buy smart price) things like pasta can be SO cheap if you buy huge bags in bulk. i dont see why people make such a massive deal over mullerlights, theyre ok but if money is tight you can get a big pot of smart price natural yogurt and put sweetener in and although its not fruity its fab over fruit. frozen fruit is super cheap too compared to fresh. i dont think its a case of SW being expensive, its what you choose to cook and where you choose to shop which can be

 

[avisk]

s/w have a new book out called feed a family for a fiver.

I didnt buy it because there is only hubby and I here but, my friend says its great.

I normally just cook for myself, and find that the recipes are easily adaptable.

Tried so far: chicken italiana, meatloaf, chicken soup, and the carbonara.

Meatloaf was disappointing (but other people here have said that they liked it), everything else was delicious!

 

[avisk]

Muller Lights are rather expensive, but they are not compulsory!

In fact, yogurt is not compulsory, although it is very useful.

There is a list of syn-free yogurts in the Syn Value section of this website.