Categories: Spend Less

10 Ways to Save Money while Losing Weight

Looking for ways to lose weight and save money? Check out these great tips on what to do to be successful in your weight loss and go easy on your wallet.

You may be aware of the health benefits of losing extra weight, but have you thought about the ways you’d save money if you acheive and maintain a healthy weight? Costs for doctor’s visits are lower when you aren’t sick as much, your joints aren’t strained by extra weight so there are fewer knee issues and ankle sprains. You miss less work from illness related to an immune system that’s not at it’s prime, and don’t have to buy so many medications for obesity-related symptoms like acid reflux, diabetes, high blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol. Also, life insurance premiums drop quite a bit–I saved hundreds each year on my own policy by reaching a healthier weight before buying my policy.

But does it feel like you have to fork over bundles of money to lose those pounds? Everywhere you look, people advertise ways to spend on weight loss. Join this pricey gym, hire a trainer, buy those premade meals, buy expensive shakes and “cleanses” sold by a multi-level marketing scheme. But does lasting weight loss really have to cost so much financially? While some of these things can promote a jump start, and trainers can certainly get you moving, there are actually ways to save money, and possibly even make a few bucks, while dropping those unhealthy pounds. Here are ten ideas:

10 Ways to Save Money while Losing Weight

1. Eat half, or at least less, of what you were previously eating. I’ll start with something simple–make the decision not to go back for seconds. You’ll have leftovers for another meal. Eating smaller portions means you don’t have to buy as much food, a great way to stretch the grocery budget. Restaurant portions can certainly be split most of the time, and give you two meals for the price of one.

2. Cook with dried beans as the main protein source for several meals a week. Make a goal of testing and choosing several recipes you can prepare that feature beans as the main protein source, and instead of grabbing cans–just cook them from dried. It’s really not that hard if you plan ahead, and beans are one of the cheapest–and healthiest–protein sources around. If dried beans intimidate you, you can still save a bundle by going with canned beans, just give them a good rinse to get the extra sodium off before cooking. Going partially vegetarian can be a huge boost to your health and add padding to your wallet, if done correctly.

3. Save on produce at the Farmer’s Market. Go to the farmer’s markets right before or at closing time. Frequently, the farmers just don’t want to pack up the unsold merchandise to carry home, and are interested in cutting deals. One farmer threw in a big pile of cucumbers last time after I paid, just because he didn’t want to take them home. (For more tips on saving on produce, check out this post.)

4. Seek out free accountability. Accountability is one of the secrets to Weight Watcher’s success. And while they are a great program, you might not be able to afford their fees. If you don’t have friends or family dedicated to making long-term healthy changes alongside you, there are plently of ways to get free accountability via social media (MyFitnessPal is great and you can friend people through it for encouragement), interacting with the weight loss blogging community, start your own weight loss blog to chronicle your journey, or join my Fit Friday link-ups on my blog, Little Progress Notes, where you can enter your weekly successes and failures in the the comments even if you don’t have your own blog.

5. Don’t buy soda. This is hard for a lot of people, but there is nothing beneficial they have to offer, even diet sodas. And they aren’t cheap! Spend that money on some good produce instead. Pop a slice of cucumber, a wedge of lemon, or some mint leaves into your glass of ice water and enjoy. It might take some time, but go without soda for a while and see if your taste buds don’t start craving water instead.

6. Grow your own veggies, or at the very least, your own herbs. You’ll burn calories working out in the yard, and get plenty of great, healthy cheap food.

7. Stop buying and eating red meat on a regular basis. It’s more expensive anyway, and numerous studies associate it with increased disease.

8. Make breakfast cereal at home with simple whole grain ingredients. I make granola in my crockpot {harder to burn that way}. Processed cereals are more expensive, and most have more sugar and preservatives than what you can make at home. I buy whole grains in bulk to use in my granola. You can find bulk bins at natural food stores, or even order them on Amazon. My most recent granola concoction is Maple Almond Quinoa Granola.

9. Earn money by making a Diet Bet. You don’t have to be on the Biggest Loser to enter a weight loss competition these days. DietBet is one of several online contests that allow you to wager some money (usually $10 to $50) that you will be able to lose 4% of your body weight over 4 weeks time. The number of people who enter each DietBet determine how big the pot is, and the pot is split only by the winners of the DietBet at the end (that’s everyone who lost 4%). My husband entered several of these and won most of them, and I entered one at the beginning of the year and won. They add another layer of motivation and score you a little cash. You can read my review post about Diet Bet here.

