Raw Expense

[Macfresh]

Is it just me or does anyone else find raw living really expensive? i have a book called raw power and it mentions that an america sprout enthusiast predicted he could live healthily on spouts for 25 cents a day-but it does not divulge. Would be interested if anyone could give me links or ideas for how to live extremely cheaply raw and be in great health-no deficiencies.

Ps we are not talking gourmet, i personally prefer extremely simply meals.

[DavidZaneMason]

-There are many tips and threads on this topic. As you mentioned: Growing your own sprouts is one option. Also:

1) Shopping only for sale and in-season items.
2) Eating simpler and less gourmet (as you mentioned)
3) Sticking to conventional produce
4) Asking neighbors for fruits from their trees (they are usually happy to give)
5) Finding fruit stands and asking them for discount/free dented or damaged or old produce.
6) Growing some of your own green veggies or small fruits/herbs
7) Getting a part time job/evening job to help offset the cost of produce (or do like I did and get a 2-hour an evening job at a fruit stand! All the free fruit I could eat!
8) Meet up with other healthy eaters who are happy to share.
9) Stick with cheaper staples like greens, apples, bananas, etc.

-These are just some ideas to get you started! I'm sure you'll hear many more from the wonderful folks on this board.

-David Z. Mason

[Veganforlife]

Is the cost of being healthy expensive? I say no. In the long run being healthy and not having to take meds or see doctors makes it (raw lifestyle) less expensive.

[Macfresh]

Hey veganforlife hows working on the street working for you these days?
Health vs being homeless. Being homeless, losing job because i am unsitely. Unable to get another job because i have no permanent address....

[luna99]

6) Growing some of your own green veggies or small fruits/herbs
7) Getting a part time job/evening job to help offset the cost of produce (or do like I did and get a 2-hour an evening job at a fruit stand! All the free fruit I could eat!
-David Z. Mason

I loved your ideas!! especially those two! thanks for sharing! :D

[JGex]

Join a co-op or find a community farm in your area that grows and distributes weekly baskets of prduce.

Our HFS in Athens lets me order stuff by the case for a 10% discount.

Grow your own.

[lafsalot]

I have an e-mail friend who lives in Athens and is considering the raw lifestyle. However, she says she is having trouble finding fresh organic produce and a good hfs. BTW, I told her about the raw pot lucks in Athens that you mentioned in a previous post. Any info you have that may help her would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ~ Cathy

[Conscious Midwife]

I think intitially stcoking the kitchen and getting a few prep tools togethr may cost a bit, but after that It works out.

My household was spending @$1000/ month last fall. This was to feed 2 adult, 3 teens and 2 toddlers. This expense inculded lunches out and occassional take out and pizza.

We've cut back because of my liberation from a JOB that was 1/2 our household income, plus we we're already incorporating healthier options.

So here is a comparison of a few changes:

Papa Johns Pizza ( 1 veggie 1 cheese) = $21.00
2 Ready to go from Sam's + $14.00 taste better too

Cereal "healthy" versions= $3.29-$4.99/ box last 3 days
required soymilk for 3 folks, skim for 1 the others eat it dry
Now we buy 10lbs of bananas which makes enough breakfast smoothies for 5 -6 days when mixed with oranges and greens.

Lunch out at Chinese Buffet @ $48 no drinks accept hot tea for hubby
Now $48 gets us enough salad lunch fixings for about 5 days including 2avacados/day, grated cheese (for teens), and Kashi crackers.

One kiddo is now away at college so we are saving and (no longer buy skim milk), she has since converted to soy.

We will do a tomato, pepper and maybe cucc garden.

We've stopped buy fancy salad dressing and usually enjoy salads naked or with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon

We stopped purchasing meat long long ago, so that expense now cover what I spend on nuts and exotic seasonal fruits.

