Try the student diet: You can eat anything you want, but you can't spend more than 30 Franks a week on food. That cuts meat, bread, and snackies straight out, leaving lots of veg and lentils. Yum.

Plus, no trams. Too expensive. Walk or bike wherever you need to go.

I lived on this diet for my first two years in Switzerland. I had one English student who would pay me 30 Franks cash. When the 30 Franks were up I couldn't buy any more food, so I developed some good habits to make it last.