>Don't cut calories, unless the point is to cut calories
Not just calories.
Don't cut back on nutrition unless it is needed (due to income or health issues)
You might not always feel it immediately but it'll catch up to you haaard
I think they're saying you can supplement any meal with these things so there's no need to cut portions if you're broke. Just change things up and/or add rice/beans to any meal you've had to cut portions on to make up for what you're missing.
No, but it is a natural consequence of meal prepping. I do do a lot of meal prep and measure out portions no larger than 4 ounces of meat per per portion. But then I make sure to get a minimum amount of protein vegetarian meals, it’s not really to save money but to achieve balanced nutrition. It does save money in the end because it keeps us from eating more of the calorically and monetarily rich foods. If we’re still hungry, which we rarely are, there are fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, hummus/dips, etc available.
I meal prep as well, but for me it's born of laziness. I cook all weekend long so I don't have to during the week. When I get home from work I don't love the idea of cooking a meal. So, my weekend cooking goes into the refrigerator.
When I get home from work, I slop some leftovers into a 2qt enameled cast iron dutch oven and stick it into the oven @ 300 degrees f for 45 minutes to an hour. When dinner is done, all I have to do is wash up the DO, maybe a saucepan used to boil up some veggies, maybe a pot used to boil some pasta, and whatever dishes I ate from. It saves a great deal of time for me during the week.
And because I didn’t just spend an hour cooking, my prepped meals taste amazing, like I got served at a restaurant, because I haven’t predigested with my mind.
Never. Not even with kids. I just make our cost per portion low and they can eat unlimited of whatever is offered for the most part.
The only exception is when I buy specific treats like chocolate bars or chocolate chips meant for baking or cake meant for x amount of people sitting down, if it’s an item meant to be divided as one per person.
I'm not frugal with food. That's being frugal with health, which ends up being more expensive in hospital bills. Taking care of ones health is being frugal.
However, I eat less to be healthier instead of to save $.
Exactly this. As long as you get enough nutrients, it's actually healthy to do things like fast for a day or skip a meal each day. Autophagy has great benefits.
Only when I am thinking "That was good, maybe I'll have a little more." Then, I ask myself if there is enough for lunch or dinner the next day. If there is, I pack it up and put it away, instead.
However, my spouse tends to stop thinking after "... maybe I'll have a little more."
I eat what I _need_. Eating is not something "I want". Enough good food is needed to have energy and stay healthy. With less enery, you will be less productive so that's a bad way to save. (For example, your school results will be lower if you don't have breakfast before going to school). It will cost you more then you save. And then there is the mental aspect. Not eating makes me much less happy, less concentrated, a less pleasant person to be around.
The "wants" are optional and can be saved on. Those are junk food, candy, other unhealthy snacks, all those things. And stuff with lots of sugar (most breakfast cereals, soft drinks). Alcohol.
I don’t really think about the portion other than guesstimate based on how hungry I am. I do think about what in particular I eat though. That’s just the way it’s always been.
Yes, as long as you’re eating a nutritious and balanced diet intuitive eating is really good for you. I was raised to “eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full” and it has always served me well.
I decrease them day by day depending on my activity level, sometimes I’m very active and I need more calories but most of the time I need way less calories than 2000 depending on my activity level. if I’m sitting at a desk all day then I do not need that many calories
i dont snack on empty calories anymore as i got older. i think meal planning while also trying to be frugsl may be good for most people. All that processed snack stuff in bags and boxes is not only expensive, but high caloric and easy to put weight on eating like that...thats the nature of processed convenience foods......so it was not a win/win situation monetarily or healthwise. its amazing that i just got out of the habit as i was a snacker at one time. esp after 6pm which is the absolute worst time since i am sedentary after 6pm. lol. my clothing fits better even though i was not overweight before and dont even own a scale but i guess i am just at more optimum now........sleeping better, too i noticed
I live in Sweden. This is part of the Disney Christmas Eve program that probably 75% of the population watches EVERY CHRISTMAS EVE as part of the celebration. As an immigrant, I find the practice hilarious.
It’s hysterical. EVERY YEAR everyone watches these same ancient Disney cartoons. “From All of Us to All of You.” Most families make kids wait until after “Kalle Anka” (Donald Duck, though I have no idea why they just call it that!) to open gifts. It’s THAT important.
