Is Eating Raw Till 4 Expensive?
I see a lot of talk, and get a lot of questions from others, saying that eating raw till 4 is expensive. This is one of those questions that makes me shake my head. Eating raw fruit shouldn’t be any more expensive than eating processed crap. And it isn’t. Most times.
Yes, organic fruits and vegetables can be pretty expensive relative to conventional and gmo produce. I’ll give you that. However, I am starting to see a trend towards sales on organic produce in local grocery chain stores! Every week there seems to be more sales on organic fruits and veggies. When you see a good sale, buy it up big! No excuses.
I’ll admit, I don’t always buy everything organic, as it can really add up. Here’s a list of things I don’t buy organic, and usually buy in bulk at BJ’s, which is like Costco:
- Grapefruits
- Oranges
- Bananas (they do have organic bananas, but I don’t trust foreign countries to police organic growers)
- Pineapple
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Frozen Mango
- Frozen Blueberries
Here’s a small list of things I ALWAYS buy Organic:
- Apples
- Pears
- Peaches
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Spinach
- Lettuces
- Carrots
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Strawberries
The great thing about the Raw Till 4 program is that you can focus on mono meals for your breakfast and lunch. I personally LOVE banana smoothies, with a few dates, maybe some pineapple and an orange, and of course, 2 cups of spinach. None of these cost a lot per meal! If you like bananas like I do, your daily food costs go down like a rock.
You can swap in different fruits to your meals, depending on season. So sometimes Mango’s are super cheap so buy and eat a ton of those. Other times of year, cantaloupe is cheap. Eat that. You get the idea, just stock up on the cheapest produce of the day. Bananas are cheap year round so of course they are MY staple.
If you get an exceptional deal on a fruit or veggie, buy tons and freeze whatever you can’t eat before it spoils.
Buy pastas and rice in bulk when on sale at your local grocer, AND always check Amazon for pastas and rice, for great prices and free shipping. I buy this Organic Gluten Free Corn pasta all the time.
What It Cost Yesterday on Raw Till 4 Program
RT4 Breakfast
6 Banana Smoothie with 1 navel orange, 2 medjool dates, 1 c pineapple, 2 cups spinach
Cost: $2.90
RT4 Lunch
7 Banana Smoothie with 4 dates and 4 large strawberries
Cost: $2.11
RT4 Snack
3 cups of watermelon
Cost: $0.65
RT4 Cooked Dinner
1.5 cups corn pasta, 14 oz crushed tomatoes, 1 zucchini, 1 corn on cob, 1/4 red pepper, green salad
Cost: $5.13
Total Cost: $10.79
So, is eating Raw Till 4 expensive?
Adding up the above meal costs, this day my total food cost was only $10.79. I ate a large volume of food, and calories, was always full, and never craving any sweets. Unless you’re eating a can of tuna for breakfast, lunch and dinner I don’t think you can eat for less than $10.79.
Picture of above list for pinterest.
I realize not everyone likes bananas, and even if they do, they may not like bananas for breakfast and lunch EVERY day. So you mix it up with mango’s or some other favorite fruit. Mangoes will certainly raise the cost of your breakfast up, unless you live in a mango producing area!
I would love to see how much it is costing you to eat. Go ahead and share your Raw Till 4 food expenses on our Facebook page.
Dude $10.79 a day! That is $323.70 a month! I only budget $100.00 a month on groceries right now that is more than triple what I spend. I’m a college student who is not on a meal plan and I can’t afford $323.00 a month for my groceries. That is more than I get in one pay check from my part time job. I only get two pay checks a month and I have to pay bills and for school. So that is expensive sir. I wish I could be raw til 4 but I have no money so some tips would help
I’m curious how you could spend less than $10 a day on a conventional/junk food/processed food diet?
I’m not trying to bash this diet or anything, and I’ve come across this to try and live a healthier lifestyle as well. I live in the USA where it IS cheaper to live with an unhealthy diet. For a month of groceries I could buy: cereal (1.99/box)+ milk (8.99/gal) + bread (2.50)(x2) + meat (3.79/pkg)(x3) + pizza (1.00)(x15) + cheese (2.99) + snacks (0.89-3.99) (x4) + frozen dinner (2.50/meal)(x30) = ~$136.30 /30 days = $4.54 per day.
