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This is an issue I see coming up again and again, people saying they are spending a fortune on food and how does everyone afford to do low carb? Now usually the answer given boils down to ‘No, it’s not more expensive.’ But that is definitely not always the case. When I first started low carb my food budget doubled and I was spending over $300 a week just on food. For a single parent to a special needs child, that is a LOT of money. It got to a point where I had to seriously consider whether I could keep doing this or not.
I’ve seen people show how they’ve purchased food to feed themselves for a whole week for something like $25 and this is totally doable. But these are usually couples or single people, rather than something like a family of five or similar. With families and especially kids it always becomes more expensive. The meals are also usually pretty simple ones and if you’re someone like me, you like making inventive, new and sometimes elaborate meals to help you stay interested and on track. So what are the number one things that most affect what you spend on low carb?
In my book the top reason is fasting. The main reason people don’t break the bank with low carb diets is through fasting. Some people fast intentionally and some people like me, are fasting naturally simply because they don’t have as much appetite as before. This is the easiest way to cut back on the dollars when grocery shopping. If you eat less, you buy less and of course you spend less. But fasting is not something that people usually do immediately when starting low carb. In fact, many people recommend you put off fasting when first starting out, because if you’re not fat adapted it’s much more difficult and you will find the hunger harder to handle. So when starting out you are probably going to be spending more on food.
Let’s face it, bulking out meals with rice and pasta you can get for less than $1 per kg and buying cheap frozen food packets of homebrand pies, pizzas etc, is always going to be cheaper than shelling out for things like meat, fresh veg, cheese, nuts etc. The non keto household members eat a lot of this stuff I mentioned, simply because of the price and the fact it’s easy to prepare. I have other friends and family also living on the cheap and relying on these sorts of foods to get them through. I remember myself being a young teenager living out of home for the first time with barely any money, living off foods like instant noodles to get by. I know plenty of young people who also do this still.
Another problem is unfortunately fasting is very often not suitable for kids the way it is for adults. I can fast several days if I decide to, but if my son goes too long without eating he gets very grumpy and can’t focus on anything because all he can think about is food. He is almost 100% LCHF but also has several disabilities and he’s only nine, so it’s much harder for him to reason and go a long period without food than it is for me. In addition, I am still very overweight and have plenty of fat on my body to fuel me, while my son is slim and much more tolerant of carbs than I am.
And of course, to be honest I really don’t think a growing child SHOULD be fasting unless they are possibly very overweight, very fat adapted and honestly just not hungry. Children are still growing after all and I think as a result methods should be very different for them. To me, fasting for a child is eating a standard 3 meals a day instead of the 5-6 meals kids these days seem to have. But you also have the school to consider because they are getting more and more involved and hands on about what kids are bringing to school to eat. If you send your kid to school without any recess or lunch, you will definitely be getting some phone calls and questions from the school about why you’re not providing your child with food.
So we’ve covered some benefits and downsides that come with fasting, now let’s look at some ways to cut our costs. One major thing affecting costs is low carb products and baking. Low carb baking is fun and low carb products are convenient and can be treats, but unfortunately both are expensive. If you spend money on baking items like almond meal, sweetener, cacao etc. you’re going to find your expenses going up pretty quickly. Just sticking to real food is the cheapest way to go. Meat, veg and natural healthy fats.
A lot of people also think that they need to buy everything organic, pasture-fed, nitrite free etc. but the reality is that a lot of people just can’t afford that. I know I can’t. I buy pasture fed beef and lamb because most of it at my butcher is pasture fed either way, but I don’t go out of my way to get the same for chicken or pork. I get what I can afford. I don’t buy free range pasture fed eggs, I buy my bacon from the deli section at Woollies, my butter, cream, sour cream, grated cheese etc. is all Woollies brand or homebrand. I buy homebrand cocoa powder instead of more expensive cacao even though I know cacao is better for you. There are some areas I just had to compromise on in order to do this diet successfully and still have money for other things.
Specials and bulk buying are the two biggest money savers I can think of. I wait until certain items are on special, then I stock up. Here are some ways that I do that. Our local butcher sells rump steak for close to $20kg. But they have half and whole rumps that they will also slice for free for $13.99kg. I waited until there was a special on those rumps and the price dropped down to $9.99kg which happens every now and then on a regular basis. Then I bought a whole rump which I portioned myself at home (although I could have gotten them to do it for me) and got 8kg of premium steak for nearly half the price.