We are having fun as a family eating healthier and experimenting with new taste...THIS IS PRICELESS:D

[Green Life]

Initially, YES! It can be very very expensive. If you purchase all the fancy machines needed to make fancy raw foods. Machines like a high speed blender 700.00; a good food processor (I bought the Big Mouth to match my big mouth, LOL! By Hamilton Beach) about 60.00; Food Dehydrator another 600.00 plus if you by added items to along with it. The list can go on and on.. it seems at first there is no hope in getting everything for the raw food way of eating.... however, since you like simple.. there really IS hope yet for you....

Usually, most grocery stores have in their produce section a discounted produce bin, to which they put ripe fruits and veggies on sale at a very fair discount. Ask your produce clerk about this next time you go shopping. I practically live off of the discounted produce that I find. You can really save a bundle that way.

Grains. You can sprout these, soak them, whatever and they are fairly inexpensive.

You've gotten some great advise. There are so many really informative threads on this, but I don't know how to get the links here for you to click on, or I would! Sorry!


Graciously,
Green Life

[Dj 247]

I have an apple tree and a cherry tree in my yard and in the past I let the fruit go to waste because I did not eat enough of it or was too busy to pick it. My brother has two plum trees and my husband's sister has some pear trees that they don't even pick and eat from. So this year I am going to go pick up their fruit and eat and juice it! Maybe you might ask around or know someone who has fruit they don't eat? We once got a ton of walnuts from a friend of my mother who said we could pick up the ones from the ground. We had walnut fudge for Christmas!

[hypnocmt]

I can certainly relate to your financial concerns, as the first time I went vegan, my grocery budget was only $11 a week. (ahhh the salad days...miss em!) I managed.

It's a matter of choice.Back then, I chose to buy clothes at the thrift stores, or make my own. (A girl only need one black cocktail dress, a tailored suit, a couple of cardigans, a few t-shirts and a pair of jeans to be able to live well and look nice with creative accessories). I saved alot of money b/c I do not drink or smoke. I drive used cars, even though I can afford more. I'd go to the midnight discount movies, or I would go to free screenings of films by artist pals, or at the University of Chicago. I rode my bike instead of paying $100 for a bus pass and gas for the car each month.


As a raw foodist, I have more spare cash, but still prefer to get by simply. I prefer a simple diet, and my polish upbringing has made me cheap as heck.

Lots of fruit.( In season, often less than $1.99 per pound)

Lots of greens (buy organic ones at costco for $3.99 for a huge tubthat lasts the week, even with two salads a day).

You can buy seeds in bulk and make tons of sprouts from nearly nothing. every pound of seeds sprouts double it original volume, so this is very economical. Sprouting jars are just Mason Jars with nylon screen over them...about $1 or less for each one. Sunflower seeds are super cheap and very easy and quick to sprout.

Bananas less than $1 per pound.\

carrots are cheap and can be used to bulk up alot of nut pates

Corn is cheap and very filling on salads or as a chowder or comfort food.

In the summer, I'll grow cherry tomatos,herbs and greens in pots on my porch. (No room for garden in funk Chicago non-yards, lol) These all grow with little maintenance. One plant yields a huge volume of food. Many orchards and berry farms have pick0your-own days which are embarassingly cheap. I like to take friends and make it into a road trip. If my freezer were bigger I would never have to buy berries at the store again. try $1.50 a pail vs. $4.99 a pint in the store....(is that a bird I hear...no, it;s just the sound of "CHEEEEEEEEPPPP!!!!")

If I were to only buy one appliance as a new raw foodist on an extreme budget, it would be a blender...preferrably one that I could use as a food processor too. Iwould buy it used from craigslist where a $400 blender can be found for $30. My blender makes healthy stuff like kale, spinach and strawberry smoothies seem like a treat rather than a treatment. Looks like a mcD's shake, tastes like sin, and does a body GOOD!


I would buy one decent chefs knife and one good paring knife. You can find decent knives at the thrift store...just sharpen them and clean em...and no one will know the difference.


All the other stuff is luxury.

It's really up to you whether you spend alot or not on this way of eating. It can be as simple or complex as you desire.