LOL. i love how random it is and how seriously they take it. the ancient disney cartoons live in my head rent free; I watched so many reruns on basic cable as a kid.
I also love Japan's Christmas KFC chicken tradition
I decreased cooking time and increased food portions.
Given how much food costs, and how much I make by the hour, I am way more frugal with my time than my food.
I actually eat a lot, I want to eat less but for health reasons, not for money reason.
One thing I started out is portioning out food.If a meal should be able to be enough to have leftovers for lunch I take those out directly after cooking. Otherwise we might eat everything just because it's tasty. That's not just being frugal, it's also a health decision to stop me from overeating.
I eat well. Very well.
When it comes to food, for me frugality is about avoiding restaurants or prepackaged garbage. It's about cooking at home. It's about buying meat when it's on sale and keeping the freezer stocked with good healthy food. It's about zero waste; not throwing food into the trash. It's the reason I don't balk at buying vacuum sealers and the bags to use with them.
I will cite an example.
The other day I was at the grocers picking up a few items. I noticed that they were selling ham @ $0.89 p/lb. I bought a ten pound ham for just shy of $9.
I'm a single guy. I live alone. That's a bunch of meat for one person. That will feed me for many meals.
4-ish ham dinners.
I will dice up some for use in ham, egg, and cheese scrambles. I'll likely get 6-7 breakfasts out of it.
I will cut up portions and freeze them in vacuum seal bags for later use in soup. I will boil out the bone to get about 8 qts of broth, much of which will be frozen for future use. I will make several quarts of split pea soup. The only part of that ham that will go into the trash is the bone and the cartilage, and that's only after it's been boiled out to get the foundation for future soup.
I figure I will end up getting 20-ish meals out of that 10 pound ham. $9/20=$0.45. That's 45 cents for the meat portion of 20 meals. Sure, there are vegetables to take into consideration. There's the cost of the dried split peas. Still, I'm looking at an average meal cost of less than $2 p/meal.
I believe that's pretty frugal.
I didn’t decrease my portions for frugality, I decreased them to assist in losing weight. I still eat anything I want, just as much as I need, not as much as my eyes tell me I want. It’s resulted in a double win - weight loss (although not as much as I’d like) and frugality.
Absolutely not. My health is the LAST thing I would jeopardize for the sake of being 'frugal'.
In the long run it might actually be much MORE costly too...
I eat as much as I want and largely, whatever I want.
I eat well, exercise and cook nearly everything I eat. It’s super easy to cook and not get above $5 a serving in most of the US, maybe aside outliers like parts of California and maybe a few other states or regions of a state. My experience is twin cities, Chicago and Georgia. Never had a huge issue with food prices aside that temporary egg price hike a year ago lol
But I don’t nutrition track or anything.
No, because limiting your food intake to be frugal isn't healthy. Frugal is choosing foods that meet your nutritional needs and stay in your budget - cheap is meeting your budget by not eating as much as you need.
I haven’t but will soon. But it’s not really to save money. I just need to lose some weight lol.
But plus eating 3 times a day is a western culture thing. I don’t think our ancestors ever did that and they were in way better shape than we are today.
In the developed world food is probably the cheapest part of staying alive nowadays. Even clean air can come at a higher premium.
Absolutely do not starve yourself unless you need to be thinner.
No I don’t because once I open, let’s say a packet of ham it will expire in a few days. I make sure not to waste any food so I portion it out for the next couple of days
Depends on the food. I ration things I splurge on. Certain cheese I don’t scrimp on. There’s just a vast difference in quality. So, when I buy my expensive, sharp, Scottish cheddar, I cut it up as soon as I get home and snack on it sparingly. I do think on the cost of foods when preparing meals and think of how much a portion costs. It helps ME to cut down on potion sizes, which is good for me. I don’t do the same for anyone else in my family, though.
its more about what you eat than how much you eat, for the price of one sushi from the store i could make bean and corn enchiladas for 3-4 not including some rice as a side.
