[wbkt8]

Originally Posted by redheadedangels I'd like to join! We're a family of 5 on a very very very small budget. I try to keep our food only budet to around $200/month or $50/week. That does not include paper products, toiletries,....stuff like that. Only food. I use the crock pot ALOT! I like one-dish meals. Super easy! My down-falll is fast Food YES i know how utterly bad it is for your bodies and how much a waste of $$ it is but for some reason i LOVE it and actually crave greasy burgers and french fries! So i REALLY need to get that under control! HELP!

i kwym. one thing that helps us handle the urge to eat out is to try and recreate it ourselves at home. eating a hamburger is never going to be the healthiest thing of course - but if you make it yourself it can be cheaper and you can control what's in it/cooking method.

for example, there's a restaurant here that makes what they call a bean burger (a hamburger, topped with refried beans, salsa, & some crumbled fritos) - so instead of going out to eat that we made our own at home and they were great. or i made BBQ chicken pizza (like California Pizza Kitchen's) at home the other day - even without trying real hard to make it super-cheap it was still definitely less expensive than getting a gourmet pizza out.