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raw on a budget

I am new to raw and am trying to find a ballence that will work for our family. My biggest challenge is the cost of quality produce and other raw foods. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to share with me?

I buy the top 12 dirty dozen produce (from www.foodnews.com) in organics or not at all. But that includes all my greens, apples and other stuff I use for juicing. I’m going to try some green smoothies this week and that should be a little cheaper than juicing I think.

Comments

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    i read in a book on juicing that if you are going to use non-organic produce it’s best to juice it because the pesticides and chemicals stick to the fibers, not the juice.

    there was another forum on this topic. check in the new to raw section or try typing in some key words in “forums”

    what helps me is to keep things as simple as possible. produce doesn’t have to be that expensive, even organic. find out which ones you get more mileage out of. you don’t need to buy any of the fancy raw imports (like gogi berries, chia seeds, online nuts, etc…) to be raw.

  • Thanks! It is tempting to want to try out all the expensive and fancy things that ppl mention on here. I do NEED to find a source for young coconuts. I had one from the healthfood store and it was soooo amazing. Better than ice cream! :)

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    You can includes more seeds, and fewer nuts, since they tend to be more economical, esp. flax, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Hemp seeds are an exception – wonderfully healthy for you, but pricey.

    When I buy online, I try to buy in bulk so that I won’t have to order anytime soon and pay the exorbitant shipping costs. :)

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I have been comparason shopping. trader joes is pretty cheap for somethings like avocados, bags of lemons and stuff. but I don’t get greens from them.

    I get whatever greens are on sale, my local coop had spinach 2 for $3 which is super cheap for them.

    I checked out the asian super-market and noted the things that were much cheaper than the other stores and got ginger and bean sprouts, there.

    the farmer’s market is also cheaper for greens but i can’t get there every week. we are looking into a CSA for the summer.

    So I guess my tips would be to comparison shop, try the asian markets, and farm stands in the summer.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    some things to think about: sprouting, gardening, dumpster diving (some stores leave produce in boxes behind the store overnight, some is only slightly bruised), working part time at a food coop or grocery store to get discounts, buying more of items on sale and only a tiny bit of the expensive stuff. that being said – i spend $90-$120 a week on organic groceries for myself. so… yeah, i just spend the money and i guess i’m just thankful i have it, it’s hard to spend that much.

  • I can attest to the dumpster diving. I do this behind my local health food store. They usually dump stuff several days a week, and if I hit up the store just before it opens, I usually luck out. I managed to score a box of bruised papayas last Friday. :) Just have to remove the offending bits. Yeah, this isn’t for everyone, but as a single mom I’m on a serious budget and I do what I can.

    I also have two pecan trees in my yard, so I feel blessed to have more pecans than I can possibly use.

    I am going to start gardening this year, and for everything else, I just buy what’s on sale and hope for the best.

  • roxiroxi Raw Newbie

    I spend roughly $50-100 a week. Depending on if I need things that last a month but are pricey. I only buy organic raw food for myself and not my husband. He says it cost too much and refuses to eat it. He goes to walmart and buys his junk food. Ugh! Hopefully he comes around, maybe when we make more money?? I do what pianissima does. I buy the simple things. The exotic stuff is way too much. Plus, every time I have tried something like that, I end up not eating it and it goes to waste. Example: gogi berries. Anyways, I’m sure you will find a happy medium. It just takes trial and error.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    roxi- sorry to hear about your husband’s disinterest in organic. my boyfriend eats meat, but he enjoys making a big organic salad every day, and often snacks on the organic fruit I stock up on. i agree on the exotic stuff not being worth it. the only fancy things I buy are: larabars, premade flax crackers, raw honey, raw nuts, raw almond butter, dates. i spend a lot since I use some food for my guinea pigs, some for my boyfriend. but I also don’t limit myself – it’s possibly to buy only what’s on sale or cheaper organic, like lots of cabbage. but instead, i go for variety of veg/fruit/greens, and the fancy things above, so it’s a bit more pricey.

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