Eat at home more.
The typical American spends hundreds of dollars eating out each month. You will do your budget and your waistline a big favor by eating at home more often. By the time you eat out once or twice a day for a week, you will have spent enough money to buy the ingredients for multiple meals. What's that got to do with weight? When you prepare your own food, you are in complete control of preparation method, added fats, caloric content, and portion size.More: Cooking Methods: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Clip coupons.
New, diet-friendly products are hitting the shelves all the time and makers typically release coupons for new products to generate interest in them. Plus, coupon-clipping for your every day purchases can really add up, too, especially if you locate a store that doubles or triples coupons. I have begun doing this religiously and almost never buy anything without a coupon. On a recent triple coupon day, I purchased $75 of items for less than $30!More: 50 Foods to Stock Up On
Consider canned.
Canned vegetables are just as nutritious as frozen ones and can be much more budget-friendly. Case in point: I recently found out that I could buy a large can of store brand whole kernel corn and get the same number of servings I'd been getting in my frozen single-serving multipack. The price difference? The can was on sale for 39 cents and the frozen multipack was $2.98. The flavor is a little different but nothing a little skillful spice-adding won't fix!More: Add Flavor without Fat
Buy store brands.
This may require a little trial and error because the quality of store brand products varies by type of food and among different stores. I have had the best luck substituting store brands for foods like canned goods, frozen vegetables, and pasta. Store brand crackers and cookies have usually left me disappointed.(Tip: While larger packages are a better value, when you try something the first time, you may prefer to invest as little as possible by buying the smallest size. Another lesson I've learned? Never buy multiples of a new product until you've tried it!)
Get cheap (or free!) DVD workouts.
The offerings at my local library have improved immensely over the last couple of years. I can find brand new exercise DVDs and diet books on the shelf almost every visit! If you have something in mind, request it and your library may order it or put your name down to reserve it. This is a great way to find the right exercise video for you; if you find you check out the same one over and over, it's a wise investment!More: Get Moving with Exercise Videos
If you do decide to purchase that exercise DVD you love, consider buying it second-hand from an online classified listing, at a yard sale, or from an online auction site.
More: Before You Buy Exercise Videos
Walk more!
If you're not already walking to lose weight, now is a great time to start. If you live close enough to walk to stores or errands, just think of how much money you'll save on gas! Start out by walking about 10 minutes at a time, say, to the nearest store and back before doing something too daunting like an hour long trek across the neighborhood!More: Start Walking for Weight Loss Today
Bulk up with beans.
Beans are a cost-effective, low-fat, and nutritous way of adding additional protein and fiber to your meals, both of which will help you feel fuller longer. Look for dishes that use beans as a main ingredient or add them to foods you already enjoy.(Tip: Add red beans to rice for a quick and easy meal or use kidney and black beans to make a vegetarian chili.)
Snack smarter.
Fight the afternoon munchies by taking your own snacks from home rather than hitting the vending machines. The products in them are much more expensive than they would be if you purchase the given food and bring your own serving each day. Same goes for vending machine sodas. You can buy a six-pack by the time you purchase two or three from the machine.More: On-the-Go Snacks
Tap into tap water.
Invest in a water filter for your tap or your refrigerator and swear of those little bottles of water that cost way too much. Then, invest in a safe, reusable water container that you can take with you when exercising or running errands. You'll be doing right by your budget and you won't add more plastic bottles to the earth.More: H2... Oh!
Prepare for portion control.
Sure, those cute little "100 calorie packages" are handy and provide instant portion control, but if you're just as concerned about your bottom line as, well, the size of your bottom, they just aren't worth it. Instead, buy the regular size of your favorite smart snacks when they're on sale, read the food label to find out what a serving size is, and create your own instant-will-power packages by pre-portioning out individual servings into small, reusable containers. You'll get lots more servings for the price.
To find out the calorie count of all your favorite foods, check out Calorie Count Plus.