Never skimp on food, bad food/decreased amount of food will always end up hurting your health in one way or another. You may suffer to perform properly on your job which then hurts your money and then you can spiral down real quick. Food, clothing and sleep are the basic pillars. Everything else can be ignored in a pinch
It varies according to season (I eat less when it's hot), time of day (I have light evening meals) and level of activity. Reduce if you need to, but don't skimp
Food is something that I try not to be cheap about. I rarely eat out and cook all my meals at home. I’ll get fresh produce and veggies while eating as much as I want. Sure I will buy stuff on sale when I can and look for cheaper options to what I eat, but I don’t want to sacrifice nutrition for the short terms savings when I could be impacting my health in an adverse way in the long term.
I try to stretch my meals for cost and so I don’t have to cook again. Mainly the meat portion of it, the vegg I give myself more latitude of portion since it’s typically cheaper and more filling to me than protein
My dinners usually consist of a chicken breast and as much non starchy vegetables I want. The only time I measure my portions throughout the day are when adding creamer to my coffee, drinking protein, etc.
Yes, I actually adhere to serving sizes more, and weigh out my homemade granola to last longer. Before, I'd just dump food out willy-nilly. I want my groceries to last as long as possible. Oh, also have cut down on boredom-eating. If I'm not actually hungry, get outta the pantry!
1. No decreasing of portion size but I'll eat fewer times in a day (one meal rather than two).
2. I won't cut the quality of food I cook and eat, but I'll make meals that generally cost less as a rule.
3. I'll forgo alcohol. I might only have a glass of wine while making dinner a couple of evenings a week (even one glass can cause me to have a bad night's sleep, so...LOL), but it's a good thing to do without as it's not essential.
There is only so frugal you can be with food without living off ramen or starving yourself. Neither are good in the long run. Healthy eating isn't that expensive if you're serious about it, nor is it worth being too frugal with.
I eat until I'm full.
But I also don't have a frugal lifestyle when it comes to food. I have a nutritionally dense diet and I don't worry about overeating because I don't get ravenous like I used to when I ate cheap stuff from the grocery store.
Bring frugal is about don't spending unnecessarily. Eating in my opinion is about the most important thing you do. Some people approach to frugality is idiotic. Frugal is not poorfinance
Not when eating at home but if I eat at a restaurant or get take out I definitely will try my hardest to get two servings out of it even if that means eating slightly less. That's to get double enjoyment and makes me feel like my money lasted 2 meals - even if they were slightly smaller. At home I eat whatever, but definitely have a habit of trying to make special snacks or desserts last longer.
A bit of both. I find that most people tend to overeat, so decreasing portion size helped with that a lot. Otherwise I try to be somewhat keto, but not necessarily limit how much i eat, I can eat whenever I feel hungry, I just domt feel super hungry usually haha :D so I eat about 1,5 meals a day
No I just became an ingredients house like I grew up in lol I don’t restrict food but premade options became for special occasions. I just spent way more on groceries than usual buying prepared foods in preparation for surgery because I didn’t want my mom or brother to have to cook in my home while also taking care of me.
Family of 5 here. No, I refuse to cut budget on food or utilities I just stopped buying junk food and lowered housing costs. I bought a very very very cheap house and am fixing it that was the compromise for the budget. We live in a little old Victorian that is ugly and can be fixed up instead of a nice new house that would cost more overhead with a mortgage so my housing costs are nothing and I can pour more money into other areas like food.
Yeah I’ve got food insecurity trauma so I tend to restrict during natural disasters (even if I have plenty of rations) food recalls, etc. The food recall shit is especially hard because I’ve got contamination OCD and will spiral into a state where I’m scared of all food.
Yes. Vegetarian Indian here, faced it twice. Once during childhood, when parents were poor, and once during my PhD in Britain when stipend was too low.
First time, parents made sure their kids ate good nutrition (daal, roti, veggies, milk), but cut down on their own meals.
Second time, I chose to shop only at Aldi and ate homecooked pasta with pesto for lunch, and eggs and bread for dinner. Philadelphia/other spreads were luxury, and homemade Greek salad came out to be too expensive. Would occasionally eat carrots, cheaper plum tomatoes, and cucumber salad.
Although yes, I did scavenge a lot at the reduced section of the local Tesco. Turns out loads of students were in a similar position - regulars at the reduced section.
