Eating Cheap - How to Get by and Eat Well on 20 Dollars Per Week

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A lot of friends and acquaintances ask me how I save so much money and stay in great shape without even working out. The answer is always profoundly simple and always catches them off guard. Whenever I give them the plan to do it, they end up saving 300 dollars a month, minimum. If you want to save hundreds of dollars per month (or per week depending on your habits), as well as get in great shape, here is exactly how I do it:

You've got to cook meals at home using some key ingredients from grocery stores that you need to start picking up. For example - if you grab a drink at a coffee shop or starbucks in the morning, and get a crappy fast food meal on the way to, or back from work, you'll already save 300 dollars (and your health) by switching it up. Here are they key ingredients you need to work it:

Beans (canned, any variety you enjoy)
Eggs
Bread
Tomato sauce (pasta sauce, jarred or canned)
Pasta
Oil (olive oil or canola oil)
Basic spices, such as salt, pepper, oregano, basil, etc
Vegetables that are ON SALE, such as potatoes, onions, peppers, etc
Meat (beef, chicken breasts, drumsticks, thighs, etc, fish) that are ON SALE

You'll need to wake up 10 minutes earlier to make breakfast - but the money you'll save adds up to a few DAYS of work per month. Here are some basics you can make with eggs: hard-boiled (almost no effort), scrambled, over-easy, fried, poached, omelet (using any variety of veggies). Pop in some toast, and you have a solid and healthy breakfast costing about 50 cents. If you make a bad processed microwave or oven-ready breakfast, or grab something on the way to work, in addition to Starbucks or some other coffee chain, you'll already save 300 per month just on one meal of the day by switching it up.

For lunch you have a lot of options if you pre-make the meal and bring it to the office. You can slap pan-fried chicken breasts on bread with veggies and your choice of dressing, all for around a dollar for a delicious and healthy meal. You can make pasta and bring it in tupperware. It's up to you.

For dinner, you can make any meat you picked up along with sauteed vegetables, steamed broccoli, potatoes, anything really. It's up to your imagination. Cooking instead of popping in some microwaveable or processed pre-made dinner will save you 5 dollars per meal.

These changes will not only have you shedding several pounds per week (without even being hungry), but you'll gain valuable cooking skills, and will save between 300-600 dollars per month depending on how you eat right now. That's enough for a luxury car lease, or enough to pay for some of or all of your rent. Any of my friends that have stuck with this shower me in thanks - the money comes out of thin air in a way, and they can enjoy using it on other more important things, not fast food they take for granted anyway.

For tips and secrets on getting groceries for dirt cheap when you're out shopping, as well as tips on how to get dirt cheap airfare, save gas with your car, and more, visit budget meal plans. Savings are in the hundreds, arm yourself with the knowledge to change your lifestyle for the better.

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