Did your grocery bills change when you went raw?

[InterfaceLeader]

For the people who went raw - did you find yourself spending more or less? A quick summary of what you used to eat, and what you now eat and your average bill per week or month would be useful.

I would like to try a raw trial, but right now my finances are very tight and I'm not sure shifting away from vegetable soup is my best option :P

[funchy]

I worried it might. And at first I was upset at the $ I was spending on food. I am on week 2 of my 30 day raw.

Here is my opinion so far:

Most people eat fastfood several times a week. A McValue Meal is about $5 and has almost no nutritional value. I can make a fresh raw salad with goodies for under $5. If you're in a hurry get a prewashed salad bag (eg. Dole) for $2.50 and add some goodies, and you're still under that $5. I can get also premade fresh fruit salad for $3-4 if I don't have time to make my own.

Most people have dinner out or pizza delivered 1-2x a week. If I include tax, delivery fee, and tip and then divide out per person, it was averaging $12-15 just for my meal (an eggplant dinner or pizza/fries). I cam make ALOT of tahini, fruit salad, and fruit-seed mix for $12 and have several "meals" out of it.

When I had cooked dinners I was using precut, prepackaged, pre-processed ingredients. The more convenient a food is, the more it costs. The most convenient, TV dinners, cost $2-5. I can make an awesome raw fruit salad for that money.

It's a little harder eating out now, so I resign myself to just a basic little salad. The funny thing is that a garden salad most places has been costing me $2.50 - $4.50, while entrees usually were $9-11. And with ordering icewater instead of soft drink, I can go out to eat with friends at a restaurant for under $5. If I want dessert, a fresh fruit cup is not any more costly than the pie my friends ordered.

My beverage bill went way down. I admittedly lived off sodas. If you figure how much you spend on sodas at convenience stores ($1.50ea) and 2-liters at home, I was probably spending $3-4 a day just on this vice. Cost of water: $0

The only thing that does cost is that raw fresh food is very perishable. It's a bit of a learning curve to figure out how much fruit/veggies I can buy at once without stuff going bad. I still make mistakes from time to time, and it's annoying when food goes fuzzy. But it does make me wonder how I could've been eating Velveeta which never ever turns moldy... how can a food not turn fuzzy? It really makes you think about how "alive" or "real" foods are.


Overall I don't think it's that big of a cost difference. And since I'm eating mainly from one department, it's easier for me to notice which stores have good prices. I've found a farmer's market with .25/lb bananas, for example, so I visit there once a week.

[Fullcrum]

About fruit...some fruits appreciate in value as time passes. Like bananas, for example. The more overripe, the tastier. Just not totally brown, but I love the super-soft, thin-skinned really ripe and covered in brown spots bananas.

I think people living this way should put effort towards finding a nearby farmer's market as soon as possible, and also maybe seek wild greens in the area to collect once a week.