2010 resolution - The raw budget gormet...:)

[T-Bird]

OK - here it is....


Eating raw for as cheap as possible, as organic as possible, as yummy as possible. A few were interested in brainstorming and benchmarking with me, so here we go...

My goal is to feed myself raw and as organic as possible on 200/month. 40/week on produce, and every 2 months, I can order some specialty items online for a total of 80.

It'll be pretty tight.....but I'm hoping to make it even lower after getting into the swing of things....and gardening in the spring-fall .....and container gardening now....pulled in several frozen containers, put some lambsquarters seeds on one that is thawed, waiting for the others to thaw....they don't do it quick.....

What's your goal?

[krikit]

I feed my family of 4 on 200$ a month. Of course i am the only raw person and i mess up daily. We are all soy/dairy/egg/meat free. Not vegan as raw goats milk is consumed and raw cheeses.

But here it is............ twice a year i spend 400 dollars on nuts/seeds/legumes/grains. Most of this goes in my ginormous freezer My yearly budget down to 1600 now. June through november i am pulling much of our own foods fromthe 6 raised beds i tend. In those months our grocery is about 100 a month. which brings us to 1000. And in the lack of gardening months our grocery is about 150ish.

My personal goal for the new year is to be better about eating raw and to add a regular exercise routine. And to get to my goal weight with using the raw diet. 40 lbs to go!!!

[kathy8429]

I too am on a TIGHT budget. I'm not sure I can buy produce for less then 40 a week. Plus about 100-200 every 3-4 months for nuts/seeds. Its hard for me to even find organic, I live in a small town about 30 miles north of civilization. So if I want to buy really good stuff I need to add in gas money.
I am going to plant a container garden this sumer and freeze some of my bounty. I think I can freeze/ dehydrate enough zucchini, tomatoes and maybe a couple other things to last me a good part of the winter. I want to check into growning some greens year around in the house.
We planted several fruit trees and bushes last summer so if they survive this winter I should have fruit starting maybe a little this summer.
This thread should be great!
Kathy

[sprouts2go]

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it.

[T-Bird]

First Saturday of the new year! I'm off to STanleys for my first $40 limited produce buy.

This will be interesting....

I have some leftovers still at the house, will pick carefully to coordinate.....

[margoss]

I don't spend that much on nuts. I found a store that reduces produce daily. I stop by there when I'm up that way.....like 3 mangos ofr 1.25 / avaocados . 30 each / organic bananas .35 pd. It's a secret, I don't tell anyone bc it'll all be gone!! It keeps in the fridge well. I've cut my spending a great deal. I still have a great deal in the freezer from the summer. many figs...need to get them out.

[T-Bird]

Success! sucking down a pineapple spinach smoothie......finally - been missing it.

Not organic, but most of my haul was.


Interestingly - was how much more carefully I picked out the produce....quality-wise, inspecting each piece...

...and thought about combinations, made sure I had enough for 7 lg GSes and salads.......

got what I needed to make 2 sheets of onion bread and 2 of tomato basil bread.....

We'll see how far this all lasts.....but I'm feeling pretty confident. Now I just need to clean out the fridge to get it all in there....:p

[Traceyraw]

I found an organic buying club. I live in S.Florida. You get a huge box of organic produce fruits, veggies, and greens for $45 for a full share. Annie Organic Buying Club. At whole foods it would easily cost about $75.

[anniez]

Costco has 1 lb boxes of organic spinach and organic baby greens and 10 lb bags of organic carrots. I do a green smoothie every day and a veggie juice every day, so that really helps my budget. Then I always check the grocery fliers for what produce is on sale. Sometimes it's organic, but mostly not.

This helps me know what MUST be organic:

Twelve cleanest non organic

Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Corn
Eggplant
Kiwi
Mangos
Onions
Papaya
Peas (sweet
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Watermelon

Twelve Riskiest foods

Apples
Bell Peppers
Carrots
Celery
Cherries
Imported Grapes
Kale
Leafy Greens
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Red Raspberries
Spinach
Strawberries

My supermarket also sometimes has marked down produce and especially bananas and tomatoes (both on the safe list) can be really inexpensive. I always prepare what I can get on sale or inexpensively. I have been raw long enough and have worked through enough of Alissa's book that I can do this and not waste anything.

And that's an absolute must: don't waste anything and don't let it go bad!

Great thread!

Annie

[Luda in Georgia]

Really great thread!

I too live in an area that one has to travel for organic. I have to drive towards Atlanta (Duluth) to find the closest Whole Foods and there is no such thing as affordable produce there.

My local Kroger has organic produce, but I can't walk out of there for less than $40 a shopping trip. Either I'll have to cut back on my juicing or go lower percentage of raw until Summer arrives.

Last summer I got one of those upsidedown tomato growers...wow! talk about output...and now I discover I can also grow eggplant and such in them!:D

I keep telling myself not to feel guilty for not eating 100% organic, but then that little voice keeps popping in to say, "yeah, but what about the soil it was grown in???" which defeats the purpose of raw.

[Dimond]

Realizing I can't do as low fat a diet as I want due to money issues. Takes an awful lot of fruit to make it work. Am going to do my best to get close though.


I live in S.Florida. You get a huge box of organic produce fruits, veggies, and greens for $45 for a full share. Annie Organic Buying Club. At whole foods it would easily cost about $75. I miss when they use to have door-to-door delivery (as Delicious Organics). It was the best service ever and you could pick exactly what you want from their website. Reasonable fee too. I don't do any clubs at this point because I need to be able to make specific choices. Maybe in the future, though I hope for better options by then.