Even though the bacon at Woollies is already pretty cheap, I wait for a special on that too. Just a few weeks ago there was a special on streaky bacon and the price had dropped to $10kg. So bought 5kg and again portioned myself at home for the freezer. In there I also have sliced ham individually portioned and packed, a huge bag of it. I waited until after Christmas when the shops are trying to offload their Christmas hams and got a huge leg of ham for about $3kg. I sliced it all up, portioned and froze, including the ham bone which I can use in a stock or soup.
I wait until my other butcher is selling 2kg pasture fed lamb roasts for $16.00 then buy about eight of them. Some I left intact for roasts, others I deboned which gives you 1.5kg of meat per leg to use in curries, soups, stews etc. And of course the bones are all also stored in the freezer. Pork leg roast goes on special for $4kg, I buy 3 or 4, debone and again you’ve got a ton of lovely pork meat to freeze and use in different recipes. I also try to utilise the cheaper items and cuts of meat as much as possible such as beef and chicken mince ($7kg for chicken mince at my butcher and beef mince I get in bulk when on special for the same price), chicken drumsticks, chicken wings and whole chickens. I like to make the whole chicken in the slow cooker as you would bones for a bone broth recipe. You end up with a nice amount of bone broth to portion and freeze for future use, either drinking it or as stock in recipes, as well as a whole cooked chicken which you can shred and use for soups, salads, pizzas, ‘sandwiches’ etc. You can freeze the cooked chicken too if you like. All that for about $10.
I use a lot of light olive oil too for making mayo mostly, but some other things as well. I don’t buy the cheapest brand of that, being Portuguese I feel I can’t compromise on olive oil quality! But I also can’t remember the last time I paid full price for my light olive oil. I wait until it’s 30% off and a huge saving which happens regularly at Woollies, then buy at least 4-6L at once, depending on how much I already have at home. I also buy my cheese in bulk when it’s on special, even though most of it is already the cheaper brands. Then I stick it all in the freezer for when I need it. Philadelphia cream cheese is one brand I won’t compromise on, but you can buy large amounts of this too when on special and keep in the fridge. I usually have at least 4-5 packets in there at any given time. I use it a lot and it keeps for months. I also wait until the 90% Lindt chocolate which I use in desserts is on special for $2 a block and buy about 10 at once for the cupboard.
When it comes to veg, go for the cheaper veg like cabbage. I love cabbage, it’s about $5 for a large head of cabbage which gives you a good 2kg of low carb veg. And the versatility of cabbage is amazing! There are so many low carb cabbage recipes that it’s a vegetable that never gets boring. One of my favourite cabbage recipes is homemade coleslaw, because it’s so quick and easy and goes with several different cooked meats. Silverbeet I also love to buy, a huge bunch is only about $3 and you can use it in so many different ways. Adding healthy fats to it ensures that it becomes a filling side to your protein. Cauliflower can definitely go up and down in its price, but if you wait until the price is low and buy about 3 or 4 cauliflowers at once, you can make cauliflower rice to portion and store in the freezer.
Seafood in general is quite expensive but I ensure I am able to have it on a regular basis by waiting until fish like hoki is on special from $16kg down to $10kg, then buy 5kgs in 1kg lots and stick them in the freezer for when I want them. Squid tubes on special for $10kg make a quick and easy meal. Salmon is always very expensive, but waiting for a special and buying a few kilos for the freezer means saving $4-$5 per kg. Start keeping an eye on the specials offered at Woollies and Coles and at other places you regularly shop. Take note of what is offered that you can utilise and then use that to your advantage.
Using this system of shopping specials and buying in bulk means that you might have some shopping days where you spend a large amount of money. But remember that is going to be saving you money for several weeks to come. Then meal plan! Meal planning is both a great money saver and time saver. I pick recipes and plan meals based on the meat I already have stocked in the freezer. Most of the time I’ll already have the other ingredients like cheese, condiments, spices etc. Then all I need to buy is my veg and fresh herbs and anything I’ve run out of and need to restock, like cream and eggs.
So with some planning and good thinking, you can definitely do this way of eating cheaply, while still eating great foods. You may have to compromise in some areas but that’s better than not eating right and ignoring your health! After all, in the end the expense of losing our health is far greater than any price you can put on groceries and it’s a valuable thing to remember when considering the cost of a low carb diet. Yes, you might be spending a little more sometimes but in the end you are saving on something far more important. The good health of you and your family!
HAVE SOME TIPS FOR OUR READERS?
Have some great ways to save on spending that can help people follow low carb more cheaply? Leave a comment on your favourite way to save money on a low carb diet!
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