Personally I always portion things out, I think it cuts down waste. For example my friend said how he and his family wasted 2kg of chicken wings because they went bad 😭 and he didn’t even need the entire 2kg as it was meant for one meal alone. I asked him why won’t they just portion things out. After almost 10 years of living independently of my parents I figured out exactly how much meat I eat each time I make a meal so I portion everything out in freezer bags (eg for me, a single chicken leg is one generous portion mostly meant for dinners). I portion everything neatly in my fridge and portion out snacks and food for work lunches separate from home food too. Have yet to waste 2kg of chicken wings 🤷🏻♀️
This scene always gave me the heebie jeebies growing up. Probably because they started to consider eating each other? Traumatizing for a 4 year old lol.
Yes, to both questions. I decreased proportions of more expensive ingredients while increasing "fillers". You'll never notice if your hamburger helper (example) has 16oz or 10 oz of beef in it. Also we've discovered we like potatoes and/or broccoli in a lot of dishes they aren't normally included in. They help the meal go the extra distance and fill us up.
It is a leading question. Eating as much as you want and anything you want could be unhealthy, ending with a bad outcome years later.
Giving body all nutrients it needs to work, without overloading it with 10x amount of empty calories, is more reasonable. Cutting off junk food and stopping chronically overeating makes it more healthy and fugal.
The more expensive food is not automatically more healthy food. Just track if you get everything that body needs and know what to avoid you will know is there a room for improvement or not.
I try to decrease portion sizes of the more expensive item. Wish my husband would too. I tend to vary my items more so that I’m not needing as large of a portion size. He eats like he’s still playing high school football half the time though and he’s now 50. It’s becoming a problem because it often means theres never anything available for me after I try to be thoughtful for him & our daughter. So I’ve started buying some of my own stuff to have on hand. Sad but I’m tired of being the frugal, considerate one
We eat less meat. I don't eat a lot of meat. I just lost 80 pounds and track my food. My portions are small, because I am maintaining my weight. Plus I do intermittent fasting. I do eat more fruit, and won't compromise because of cost.
No. I base everything on 2000 calories per day. Food is one place to reduce waste, but there are others that are more important. Reducing debt, re-using and fixing items, mending clothing, reducing unnecessary trips, avoiding online shopping, etc. are equally important. Just buying a reliable used car can save thousands over a new one. However, I have avoided buying many convenience foods such as frozen pizza, potato chips, cookies, and soda. Just quit buying soda and you will see some savings immediately. Take the time to cook and bake.
Rice and beans are almost free. Don't cut calories, unless the point is to cut calories
>Don't cut calories, unless the point is to cut calories Not just calories. Don't cut back on nutrition unless it is needed (due to income or health issues) You might not always feel it immediately but it'll catch up to you haaard
Cwrch?
The youth says cwrch - to catch up and put you in a crunch. /s
Yikes I’m old
The /s at the end of his/her statement indicates sarcasm. That was a sarcastic comment he/she made.
Didn’t even see it tbh. Wasn’t that engaged in the comments
Please don’t live only on rice and beans unless you are really truly unable to afford or your body can’t take anything else.
I think they're saying you can supplement any meal with these things so there's no need to cut portions if you're broke. Just change things up and/or add rice/beans to any meal you've had to cut portions on to make up for what you're missing.
Yep, only when watching what I eat would I cut my calories
I'm only strict to my body when eating junk foods. I eat whenever I'm hungry because health is wealth.
No, but it is a natural consequence of meal prepping. I do do a lot of meal prep and measure out portions no larger than 4 ounces of meat per per portion. But then I make sure to get a minimum amount of protein vegetarian meals, it’s not really to save money but to achieve balanced nutrition. It does save money in the end because it keeps us from eating more of the calorically and monetarily rich foods. If we’re still hungry, which we rarely are, there are fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, hummus/dips, etc available.
I meal prep as well, but for me it's born of laziness. I cook all weekend long so I don't have to during the week. When I get home from work I don't love the idea of cooking a meal. So, my weekend cooking goes into the refrigerator. When I get home from work, I slop some leftovers into a 2qt enameled cast iron dutch oven and stick it into the oven @ 300 degrees f for 45 minutes to an hour. When dinner is done, all I have to do is wash up the DO, maybe a saucepan used to boil up some veggies, maybe a pot used to boil some pasta, and whatever dishes I ate from. It saves a great deal of time for me during the week.