[Stina]

I'm new at this and spending an exorbitant amount of money on food right now but really have faith it will level amount to being more reasonable in the future. I'm letting myself be a Raw piggy for now- no offense to swine! I'm so desperate to feel better I reprioritized my budget and took money away from other departments. I'm living very simply, to the point of living in a 21 foot travel trailer in the woods on my friends 10 acres of land. That includes electricity and running water, no bathroom hook-ups. I could be renting an expensive apartment but it would be the majority of my income, so I choose to live like this and trust I will blossom going Raw. Hope this perspective helps.

[RawCutter]

my weekly produce bill equals what I used to spend on steak and whiskey in a night so I have no complaints about the expense of being raw.

[tdesign]

I know what you are coming from. I bill is expensive too ( $50 a week ).
You have to research.
When you get your mail of grocery papers - check on what on sale and compare.
Summer is coming and check your near farms for vege/fruits.
http://www.bulkfoods.com - nuts and dates ( research online for best prices )
http://www.wildorganics.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=66
saw this and so far the cheapest

You have to RESEARCH to save. Time in everything.

[Lay-Lay]

I grow a garden each year. I addition I do sprouts, which are very inexpenisive and full of nutrition. I also look for opportunities to pick wild stuff, like kudzu for greens, and blackberries when in season. I buy discounted fruits and veges for my green smoothies. Load up on bananas and apples. Freeze stuff so it don't go bad so I can buy in bulk to save.

[portiz]

WOW. I thought I was doing okay, but from the sounds of it, I'm still wasting money. I especially like hypnocmt's and lifeagift's ideas. I'll have to incorporate some of those into my own...thanx a bunch for sharing!

[Conscious Midwife]

My DD who's away at college spends @ $7on a bag of dried bananas. It only last her two days. So i'm more than happy to dry fruits for her in my new dehydrator which should be here by FRIDAY.

USPS shipping has a flat rate for Priority ( $8 for 70lbs.) so long as it all fits in one of two standard size boxes. So I'll ship her banana and kiwi and maybe some sweet potato chips.

I buy Olive Oil in large quantities too.

Raw Garlic at SAms is like $4.29 for like 30 bulbs and I share it with friends cause we never can finish a whole sleeve in a month.

Romaine lettuce is like 4-5 heads for $3.99 at Sam's

i know it's hard for smaller families to buy in bulk without wasting but it still comes out cheaper to buy in bulk than not to. The rest can be put in a basket for sharing at work or donated to a local food pantry.

Last year on Halloween Lowe's had HUGE pumpkins for $1 each. I bought 2 made SAD and raw pumpkin pies and froze them for Thanksgiving. They were a hit. I could've bought more and pureed formfuture use, but we prefer yam pies.

The best Strawberries and tomatoes are those sold at little corner stands by local growers...YUMMY got prices too.

Corn is usually 10 for $1 buy ahead and freeze the kernals for latter use.

Most veggies can be washed prepped and frozen for later. Just not lettuce:D

CSA offer anopther way to save

we will be investing $700 for a 25 week share this is oth it fo my size family. Some CSA will let you do alternating weeks or a half share.

[portiz]

CSA offer anopther way to save

we will be investing $700 for a 25 week share this is oth it fo my size family. Some CSA will let you do alternating weeks or a half share.
:confused:
what are you trying to say here? what is a CSA?

[Conscious Midwife]

Sorry

Community Supported Agriculture

Local Farmers who presale shares of their harvest and deliver to communities and a flat rate.

You get in season wonderful locally grown organic foods.

I'll find a link
http://www.delvinfarms.com/csa/index.html

click above and get an idea of what I am talking about.

[vwinters]

Lots of greens (buy organic ones at costco for $3.99 for a huge tubthat lasts the week, even with two salads a day).



Lots of great suggestions hypnocmt. I want to piggyback on the Costco greens idea you mentioned. I bought the organic spring mix from Costco last week. They are beautiful, fresh, they weigh one pound per container and cost $3.99. But I eat about a pound a day of greens every day blended into smoothies and yesterday I did a comparison of the price of greens. The Costco tubs are not necessarily the cheapest. You can read more about it in another post I wrote this morning (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=248993#post248993).
VW
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