I know it’s incredibly unhealthy, but not everyone can afford to have $10 meals (it’s probably why obesity is a problem in the US). This is what I used to buy on my college budget. It’s an honest answer to your question. Please don’t take it as criticism.
I agree Jemma, it is difficult to eat healthy on a budget. But it’s not impossible, and in the long term it will be cheaper than all the medical problems and prescription drugs expenses that the average unhealthy eater will incur down the road.
Can you have the Nutritional yeast?
It is not recommended on raw till 4. You can read about it here: http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/nutritional-yeast-1
I was wondering about after your dinner? I normally eat 6-9 meals a day already and I am Vegan…
Is there no food intake after dinner? If so, what kinds of foods should be eaten? I would like to give this lifestyle a try, however I am a competitive bodybuilder so I don’t know if this would be the best method for building muscles?? Have you had any feedback from bodybuilders? I definitely love fruit!!! Thanks for your help! 🙂
Hi Amy, sorry, I don’t know anything about bodybuilding, and haven’t had any contact from anyone involved in bodybuilding, who is eating raw till 4. You may want to try contacting Freelee the banana girl, she may have info on that.
You got to live! I enjoy red wine here and there. Of course the hard care raw till 4’ers will jump all over you if you admit that. But I’ve got a thick skin. Eating out on the other hand, that is a difficult one! Good luck!
Getting sick is what is expensive, if you ask me. People don’t think about that. You can always find a way to save money on a raw food diet and I mean A LOT of money! Compared to when I first started eating raw and now, I now spend much less money for my food.
Every beginning is difficult, but when we get used to it (and learn about the new ways to shop) it gets so easy and it is so REWARDING.
I have been a low fat raw vegan for more than 3 years now and I love it. Still. 🙂 ♥
Tasha, what were the ways that you learned to spend way less? This is a lifestyle that I have been considering for a long time but definitely don’t have $300 a month to spend on food. I have been on medical leave for over 15 months due to complications with my back surgery 2 years ago. I have no income and my husband doesn’t make much. So any tips in saving money would be greatly appreciated.
Eating a whole food plant based diet is very affordable. I am looking into how expensive it actually is to eat healthfully as I enter my college years. I calculated the following expenses for 1 week of groceries:
10 lb bag of (not organic) potatoes X 1= $2.94
49 bananas (not organic) (7 a day) @ .19 each= $9.31
1 bag frozen organic mango chunks= $12
1 160z carton organic spinach= $5
2 lbs broccoli= $2.88 (for organic, budget $3.97)
1 pkg white mushrooms= $2
1 lb tomatoes= $2.98
1 lb carrots= .58
This totals to $37.69 a week and $150.76 a month.
Breakfast: 7 banana smoothie with 28 pieces of mango chunks and 1 cup spinach
Lunch: Steamed Broccoli with tomato and carrots to flavor
Dinner: 4 potatoes, baked (slice first) with a few mushrooms
Chronometer shows this as meeting 84% of daily nutrient targets.
The great thing about a plant based diet is you might not need to buy all of this every week. The potatoes could last over a week and so could the carrots and mango chunks. Depending on where you shop, you might even be able to save more. The next week you could buy a big bag of rice if you still have potatoes. There are so many ways you could make this work.
This particular plan would leave me a little undercarbed, but at least it is healthier than a conventional diet. Considering the average american citizen spends $151 per week on groceries, this would be no different economically.
I decided to re-think my grocery list, removing the mango chunks and instead opting to buy a 5 lb bag of brown rice and 5 lbs of yams. The new list looks like this:
10 lb bag potatoes=$2.94
49 bananas @ $0.19 each=$9.31
16 oz carton spinach= $5
5 lb bag of brown rice=$3.38
5 lbs of yams @ $0.92 a pound= $4.60
2 lbs broccoli= $2.88
1 pkg white mushrooms= $2
1 lb tomatoes= $2.98
1 lb of carrots= $0.58
This totals to $33.67 a week, $134.68 a month, and $4.49 a day (5 cents cheaper per day than the conventional diet plan offered earlier in this post).
With these changes:
Breakfast: 7 banana smoothie with 1 cup spinach
Lunch: steamed Broccoli with carrots and a yam
Dinner: 4 potatoes, a cup of rice with tomato, yam and mushroom mixed in.
This totals to 2013 calories a day, meeting 87% of daily nutrient targets according to chronometer. Wow! You could even have more rice!