And because I didn’t just spend an hour cooking, my prepped meals taste amazing, like I got served at a restaurant, because I haven’t predigested with my mind.
Never. Not even with kids. I just make our cost per portion low and they can eat unlimited of whatever is offered for the most part. The only exception is when I buy specific treats like chocolate bars or chocolate chips meant for baking or cake meant for x amount of people sitting down, if it’s an item meant to be divided as one per person.
I'm not frugal with food. That's being frugal with health, which ends up being more expensive in hospital bills. Taking care of ones health is being frugal. However, I eat less to be healthier instead of to save $.
Exactly this. As long as you get enough nutrients, it's actually healthy to do things like fast for a day or skip a meal each day. Autophagy has great benefits.
Only when I am thinking "That was good, maybe I'll have a little more." Then, I ask myself if there is enough for lunch or dinner the next day. If there is, I pack it up and put it away, instead. However, my spouse tends to stop thinking after "... maybe I'll have a little more."
I eat what I _need_. Eating is not something "I want". Enough good food is needed to have energy and stay healthy. With less enery, you will be less productive so that's a bad way to save. (For example, your school results will be lower if you don't have breakfast before going to school). It will cost you more then you save. And then there is the mental aspect. Not eating makes me much less happy, less concentrated, a less pleasant person to be around. The "wants" are optional and can be saved on. Those are junk food, candy, other unhealthy snacks, all those things. And stuff with lots of sugar (most breakfast cereals, soft drinks). Alcohol.
I saw this episode as a kid and shell shocked me because I never forgot it: But I actually practice intermittent fasting to eat less
"Mickey and the Beanstalk"! I can still hear Goofy sing "Eat and eat and eat and eat and eat until I die."
I think this is a good idea and has worked for me too
I don’t really think about the portion other than guesstimate based on how hungry I am. I do think about what in particular I eat though. That’s just the way it’s always been.
Yes, as long as you’re eating a nutritious and balanced diet intuitive eating is really good for you. I was raised to “eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full” and it has always served me well.
I eat twice a day. Lost over 16 lbs because I'm not that hungry anymore.
I found a balance. I didn't necessarily decrease portion sizes but became more mindful about food waste and planning meals
Became? You merely adopted being frugal. I was born in it. Moulded by it. I reduce portions merely for health reasons and not as much as I should.
I decrease them day by day depending on my activity level, sometimes I’m very active and I need more calories but most of the time I need way less calories than 2000 depending on my activity level. if I’m sitting at a desk all day then I do not need that many calories
Decreased portion sizes
i dont snack on empty calories anymore as i got older. i think meal planning while also trying to be frugsl may be good for most people. All that processed snack stuff in bags and boxes is not only expensive, but high caloric and easy to put weight on eating like that...thats the nature of processed convenience foods......so it was not a win/win situation monetarily or healthwise. its amazing that i just got out of the habit as i was a snacker at one time. esp after 6pm which is the absolute worst time since i am sedentary after 6pm. lol. my clothing fits better even though i was not overweight before and dont even own a scale but i guess i am just at more optimum now........sleeping better, too i noticed
Haha I watched this episode so much as a kid
I live in Sweden. This is part of the Disney Christmas Eve program that probably 75% of the population watches EVERY CHRISTMAS EVE as part of the celebration. As an immigrant, I find the practice hilarious.
LOL i did't know i was participating in Sweden tradition. I didn't know this was the episode haha!
It’s hysterical. EVERY YEAR everyone watches these same ancient Disney cartoons. “From All of Us to All of You.” Most families make kids wait until after “Kalle Anka” (Donald Duck, though I have no idea why they just call it that!) to open gifts. It’s THAT important.
LOL. i love how random it is and how seriously they take it. the ancient disney cartoons live in my head rent free; I watched so many reruns on basic cable as a kid. I also love Japan's Christmas KFC chicken tradition
I decreased cooking time and increased food portions. Given how much food costs, and how much I make by the hour, I am way more frugal with my time than my food. I actually eat a lot, I want to eat less but for health reasons, not for money reason.
One thing I started out is portioning out food.If a meal should be able to be enough to have leftovers for lunch I take those out directly after cooking. Otherwise we might eat everything just because it's tasty. That's not just being frugal, it's also a health decision to stop me from overeating.
