I already wrote this in my "Nutrition" Blog, but I thought I'd re-iterate here: Eating raw doesn't have to be expensive. When I was initially starting out I was spending more than I'd like on groceries per week, because I was trying to get a feel for things I did like, things I didn't like... and that naturally costs money! However, now that I've tried out various things, I've settled on a comfortable medium of staples that I enjoy, and are not expensive.
FruitI was initially spending a lot money on fruit because I would eat fruit for breakfast instead of eggs, toast, cereal, etc, and fruit doesn't keep you full for too long. However, I don't really spend a lot of money on fruit nowadays because I start the day with a mug of tea and don't typically eat breakfast anymore until around 10 or 11 am, and it's usually ONE fruit, rather than 4 or 5. This week my breakfast will consist of banana-spinach smoothies made with organic rice milk. Get this: 10 bananas cost me $2.87.
VegetablesI was spending a lot of money on produce as well because I bought more than I needed. I only go through about 2 bell peppers a week, maybe 2-3 hot house tomatoes, and 1/2 an onion. I used to also through in things like dried cranberries, nuts, or other fruit. My new staples include avocado, tomato, pepper, onion, and sliced mushrooms. Avocados, when on sale, can be as low as $0.48 each, and a tray of sliced mushrooms is only $1.99. I either buy bagged or boxed spinach, depending on how I feel. I seem to go through spinach/lettuce very quickly, so I thought I'd rather get a box of baby spinach this week: $3.99/312g. Sometimes I buy things like Kale or Collards, and beets, but that's not too often. Earlier this month I was buying a lot of squash for soup, but that's only about $2 or so each.
MeatI bought a box of frozen chicken breasts in September. I've used maybe 2. I bought a salmon fillet 2 weeks ago. I don't spend a lot of money on meat or cheese. I did buy goat cheese this week though, for a bit of variety.
BreadI try to avoid buying bread and crackers because I usually eat them quite quickly! I bought a 4-pack box of Premium Plus crackers about a month ago, and finished the box in 4 days. Yikes. This week, I have Tomato-Basil tortillas.
OtherI don't really buy soy milk anymore, but sometimes I buy almond milk or in this week's case, rice milk. I get the 946 mL tetrapak boxes because I only use milk in the morning with my smoothies. I used to buy a lot of nuts (almonds, walnuts) and dried fruit (dates, cranberries), but I realize I eat these too quickly, so I'm trying to steer clear of them for a while. I do, however, enjoy goji berries, and raw pumpkin seeds in soups and salads, so I buy those every so often.
This week my grocery bill came to $27.43; that's a vast improvement over my past few grocery bills ($40-60). There is some initial cost in going raw (i.e. buying spices, sea salt, seeds for salads, lemon juice, honey/maple syrup, etc), but some things last a long time, and you also learn what you feel is necessary or excess for daily living. I have everything I need for this week, and I spent less than $30. That's awesome.
If you click on the picture, you can see how the zucchini really does resemble angel-hair pasta!
