Tips to a Raw Food diet on a Buget

I have so many people ask me about the cost of eating a Raw Food organic lifestyle, and the perception is that its expensive.

I believe that a raw food diet it is no more expensive than a conventional meat, dairy, packaged food standard Australian diet. Once you add meat in families diet, yogurt, packaged cereals, milk etc.. the money saved on not eating these foods is simply transferred to organic produce, nuts and seeds and organic fruit and vegetables.  When it gets expensive is when people want to include both in their diet. In our case we eat 95% and more of raw foods. Our weekly shop is 80% fruits and vegetables. Our compost bin is overflowing not our rubbish bins!

Sourcing raw food can be a challenge, especially in the early stages of learning what works – and it is normally the case when someone goes raw they want to make all the nut based deserts and raw versions of conventional food – dehydrated etc…and this is where it can become expensive. However when you continue on a high raw diet your body craves less of these nuts and seeds and fresh products becomes the main part of your diet ( less dehydrating and less raw deserts )!

I also find it interesting when people ask about the costs of blenders and dehydrators – A cheaper dehydrator can cost no less than a microwave -  and yet a dehydrator produces beautiful raw live food. A blender can cost the same as a coffee machine – yet a blender can help produce alkalizing smoothies for the whole family!  Its just a matter of where priorities lie.

As a very high raw family of two adults and a 2 year old we spend about $200 a week fresh produce and $150 (averaged) on staples like almonds for almond milk, coconut oil, nuts and seeds etc.. It averages $350 a week.

I have to be honest the biggest trick is knowing where to get your items.  For example we discovered a local organic grower – We spend $120 for two boxes weekly and it is all organic.
The Raw Food Mum_ rawfoodslocalgrower

We do small top ups at our local organic store.  I do shop between Woolworths for a few small items and our local wholefoods store for the extra top ups.

Bulk Order_raw food mum

We buy in bulk for nuts like almonds, walnuts, seeds. The above picture has lasted us for five months it cost us $1000 ( I posted this picture in May on fb)  and we have just had to order more almonds (October)

raw almonds bulk - the raw food mum
We purchase 10Kg of nuts at a time – we keep all out nuts and seeds in the fridge to ensure they don’t go rancid.

The cost of 10kg of Organic Almonds ordered bulk works out to be anywhere from $21-23kg for organic.

Eating Raw on a Budget tips..

  • grow your greens, including sprouts.
  • if you don’t have the space – join a community garden – they are a great way to connect with other green thumbs.

growyourown

  • Price ingredients you use frequently at the different stores that you shop at and do a comparison.
  • Order Bulk online -often the savings that you get for the product greatly out-weighs the cost of shipping. Many places will cover shipping on orders that are big enough as well.
  • Buy your raw food locally – source a local grower.
  • Shop at markets – especially at the bigger markets shopping at the end of they day they often have bargains!

shopatmarkets

  • Join a local food co-op group or start one.
  • Join a local raw food meetup group – connect with other people who are leading the same lifestyles and share knowledge.
  • Purchase fruit that is about to be thrown out – its great for  smoothies.
  •  Plan ahead – meal plans – I have to be honest I am not very good at this but I do want to start doing more meal plans.
  • Be aware of the dirty dozen  – you don’t have to always buy organic!
  • Ferment your own foods.
  • Learn about new foods, different methods of food preparation, go  at your own speed, experiment to see what works best for you and your lifestyle and your budget.

So there are some tips!  Hope they are little helpful and if you have any tips please share below:) I would love to know your tips and tricks too

Sarah x