Friday was my weigh-in and I lost 600g, or 1.3 pounds! I was pretty excited, seeing as how it was my first week on plan and I only followed four days before weigh-in! It gave me the motivation I needed to track everything (yes, even the McDonalds dinner that we enjoyed on Friday night) over the weekend and to meal plan for the week ahead.
There's a common phrase in Spain: "Estamos a final de mes." It translates as "We're at the end of the month," but what it really means is "It's the last week of the month, and I won't get paid until sometime between the 1st and the 5th, and I'm quite cash poor."
Most Spaniards get paid monthly or quarterly, and with the economy hanging by a thread, tightening ones belt is paramount. One of my concerns about starting Weight Watchers was the amount it would add to my expenses, not only in the monthly cost of the program (which, in Spain, is currently 15.50€ per month for eTools) but also in the cost of whole foods, produce and lean meats.
The first week's food expenses were around 80-85€, not bad considering we had to stock up on a lot of staples, such as oil, vinegar, milk, etc. However, compared to the 30-40€ we were spending per week before Weight Watchers, I couldn't help but wonder how to keep save money and lose weight with Weight Watchers.
I tried a few tricks this week to see if the grocery bill was lower, and the proof is in the (fat free, no sugar) pudding: 39€ for one week of food. This doesn't include the pure rye bread that I have to buy tomorrow (5.75€ for two loaves) and the chicken that Jorge will buy at the fresh market tomorrow (spending another 3-4€). Still, 48€ is almost half the cost, and we are eating just as well!
So what did I do to save some euros?
First, the most important thing is to meal plan. (Yes, I hear you saying "duh!") I planned out each meal and snack for the week, leaving a few holes in the weekend for the meals that we share with Jorge's family. Here's what my plan looks like for the week:
If you are looking for meal ideas, here are a few things to bear in mind:
- DAS means "Día de alimentos saciantes," or Power Food Days. I don't count points these days but eat from a limited list of foods.
- The Spanish recipes were found through the Spanish eTools and are delicious, but I'm sure you can find similar recipes on the Weight Watchers version of eTools.
- One big way that I can save money is by eating at school, where I have free lunches as a teacher, but this involves me getting home about 2 hours later and sometimes I have errands to run that don't permit it. It's also more difficult to eat at school on DAS.
Second, make a grocery list based on your meal plan. I write out everything that I need to complete my meal plan (how many servings of fruit, how many yogurts, how many grams of a meat, etc.) and then I cross off what I already have in my fridge and pantry. I stick to the list. Always.
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| A great meal planner / grocery list template from www.theprojectgirl.com |
Third, be creative when meal planning! For example, eating a chicken breast and fresh vegetables with a starch side dish would be the same amount of points as the "Ensalada de alubias" that we will have for dinner on Monday. However, the salad is made from canned beans, canned tuna, onions, tomatoes, garlic... all ingredients that will last for a long time if something comes up and we can't eat what we planned. A chicken breast and fresh vegetables probably won't last very long if your dinner plans suddenly change. This may seem like a silly process, but if you throw out food because it is spoiled, it ultimately increases your food costs. Attempting to incorporate a few meals a week with a long shelf life will give you flexibility and, not to mention, a can of beans are cheaper than chicken breasts (dried beans are even cheaper if you can afford the extra time to soak and cook them!).
Here is a great article from SoFeminine about how to swap pricey foods for cheaper (and healthy) alternatives!
Fourth, find the deals in your city. We frequent three grocery stores: Carrefour, Mercadona and Día. Carrefour is like Walmart, Mercadona is like Kroger or Whole Foods, and Día is like Aldi, Food Lion or Big Bear. We always try to shop at Día because the prices are much cheaper, although there is less variety. If we need a special ingredient, such as oatmeal, we get it at one of the bigger stores. And we always buy meat at the local market instead of in the store.
It took a long time to figure out that the grocery bill was cheaper shopping at Día, but we saved our receipts in a notebook over a few months and noted the date and total amount paid until we saw a trend emerge. Since it doesn't take very long to tape a receipt in a notebook, it was a little bit of extra work that paid off big time!
Fifth (and this is a new trick for me!) is to never pay for recipes. When I lived in the US, I had five or six cookbooks that I used frequently and loved, but I haven't paid for a cookbook since moving to Spain. Instead, I use the internet or rent cookbooks from the library. I find recipes on the Weight Watchers website, on fellow bloggers' sites, and on Pinterest. I am currently compiling a board for "Entulínea / Weight Watchers" so that I can keep everything in one place! You can check it out
here. The 60 euros that I saved in not buying cookbooks may seem frivolous, but it's 60 euros that went into savings!
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| Click on the tortilla for my Entulínea / Weight Watchers Pinterest board! |
So there you have it! Five ways to save money while following Weight Watchers! In reality, these can be applied to any weight loss program or any lifestyle because they are general money-saving tips. I hope that you enjoy them and that you feel the difference in your change purse.
Please share your favorite money-saving tip with our readers in the comments section!