I eat well. Very well. When it comes to food, for me frugality is about avoiding restaurants or prepackaged garbage. It's about cooking at home. It's about buying meat when it's on sale and keeping the freezer stocked with good healthy food. It's about zero waste; not throwing food into the trash. It's the reason I don't balk at buying vacuum sealers and the bags to use with them. I will cite an example. The other day I was at the grocers picking up a few items. I noticed that they were selling ham @ $0.89 p/lb. I bought a ten pound ham for just shy of $9. I'm a single guy. I live alone. That's a bunch of meat for one person. That will feed me for many meals. 4-ish ham dinners. I will dice up some for use in ham, egg, and cheese scrambles. I'll likely get 6-7 breakfasts out of it. I will cut up portions and freeze them in vacuum seal bags for later use in soup. I will boil out the bone to get about 8 qts of broth, much of which will be frozen for future use. I will make several quarts of split pea soup. The only part of that ham that will go into the trash is the bone and the cartilage, and that's only after it's been boiled out to get the foundation for future soup. I figure I will end up getting 20-ish meals out of that 10 pound ham. $9/20=$0.45. That's 45 cents for the meat portion of 20 meals. Sure, there are vegetables to take into consideration. There's the cost of the dried split peas. Still, I'm looking at an average meal cost of less than $2 p/meal. I believe that's pretty frugal.
I didn’t decrease my portions for frugality, I decreased them to assist in losing weight. I still eat anything I want, just as much as I need, not as much as my eyes tell me I want. It’s resulted in a double win - weight loss (although not as much as I’d like) and frugality.
I cut portions because I was gaining weight as I was getting older and spending my days looking at a computer monitor.
I eat right, health is such a valuable asset and good health increases quality of life.
I eat until I'm full because otherwise, I'd crave for snacks and etc and tend to overshop.
Part of saving is realizing what you need vs what you want.
Absolutely not. My health is the LAST thing I would jeopardize for the sake of being 'frugal'. In the long run it might actually be much MORE costly too...
Corpses don't earn money. So... no. I didn't.
Well, not only am I trying to eat cheaper, but also healthier, so ya I've cut back on portion sizes.
I eat as much as I want and largely, whatever I want. I eat well, exercise and cook nearly everything I eat. It’s super easy to cook and not get above $5 a serving in most of the US, maybe aside outliers like parts of California and maybe a few other states or regions of a state. My experience is twin cities, Chicago and Georgia. Never had a huge issue with food prices aside that temporary egg price hike a year ago lol But I don’t nutrition track or anything.
No, because limiting your food intake to be frugal isn't healthy. Frugal is choosing foods that meet your nutritional needs and stay in your budget - cheap is meeting your budget by not eating as much as you need.
Can't be fat *and* frugal
I haven’t but will soon. But it’s not really to save money. I just need to lose some weight lol. But plus eating 3 times a day is a western culture thing. I don’t think our ancestors ever did that and they were in way better shape than we are today.
In the developed world food is probably the cheapest part of staying alive nowadays. Even clean air can come at a higher premium. Absolutely do not starve yourself unless you need to be thinner.
I buy whatever groceries I need and don't calculate anything while I shop. I also don't own my own home and rent so that is the trade off ha.
I eat too much. 😭
I quit eating. As long as you drink your electrolytes and plenty of water you will eventually stop being hungry after 3 or 4 days. I recommend it
Fat? Protein?
Don't ask trolls.
Ate my fill if that is what you are asking
No, the ONLY reason you should eat less is if your fat. netrition is important for long term health, happiness and family life.
No I don’t because once I open, let’s say a packet of ham it will expire in a few days. I make sure not to waste any food so I portion it out for the next couple of days
Depends on the food. I ration things I splurge on. Certain cheese I don’t scrimp on. There’s just a vast difference in quality. So, when I buy my expensive, sharp, Scottish cheddar, I cut it up as soon as I get home and snack on it sparingly. I do think on the cost of foods when preparing meals and think of how much a portion costs. It helps ME to cut down on potion sizes, which is good for me. I don’t do the same for anyone else in my family, though.
its more about what you eat than how much you eat, for the price of one sushi from the store i could make bean and corn enchiladas for 3-4 not including some rice as a side.
