Budget Crash Diet: Week one down, only 3 more to go

St. Petersburg, Florida - It's been a week since we put three groups on the Budget Crash diet.

So far all are surviving, but they say it has been tough.

Group 1: Darren and Deborah Richards and their four children were put on a $800 budget.

They say they always cut grocery coupons, but they are looking extra hard for good deals before going to the store.

They are also improvising on lunches for the kids. Instead of juice boxes, Deborah is pouring apple juice in thermoses for the kids to take to lunch. And instead of pre-made fruit cups, she made her own with strawberries and grapes.

Group 2: Melissa was put on a $300 budget.

She had an exceptionally tough time this week because she had a friend come into town and they went to Disney World. The admission was $75 alone.

Fortunately her friend was kind and paid for her dinner the first night. But Melissa's lunch the next day was $15, so she brought the rest home for her dinner.

She did manage to find some good deals at the grocery story to help her through the week. A 10 pack of instant oatmeal was $1.99, coming out to about 20 cents a day. And then ground turkey was on sale so she bought extra and put some in the freezer.

Group 3: Derrick and his fiancee Pam are on a $500 budget.

Their first step is trying to eat more breakfast at home. Cut back on those fast food stops in the morning. But the one time they did, they went with two waters to save some cash.

Pam also wrapped up the left over pizza for her lunch the next day.

They did go to the grocery store and buy a whole chicken to try and last them for a few weeks.

Derrick figured out for the both of them to stay on budget, they can spend $16.04 a day on food.

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