How to Keep the Grocery Bill Low on the Raw Diet

You feel terrific on a raw food diet. But without careful planning, you may feel the strain on your wallet. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, a raw food diet can take your grocery bill through the roof. According to a 2007 study at the University of Washington, high-calorie, energy-dense foods (that is, junk foods) are a bargain if you are on a budget. You can, however, successfully maintain a raw diet on a low budget with a few careful strategies.

Instructions

1

Find your favorite raw recipes in raw food preparation books or at an online forum. Start with a few dozen recipes that use raw foods you enjoy. Include a good, everyday green salad. Eliminate recipes that use hard-to-find ingredients and if you can't find readily available substitutions for them.

2

Prepare a list of staples -- items you should have on hand at all times. Buy items that have longer shelf life like agave, nuts and seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, and liquid aminos. Look for cheap ingredients like bananas, sunflower seeds, carrots, onions, homegrown sprouts, and flax seed. Buy vegetables and fruits that are in season and on sale.

3

Research low-cost sources. Go to club or warehouse stores, farmer's markets and ethnic markets. Talk to the produce managers; they may help by offering to sell you overripe bananas or letting you know when to find the best selection. Also, there may be a cash-and-carry store in your city that serves the wholesale restaurant buyer.

4

Plan your menus each week, taking into consideration your favorite whole foods and meal preferences. For example, do you prefer sweet fruits for breakfast and heavier foods for lunch and dinner? If you are new to raw diet, you may be constantly hungry and eat more than you ever thought possible. If you know you will eat a ton of avocados, you can keep your grocery bills low by purchasing a case at a warehouse store rather than buying them individually at a higher cost.

5

Shop wisely and often. On a raw diet, you will need to shop every three days or so to minimize spoilage. Head straight to the produce section and avoid the inner aisles. In particular, avoid your gourmet market's raw food section. Those tempting treats are way too expensive. Make your own flax crackers for dimes, not dollars. If you can afford it, though, buy organic thin-skinned produce, such as lettuce, bell peppers, berries and apples.

6

Store foods well to preserve freshness. Slice overripe bananas to freeze for smoothies. Place ripe avocados in the refrigerator. This slows the ripening process so that they can be used over the next week. If an avocado is about to go south, peel it, mash it and freeze it in an airtight container. Use it within a month for guacamole or in a raw dressing. Identify the ripest tomato and put it on the counter to use today. Regularly go through your refrigerator's produce drawer for items that are about to expire. Use or juice whatever you can.

7

Reduce waste. Raw diets encourage minimalism and low impact on the planet. You may be able to reduce some of the ingredients in your favorite recipes without sacrificing taste. For example, reduce your grocery bill for almond milk by using just a third cup of almonds per quart, not the whole cup recommended. When a recipe calls for agave, try leaving it out or cutting the amount by half. Avocados are filling but high in calories. If you don't need the energy, reduce the amount of avocado that you use in your salads.