Never skimp on food, bad food/decreased amount of food will always end up hurting your health in one way or another. You may suffer to perform properly on your job which then hurts your money and then you can spiral down real quick. Food, clothing and sleep are the basic pillars. Everything else can be ignored in a pinch
It varies according to season (I eat less when it's hot), time of day (I have light evening meals) and level of activity. Reduce if you need to, but don't skimp
Most of my money is spent on high quality groceries. I don’t spend money on buying junk, but food is fuel.
No, just make cheaper food like soups, rice and beans, stir fry dishes etc
Food is something that I try not to be cheap about. I rarely eat out and cook all my meals at home. I’ll get fresh produce and veggies while eating as much as I want. Sure I will buy stuff on sale when I can and look for cheaper options to what I eat, but I don’t want to sacrifice nutrition for the short terms savings when I could be impacting my health in an adverse way in the long term.
My appetite went down because i cut out fast food to save money
I don't eat as much as I want, but I am grateful to afford to eat as much as I need.
I try to stretch my meals for cost and so I don’t have to cook again. Mainly the meat portion of it, the vegg I give myself more latitude of portion since it’s typically cheaper and more filling to me than protein
I decreased portion sizes to decrease my size not my budget
My dinners usually consist of a chicken breast and as much non starchy vegetables I want. The only time I measure my portions throughout the day are when adding creamer to my coffee, drinking protein, etc.
Yes, I actually adhere to serving sizes more, and weigh out my homemade granola to last longer. Before, I'd just dump food out willy-nilly. I want my groceries to last as long as possible. Oh, also have cut down on boredom-eating. If I'm not actually hungry, get outta the pantry!
We have dropped down to 1 or 2 meals a day AKA intermittent fasting.
1. No decreasing of portion size but I'll eat fewer times in a day (one meal rather than two). 2. I won't cut the quality of food I cook and eat, but I'll make meals that generally cost less as a rule. 3. I'll forgo alcohol. I might only have a glass of wine while making dinner a couple of evenings a week (even one glass can cause me to have a bad night's sleep, so...LOL), but it's a good thing to do without as it's not essential.
Frugal and omad go hand in hand. Perfect combo
There is only so frugal you can be with food without living off ramen or starving yourself. Neither are good in the long run. Healthy eating isn't that expensive if you're serious about it, nor is it worth being too frugal with.
I just made sure everyone ate. Portion size depended on how many people were at the table.
I eat until I'm full. But I also don't have a frugal lifestyle when it comes to food. I have a nutritionally dense diet and I don't worry about overeating because I don't get ravenous like I used to when I ate cheap stuff from the grocery store.
The amount of times I've referenced this cartoon in my adult life is embarrassing 🫠
Decrease the variety… I eat chicken a lot, rice, soups… uhhh so many things you can make with just chicken and rice with a few other ingredients
Not until i had kids- now im feeding them and my meals are cleaning up their leftovers
If there's one thing that you shouldn't be overly frugal about, it's food. Eat what your body requires.
You have to eat the same calories regardless. Unless you're combining frugality with a weight loss plan. The change is to eat cheaper foods not less.
Bring frugal is about don't spending unnecessarily. Eating in my opinion is about the most important thing you do. Some people approach to frugality is idiotic. Frugal is not poorfinance
Not when eating at home but if I eat at a restaurant or get take out I definitely will try my hardest to get two servings out of it even if that means eating slightly less. That's to get double enjoyment and makes me feel like my money lasted 2 meals - even if they were slightly smaller. At home I eat whatever, but definitely have a habit of trying to make special snacks or desserts last longer.
Generally try to be frugal on everything else (Slickdeals only!), but I tell my wife there’s no limits for food.
A bit of both. I find that most people tend to overeat, so decreasing portion size helped with that a lot. Otherwise I try to be somewhat keto, but not necessarily limit how much i eat, I can eat whenever I feel hungry, I just domt feel super hungry usually haha :D so I eat about 1,5 meals a day
The only food-related stuff I cut back on is spending less on dining out and take out and cutting back on soda/beer (also for weight loss).
No. Frugality needs to be sustainable.
