How can I do this....

[Born Again Vegan]

I REALLY want to go raw. My husband and I believe in it. The only problem is that we are going through some financial problems that won't be settled until next year. So my questions is this; how do I go raw with little or no money. I am begining to think that raw is unrealistic for someone on such a tight budget. :(

This is what I was thinking and you can make any suggestions: I was thinking of eating fruit in the morning, homemade salad during the day and mabye more fruit for dinner OR a salad durng the evening. Snacking on nuts through out the day. Or mabye fruits for breakfast and lunch and a big salad at dinner. I can't afford to get fancy until my finances are fixed. But organic fruits, veggies and nuts can be so costly. :( I was actually thinking of taking a night job, not only to fix our finances, but to be able to afford the raw lifestyle!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

[LightLover]

One thing affordable is sprouting your seeds: not to expensive and
very nourishing.

I hope so you will be able to follow your wishes completely. :p


LL

[Pierre]

I would recommend avocados instead of nuts or olives until you have more money. Eat the less expensive fruit (around here those are apples, oranges, and peaches) instead of the more expensive (blueberries, strawberries - but I've been in a part of Brazil where apples are very expensive!). And don't worry about organic if you can't afford it.

[DavidZaneMason]

Hmmm...my thoughts / opinions:

-The key is not whether you can afford this lifestyle....the key is...can you afford to eat a little better than what you are eating now? This is not an all or nothing leap into the unknown! Ha! ha!

-Nobody is saying you HAVE to eat organic! There are no raw food police...and no one there to slap you on the wrist. Keep your long-term goals in mind...and advance confidently in that direction....slowly..fast...doesn't matter....whatever YOU are comfortable with. I have been all raw for many years and eaten organic twice. I am not a rich man...unless you count unlimited health, happiness, and love! :)

-Is .49 / lb really too much to pay for bananas? Is .99 / lb too much to pay for apples?

-The above suggestion is great. Sprouting is inexpensive. Concentrate on conventional produce and sale prices...until you reach your goal. Only then should you worry about refinements.

-Just my opinions. Thank you for your intelligent questions.

-David Mason

[Gelis]

Here is a link to maw in the raw website. I would email her about eating raw on a tight budget. She feeds something like a family of 5 on 120.00 a week. Which wether it is raw or sad is amazing.

Perhaps she would be able to give you some insight.

http://www.mawintheraw.blogspot.com/

Wish I had more to offer on the subject. I set a budget and bottom line we don't go over. We spend 75.00 a week. Which I consider still a little high, but, for now it is okay.

[fiddler]

Ditto what Mr. Mason said.

Here's something else to consider:
Write down your goal of "Eating RAW". Better yet, make it a "health" goal. List why you want this "health" goal. That is, list all the benefits. Maybe you're trying to overcome some health issues? Maybe you want to lose weight. If you wish to lose weight, then write down the ideal weight you want to achieve. Take a before picture. List the exercises you're going to do each day of the week. List the places that offer fresh, ripe, raw, organic, whole foods the cheapest. Call around for the cheapest prices. Look for produce that is going ripe and see about discounts. Look for wholesalers, farmers markets, co-ops, etc. If you want a second job just for "food" money, maybe you can find a wholesale produce place to work where you can get "free" food. Create an action plan. Very few people actually write down their goals. Writing down your goal turns your "dream" into a plan.

If you write down your goal on paper and believe in it passionately, your mind will steer you there! Things will start happening in your life that guide you to achieving your goal. Just the act of writing down your goal makes you feel better instantly :)

And, as Mr. Mason replied, you don't have to jump in with both feet. You can start slowly and progress at a pace that is comfortable for you. And to quote (or paraphrase) Doug Graham... Just start increasing the percentage of whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic fruits and vegetables that you put on your plate.

Cheers,
Fiddler

[sport]

In the long run it is a great financial investment if it saves you from serious disease in later life.

[pinkglttr]

I am a student and cannot afford organic either. However, I do KNOW that I am treating my body MUCH better than I used to and EXTREMELY better than your average American.

