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Poor college student...

honeywaterhoneywater Raw Newbie

I sooo want to become 100% raw, but I have a hard time even being like 50%. I have two minimum wage jobs and I’m paying for school all by myself. I also have my own apartment which I can hardly afford. When it comes to food, I can afford like a couple packs of ramen and cheap junk food to fill up on for awhile. I do NOT want to eat like this, but fruits and vegetables are so expensive around here, and organic is INSANE! we don’t have any farmer’s markets, either and since I’m in an apartment I can’t grow my own (I don’t even know how to garden or what I could start to do in August).

Gahhh, tips, help, anything? :/

Comments

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Let people know where in the country you are. They can tell you where to go to get cheapest stuff. Trader joes has bagged organics that are competitively priced. Simplicity is the key – and bananas. But yeah it cna get expensive maybe people will have suggestions. I go to three stores and buy the cheapest/biggest fruit, knowing who usually has what.

  • I totally know where you are coming from! It’s been difficult for me, too, and I’m anxious to see what ideas others will offer. For about a month and half I was living on vending machine food. Haha I know, ew, but the items only cost $1 or so! Good luck

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    There have been tons of threads that you might find useful. Search on “college” (lots of college folks on here), “dumpster” (how to dumpster dive safely), etc. Both of these keywords will get you to threads with lots of ideas.

  • I’ve been spoiled in the first month ive been raw. Since I’m home my parents buy me whatever food I need, plus there are several local farmers markets around here. Im scared to go back up to school! The $ is one thing, but also availability. Especially in the winter months… The thought of Walmart produce makes a SAD diet sound good.

  • This might sound like doing it on the cheap, but see if you can find a Food Not Bombs around the area, or a Food Co-Op.

    Basically Food Not Bombs only really does it once or twice a week, but its free food, and the FNB around here serves a lot of raw food, and the cooked foods they usually do serve is soups made from whole veggies and fruits!

    With the Co-op here they ask just 2hours a month of volunteering for loads of food every week, most raw some not!

  • heathermarsbombheathermarsbomb Raw Newbie

    Sprouts!!!! So cheap. So nutritious AND you only need a small area in your kitchen. Kale is usually cheap as well as collards and other greens.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Ask a local farmer if you can work for food… do several hours a week for a food share. Or, dumpster dive – even rawmodel.com did it! He went behind org. grocery stores and got greens, produce.

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    I’d add to get foraging. Get out into the hills and fields if you can. Nature’s bounty is free for the picking and there are loads of wild yummies now from berries to dandelion etc. Just make sure you know what you’re picking.

  • I’m going to college this fall and by no means will I be giving up raw…. I will not be instantly wealthy either….Solution Carte Blanche meal plan.Paid right in my tution bill. Many colleges have Salad Bars and fruit bars, some even organic. Part of the reason I chose the colllege i did was so I could still eat raw.I can tell you right now if I had to resort to being the nut with all the plants in her dorm room I’d struggle with it. Plus the conditions of the dorms I will be living in aren’t good for growing things. and there is no room…and I would be so hungery. I live where it snow alot maybe I will have a month of college life where It won’t be snowing. The end of AUg the Farmers Market closes down. I also live in a poor area where dumpsters don’t have food in them because it all is given to the local food Pantry. Anyway that is my 2 cents…

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I don’t have the solution – yet – but I just wanted to say I feel for ya! I started mostly raw by eating the cheapest fruits & veggies in the summer, and lots of sprouted grains to fill up on. People say greens are cheap, but for me it was a lot of money for a very few calories, so I went about 2 1/2 years eating greens MAYBE once a week, and even that seemed expensive. I used sunflower seeds and almost never ate nuts because they were so much more expensive. If you ARE going to eat cooked food, black beans are cheap & filing, and a lot more nutritious than Ramen ;)

  • greenghostgreenghost Raw Newbie

    yeah… being financially strapped sucks. I can relate. I pay bills and buy food. That’s it.(and I’m still in debt)
    Can’t remember the last time I bought clothing or anything like that (or the last time I could afford to go anywhere fun).
    I agree with angie – if you have to eat cooked food, black beans are really cheap. They are also rather versatile… You can add them to salads, make dips, and make a really good hummus with them… etc…etc..

  • Just curious, angie and greenghost, why black beans? There are so many other types of beans, too, and they all seem to be pretty cheap! I heard someone else suggesting eating black beans, also. Just kind of wondering why.

  • greenghostgreenghost Raw Newbie

    Hi pulse -hmmmm why black beans? i dunno really. I guess I just have always really liked black beans. Garbanzo beans & pinto beans have great flavor too. Never really cared for Kidney beans though.
    And now I rarely eat any beans at all… because of the enzyme inhibitors and because they only ever tasted good when they were cooked (sprouted ones are, to me, just “ok”).

  • Hey,heathermarsbomb, Just curious, are you sprouting beans or grains? Which ones work the best for you? And do you blend them in soups or smoothies or eat them on salads-? I’m pretty new to raw and eager to hear a lot of what works for people…

  • itouristitourist Raw Newbie

    When I was younger, I did the ramen, oatmeal, pop tart budget thing.

    Going raw is actually better for your budget in the long run because you won’t spend extra money on clothes (you’ll look good in all clothes), you won’t spend extra money on skin products, you’re not buying sodas, you won’t be eating the junk college students eat (pizza, burgers) and you’ll gain a greater sense of calm. Your confidence will soar.

    Bananas and oranges are on the list of fruits that don’t have much pesticide use. I think I’d find a way to stay at least 50% raw and avoid chemicals and dairy for the part of your diet that is not raw.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    maybe instead of greens you could do sprouts, it’s the poor man’s salad. you can certainly grow some in a few days. shop around, find where is cheap to get fruits. as far as cooked food, quinoa or rice is what i would recommend. beans are very difficult to digest.

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