Bodybuilding on pocket change? How tight are you..

[~Vision~]

Bodybuilding on pocket change? How tight are you..

Ok, maybe the title is a bit misleading but the power point to the topic is "body-building on a budge".

Let's hear some ways that most of you finagle ways with being able to afford your food/diets (AAS not included, but an added bonus to the topic).
What are some of your staple items, your go to food resources that doesn't knock you over the head while stealing your wallet like you're walking the back streets a Rio de Janeiro?!?!?

For myself, I pull a side-job or 2 during the week for quick cash that doesn't come from the household monies between my wife an I... Our agreement from day one has been "no joint funds or household money goes to my way of life" within reason (I can purchase protein and sups).. Gear is on ME and A huge chunk of my diet is on ME as well, it's only fair, everything else I bring home to the table goes directly to our home and the well-being of everyone that lives in it..

How do you guys dip into the wallet without killing the wallet?​

 

[buddhabuilder]

I ate 8 cans of cheap tuna fish a day for a couple years with a handful of white rice. I called it American sushi...


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[Hard89]

Interesting topic. As the only source of financial support for my family. I feel obligated to not overspend on my body building desires. In fact this a has cost me greatly in my bodybuilding process several times. When times are hard I abandon my dreams and deal with shit so I can get back where I want to be. When we had the kid I pretty much just ate supper for about a year and a half as a result dropped to 145lb. I would crater and buy the odd lunch occasionally but most of my money went to getting ready for my kid. But when times are good and you can afford it I don't mind at all and neither does the wife. If I was doing 12week primobolan cycles or something really expensive she might be like wtf lol. I usually buy her something she needs or wants to kinda balance the scales when I start a cycle then we are both getting something and she likes when I work out because ,well, abs....lol

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[awm1981]

Although my wife and I do very well for ourselves I refuse to eat at restaurants more than twice a month.

I religiously shop grocery store ads and have a local butcher who gives great cuts of meat for a killer price and does volume based purchases too.

For instance when Fresh/Frozen turkeys are everywhere around thanksgiving and christmas when they drop to $.29/pound I have a deep freezer that i legit pack full of frozen turkey, meat, etc

I eat around 20-25 pounds of meat a week so I meal prep on sundays and will not waste anything that I made.

My wife and 2 daughters probably eat 1/5 of what I eat so I let my wife splurge and get all the organic stuff she wants as its not a lot of food.

I buy all my supplements when ***************** or other websites are having buy 1 get 2 free on BCAAs and stuff like that. I also get my protein powder from costco.

If you are diligent and shop adds or look for short dated meat and freeze it you can eat like a king for not a lot of money.

 

[stevesmi]

cutting out wasteful spending like travelling, eating out, expensive housing, clunky items like boats and pools that are not used enough to justify the cost

those are 4 big ones people in the USA fail to do.

and then you have the losers who hit the bar everyday to drown their shitty lives away. if you spend $20 a night drinking that shit adds up bigtime

 

[Fella Finn]

I don't know I am gonna provide much benefit with my tips and techniques as I live in a completely different continent than most of you...

 

[~Vision~]

I don't know I am gonna provide much benefit with my tips and techniques as I live in a completely different continent than most of you...

Unless you're living like Tom Hanks was in the movie castaway, I'm confident enough that any suggestions you make could be helpful

 

[gashred777]

Very good topic here....

I’m lucky in the fact that I make a good living. That said, my wife is a teacher and tragically teachers are severely underpaid. We have a 10 week old baby and I have 2 kids to a previous marriage that are heavily involved in sports. So my point is that even though I make a good living, those things all add up so we MUST be money conscious. Like some of the guys said above, we don’t eat out that much (mainly because of my eating habits), and we make a budget in a spreadsheet. It helps tremendously seeing on paper what is coming in and what HAS TO go out. And when I do make “unplanned” purchases (gear), we plan for not only that but a little something for her and household so all is fair.


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[TheChad]

I live very much like you V. My house hold income will put the food on the table and cover all the chicken, beef, fish and so on. My wife and I both have our own fun money that goes to our own accounts. This is the money I use for supps, gear, and any gifts I buy her or just money I want to blow on myself without needing her approval.


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[bigjay23]

Omad+keto


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[stevesmi]

Unless you're living like Tom Hanks was in the movie castaway, I'm confident enough that any suggestions you make could be helpful

I would miss hot showers and toilets but other than that sign me up for that

 

[~Vision~]

I would miss hot showers and toilets but other than that sign me up for that

Just remember my brother that coconuts are a laxative LMAO!!!

 

[wesley_swolle]

I make the misses turn a few extra tricks when its cycle time, lol

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[stevesmi]

Just remember my brother that coconuts are a laxative LMAO!!!

lol, yep. very good movie. put me out there with a beautiful women, fishing kit, knife, and a firestarter and I will be good to go

 

[Mobster]

I paid off my mortgage etc years ago.

 

[stevesmi]

I paid off my mortgage etc years ago.

that is what you want to do for sure assuming you didn't overpay in the first place

not really plausible though in the USA.. our housing costs way more.

 

[cbbram]

Bodybuilding is not the best hobby for those on a tight budget. The food alone costs a lot of money. I definitely spend more on food than anything else related to bodybuilding.

 

[aggirl]

My hubby and I live the same lifestyle. That helps.

I do shop smart. My family grows vegetables and we hunt and fish for our food. We don’t eat out much. The list goes on.

I love these types of topics btw.

 

[Fella Finn]

Unless you're living like Tom Hanks was in the movie castaway, I'm confident enough that any suggestions you make could be helpful

Well here's one tip I can give you. Don't know if it applies to your country but anyways...
Shopping before closing time.
Why?
Well at least here grocery stores usually put their expiring products near the closing hours. So doing your grocery shopping an hour or two before closing can be sometimes save you a few euros.