Do what you can! :)

[Sharon in Colorado]

Your pricier items are actually things that aren't optimal on a raw diet anyway, such as oils, nuts, supplements and superfoods like cacao, dried fruits and coconut, stuff like that.

Your basic fruits and veggies are more affordable and if you can get in on a co-op that would be your best bet.

All the best!

[Halo Aglow]

Hey Born Again Vegan! I was wondering what was up with you! I had emailed you awhile back to see what was up with you.

Here are my thoughts...

If you can't afford organic right now then you just can't afford it. Many here are in the same situation and just buy conventional with the occassional organic whenever they can. Here in Charlotte, organic bananas only cost ONE CENT more than conventional ones.

I would sit down and figure out exactly how much you can afford for food for any given time period (for every week or every 2 weeks). Budgeting really does help. Along with that, I would figure out the things that you can do without that would save you money thus making more money available for raw food.

I would find out about any discount grocery stores, plus pay attention to all of the grocery store sales on produce. Get their discount card if needed.

Get into making recipes that include flax seeds... it's filling. Sometimes I put ground flax into my smoothies.

And yes, PLEASE get into sprouting!

[spicyfull]

You have been given such amazing advice, hope you can work with it.

[JEN]

Local farmers market usually has better prices than the grocery store. Good Luck!

[Befronia]

Bananas, bananas, bananas! And find out the produce delivery schedules of the local supermarkets. Go the day before and buy speckled bananas at a fraction of the price of the greenish ones. Buy bananas in quantity and freeze the extra for "ice cream" or a quick addition to smoothies. And remember, raw commercial is better than cooked organic!

[Frecs]

I live on a VERY tight budget...hey, I live in a camper trailer! The thing is, if you are able to buy groceries to eat SAD, you can buy groceries to eat RAW. Are fruits and veggies more expensive the Ramen noodles? Yes. Are they more expensive than hamburger meat? No. Okay, so you can't buy organic...non-organic fruits and veggies are better than garbage SAD. Don't buy every supplement and speciality item you hear about, I don't. Leave the durians to the rich folks and buy want is on sale...bananas, apples, oranges, etc are usually pretty cheap. Look for what is in season as that is more likely to be local rather than shipped in from Ecador (read: less expensive and better all around).

I am 100% raw. My typical day looks like this:

fruit smoothie for breakfast (I use bananas, and frozen fruit with greenfood when I can afford it and protein powder)
fruit for snack around 10am
salad for lunch: whatever veggies I'm craving at the moment...currently it is broccoli as the main feature
fruit for snack in afternoon
either fruit or salad for dinner or perhaps another smoothie

About every 3 days I add a SMALL amount of nuts/seeds to the salad for the EFA's but emphasis is on SMALL.

I was sprouting there for awhile and need to get back to it because they are fabulous on salads and so full of valuable nutrients!

Don't let your small budget prevent you from getting healthy. Just think, you'll have less need for a doctor and so you can channel so of that budget money over to the food budget! I have!

[cassidy]

I know how hard it can be when you don't have the budget to buy all of the fun raw gadgets and condiments.
However - it is doable.
Farmers Markets are an inexpensive way to get delicious organic in season fruits and veggies. A lot of times if you go a lot they will throw in extra free.
Also go to you local grocer at the end of the day and ask for their bruised fruit and veggies they can't sell. It is just as good - just a few bruises.
I have done this a couple times and have brought home boxes full of fruit and veg... more than I could eat! You can also do this at the farmers market.
A lot of recipes call for nuts such as almonds and macadamia nuts. These nuts can be very expensive. Organic almonds go for 18$ a lb here. I can't afford to buy them. I stick to walnuts, flaxseeds and other seeds. I get by just fine with these.
You really don't need to eat too much when raw
smoothie in the am
snack on fruit
lunch of veggies rolled up in romaine dipped in sauce (one of my favorites: lemon, olive oil, soy sauce or nama shoyu, honey, and walnuts all blended up)
snack green smoothie
and more fuit or soup for dinner.

VERY DOABLE -- just get creative!!!