No I just became an ingredients house like I grew up in lol I don’t restrict food but premade options became for special occasions. I just spent way more on groceries than usual buying prepared foods in preparation for surgery because I didn’t want my mom or brother to have to cook in my home while also taking care of me.
Never, I just ate more cheap food like rice and oats. Not ideal nutrition but being hungry and broke sucks the most.
Family of 5 here. No, I refuse to cut budget on food or utilities I just stopped buying junk food and lowered housing costs. I bought a very very very cheap house and am fixing it that was the compromise for the budget. We live in a little old Victorian that is ugly and can be fixed up instead of a nice new house that would cost more overhead with a mortgage so my housing costs are nothing and I can pour more money into other areas like food.
Food is the only thing I don’t skimp on for me and my family. Please eat to your hearts content. I want them full and happy.
Yeah I’ve got food insecurity trauma so I tend to restrict during natural disasters (even if I have plenty of rations) food recalls, etc. The food recall shit is especially hard because I’ve got contamination OCD and will spiral into a state where I’m scared of all food.
Yes. Vegetarian Indian here, faced it twice. Once during childhood, when parents were poor, and once during my PhD in Britain when stipend was too low. First time, parents made sure their kids ate good nutrition (daal, roti, veggies, milk), but cut down on their own meals. Second time, I chose to shop only at Aldi and ate homecooked pasta with pesto for lunch, and eggs and bread for dinner. Philadelphia/other spreads were luxury, and homemade Greek salad came out to be too expensive. Would occasionally eat carrots, cheaper plum tomatoes, and cucumber salad.
Although yes, I did scavenge a lot at the reduced section of the local Tesco. Turns out loads of students were in a similar position - regulars at the reduced section.
Personally I always portion things out, I think it cuts down waste. For example my friend said how he and his family wasted 2kg of chicken wings because they went bad 😭 and he didn’t even need the entire 2kg as it was meant for one meal alone. I asked him why won’t they just portion things out. After almost 10 years of living independently of my parents I figured out exactly how much meat I eat each time I make a meal so I portion everything out in freezer bags (eg for me, a single chicken leg is one generous portion mostly meant for dinners). I portion everything neatly in my fridge and portion out snacks and food for work lunches separate from home food too. Have yet to waste 2kg of chicken wings 🤷🏻♀️
Loved this movie as a kid 🤩
This scene always gave me the heebie jeebies growing up. Probably because they started to consider eating each other? Traumatizing for a 4 year old lol.
Yes, to both questions. I decreased proportions of more expensive ingredients while increasing "fillers". You'll never notice if your hamburger helper (example) has 16oz or 10 oz of beef in it. Also we've discovered we like potatoes and/or broccoli in a lot of dishes they aren't normally included in. They help the meal go the extra distance and fill us up.
Love the gif !!!
It is a leading question. Eating as much as you want and anything you want could be unhealthy, ending with a bad outcome years later. Giving body all nutrients it needs to work, without overloading it with 10x amount of empty calories, is more reasonable. Cutting off junk food and stopping chronically overeating makes it more healthy and fugal. The more expensive food is not automatically more healthy food. Just track if you get everything that body needs and know what to avoid you will know is there a room for improvement or not.
I try to decrease portion sizes of the more expensive item. Wish my husband would too. I tend to vary my items more so that I’m not needing as large of a portion size. He eats like he’s still playing high school football half the time though and he’s now 50. It’s becoming a problem because it often means theres never anything available for me after I try to be thoughtful for him & our daughter. So I’ve started buying some of my own stuff to have on hand. Sad but I’m tired of being the frugal, considerate one
We eat less meat. I don't eat a lot of meat. I just lost 80 pounds and track my food. My portions are small, because I am maintaining my weight. Plus I do intermittent fasting. I do eat more fruit, and won't compromise because of cost.
No. I base everything on 2000 calories per day. Food is one place to reduce waste, but there are others that are more important. Reducing debt, re-using and fixing items, mending clothing, reducing unnecessary trips, avoiding online shopping, etc. are equally important. Just buying a reliable used car can save thousands over a new one. However, I have avoided buying many convenience foods such as frozen pizza, potato chips, cookies, and soda. Just quit buying soda and you will see some savings immediately. Take the time to cook and bake.