 

[muskate]

Most people waste so much money on 'sexy food' item.

Diet soda, fancy condiments and spices etc etc

If you stick with the basics - rice, potatoes, tuna, eggs etc. - Bodybuilding is very affordable. Yes your meals will be bland but you are eating for function, not flavour

 

[OutlawV2]

Switch from breasts to thighs when buying chicken. Protein powder is NOT that much compared to fast food. So use it as much as you can for meal replacements.

 

[Fella Finn]

Switch from breasts to thighs when buying chicken. Protein powder is NOT that much compared to fast food. So use it as much as you can for meal replacements.

I don't know about that.
Thighs are much higher in fat and I am not sure if the meat content is going to be any higher after you have deboned those.

ps, Is that a right term even?

 

[buddhabuilder]

After eating hundreds of pounds of boneless chicken breast over the years I’m all in on boneless skinless chicken thighs. They may be a little fattier but WAY easier to eat....


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[Darthiggy]

that is what you want to do for sure assuming you didn't overpay in the first place

not really plausible though in the USA.. our housing costs way more.

It depends where you live. I mean if you're in California or Florida then yes, but houses in Arizona aren't expensive. I only know that because I glance at the US market every once in a while.


My wife and I both make a good living, and we paid off the house a couple of years ago. So we don't really have any debt. We also don't eat out much.

 

[stevesmi]

It depends where you live. I mean if you're in California or Florida then yes, but houses in Arizona aren't expensive. I only know that because I glance at the US market every once in a while.
.

yes if you live in Kansas you will pay less for a house than if you live in LA or Miami. but i would rather slit my throat than live in Kansas (no offense to those that live there)

i wouldn't want to live in the UK either. what a shithole country, no wonder they spent hundreds of years trying to conquer other places.

 

[stevesmi]

After eating hundreds of pounds of boneless chicken breast over the years I’m all in on boneless skinless chicken thighs. They may be a little fattier but WAY easier to eat....


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nothing wrong with fattier!!

this idea that fat is bad for you is never going to die. people who cut off fat off their meats are missing out. fat is essential in our diets and people should get more of it and way way way less sugar.

the reasoning is simple human logic.. if you eat fat= you will get fat. not true at all

humans have been consuming fat for thousands of years and suddenly in the 80's it became enemy #1 because food companies want to put in sugar instead of fat to make things tastier.. and how has that worked out? not good

 

[~Vision~]

After eating hundreds of pounds of boneless chicken breast over the years I’m all in on boneless skinless chicken thighs. They may be a little fattier but WAY easier to eat....


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There's nothing wrong with that at all..the best part about that too was you don't got to go adding more fats and avocados and such.. plus you're not choking it down dry, it keeps your rice and whatever else nice and moist.. I buy the big ten pound boneless skinless chicken breast from Perdue at Costco, I have to marinate them bad boys.. I use a sesame seed marinade but other than that chicken thigh is a great alternative..

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I live very much like you V. My house hold income will put the food on the table and cover all the chicken, beef, fish and so on. My wife and I both have our own fun money that goes to our own accounts. This is the money I use for supps, gear, and any gifts I buy her or just money I want to blow on myself without needing her approval.


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My wife has been very supportive with my lifestyle.. we've been together 12 years and she knows it's just a part of me because clearly I was involved along before I met her... She has made a lot of sacrifices for me so the least I could do is make sure the anything that I do with my lifestyle and personal hobby does not come at the expense from the household.. she does the shopping for me and at times even meal preps, basically she does much much more.. I give her every red cent I have, we are both modest and we have everything we need.. she would have no problem with me dipping into the bank, but I never had to.. but there is times where I leave my wallet at home and we're out shopping and I come across a mega sale at a supplement store and we pull out to debit card hahaha.. she knows what I do and she never asks questions.. she's an absolute doll!

 

[RickRock]

I don't really consider bodybuilding very expensive at all so there isnt much cost to cut for me.

 

[fighting60]

I don't consider muscle building to be that expensive, however preparing for a competition is very expensive as the quality of meats has to be very high. In the off season, I go to the local discount grocery store (Price Rite or Aldi), big fan of the boneless chicken thigh and bone in chicken breast, gotta buy family size packages though, the monster size containers for 1% cottage cheese, egg whites, 93% lean ground beef, cans of tuna and large jars of all natural peanut butter along with large bags of brown rice. These are my go to staples. You can even buy quick oats in large quantities. But right now, I'm prepping for a show, and there's 20 supplement bottles on my counter that I use every day. That's what cost the money. Off season it just fish oil and protein powder.

 

[OutlawV2]

Yeah I buy boneless skinless thighs so I’m not deboning anything. It is massively less money. Slightly less protein. But I just eat more. And healthy fats from chicken. I’ll take it if it keeps me from eating burgers. And I stay pretty lean year round.

 

[Fella Finn]

Yeah I buy boneless skinless thighs so I’m not deboning anything. It is massively less money. Slightly less protein. But I just eat more. And healthy fats from chicken. I’ll take it if it keeps me from eating burgers. And I stay pretty lean year round.

Well saturated fats are not necessarily considered as healthy although you need them as well

 

[Mystery9]

Boneless chicken breast are .99/lb at my grocery store so that’s a deal and stocks the freezer. Pinto beans cost me .79 - .99lb.

I usually make salsa out of green tomatoes and Serrano peppers, cilantro. Which is also dirt cheap and can be spicy or not depending on your liking.

20lb bags of rice are $10

Fish is usually pretty cheap and I buy a lot.

It doesn’t take lots of money if you shop thrifty.


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