10. Become familiar with Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists, which are yearly updated rankings of produce with the most and the least amount of pesticide, according to testing. If you’re on a limited food budget, don’t stress over spending extra for organic. Any produce, even if not organic, is far better than no produce. Learn to wash your fruits and veggies well, peel them, etc. If you are worried about pesticides and can afford to spend a little more, just focus on buying organic versions of those fruits and veggies listed high in the EWG’s dirty dozen list. Don’t bother forking out the cash for an organic fruit or veggie that’s on the “clean fifteen” list, when the cheaper, conventional version probably doesn’t have much pesticide residue anyway.

These 10 steps can get you started toward a trimmer waist and a fatter wallet. One key to success I’ve found in my own weight loss process is to focus on one new goal at a time. Only when I’ve gotten a new habit down pat do I try to add on another. Too much, too soon, and you can get discouraged and give up quickly. You are in this for the long haul so just accept that change can take time. Quit searching for overnight results and focus on positive changes you can stick with.

Do you struggle with weight loss while trying to also stick to a budget? How do you save money while trying to lose weight?

To recap, here are 10 Ways to Save Money while Losing Weight

1. Eat half, or at least less
2. Cook with dried beans
3. Save on produce at the Farmer’s Market
4. Seek out free accountability
5. Don’t buy soda
6. Grow your own veggies
7. Stop buying and eating red meat
8. Make breakfast cereal at home
9. Earn money by making a Diet Bet
10. Become familiar with Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists

Other helpful resources:

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Sarah Wells

Sarah Wells, MD spends most of her time at home with her two (soon to be 3!) young children, but she also volunteers as a physician in a Christian free clinic in her community. She treats patients living below the poverty line, some of whom are homeless, and often gives food and cooking advice to maximize the nutritional bang for their buck, working with patients to fight the obesity underlying many of their diseases. She also enjoys blogging about her own weight loss journey, running, healthy cooking, homemaking projects, and homeschooling at her blog Little Progress Notes.

View Comments

  • Thank you very much for the great information I hope it will help me to save my money now because now I'm worried about LOSING WEIGHT after lost my lot of money.

  • As a beef producer, I disagree with eating less beef. It is healthy, nutritious food. It is a wonderful source of iron, which many people are deficient in. Buying beef in bulk from a local grass-fed farm is very affordable. It is wonderful to have a supply of beef in the freezer and not have to run to the grocery store every other day. Support local farming!

  • Great tips--but I really object to #3, saving money by shopping at the end of Farmer's Market. As a farmer myself, I think that is unethical advice. It's true, you may get deals that way. Do you feel good about short-changing the farmer who grew the food and harvested and cleaned and got up early in the morning to sit at the market, hoping for customers?!? Surely not! Grow your own garden to save money and learn to appreciate the farmers. Thanks for listening!

  • Lose weight is necessary for us to have an ideal weight of course. Keep in mind that the ideal body shape is not always the same as the ideal body weight. If body shape is a subjective view, eating weight is objective. Do you think that your body shape is not ideal? Wait a minute, maybe for your body your body shape is not ideal, but for the size of weight you could be ideal. in order to have the ideal weight without having to go through the medical path like going to the doctor, liposuction, taking slimming pills, you can try how to lose weight naturally.
    http://bit.ly/2p2yaXd

  • I started a $5 challenge in November and for each day I didn't go to Starbucks I put $5 in a piggy bank. At the end of December I had $305. January, I challenged myself to no fast food or soda and I am up to $125 with 6 days to go and I've lost 5lbs so far.

  • I have been challenging myself each month. November and December I decided to give up Starbucks. I started each month with $150 for November and $155 for December. For each day I did not go that money went into a piggy bank. At the end of November I had $150 for Christmas presents. The money from December will go towards something special. Next month I will do the same only cutting out fast food.

  • I had a great idea for controlling portion sizes. Use a toddler plate! I do it all the time. I use one of my son's plate. My portion sizes were cut by more than half! I add a big salad on the side and a big glass of water. Voila! And when I start wanting a snack, I just drink a large glass of ice water. If I am still wanting a snack after 20 minutes, I grab a piece of fruit or some baby carrots. And stop snacking after supper. That has been my biggest challenge. My husband always has a late night snack. Makes me want to snack as well. I love the lists of ideas on how to save money as well! Always a good idea with a toddler in the house lol.

  • maybe it's just my computer, but i can't read the first part of each of the 10 suggestions. the wording must be white on the white background? but from the rest of the post i think they are pretty great suggestions!

  • I'd like to add two strategies that I use. 1) TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) has chapters all over Canada and the USA, and while membership isn't free, it's very affordable. 2) I make my own bread, using 100% whole wheat flour and a bread machine on dough setting, then rising/baking in the oven (we prefer the texture, can control how much it rises, and we get annoyed by the holes left by the machine's paddles). Oh, and an added bonus is that the bread machine makes jam, so we make our own jam, using less sugar, and some of it is made from the raspberries we grow in our yard. :-)

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Sarah Wells

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