you save lots of money by not buying ‘junk food” and all the milk based food (cheese, milk, etc.), and all the pastries, cookies : full of sugar, etc… so eating PALEO at the end is cheaper…. Lona Holbrook Herzliya Israel
JeanineB.Holbrook
My family has discovered that because we aren’t eating out as often (we’ve rediscovered how tasty just meat and veg can be), we’re breaking even. Average weekly food bill for our family of three is about $70-80. Certainly doable!
Ryan
This was actually one of my main concerns. I was a little worried after seeing the shopping lists for the first time. It wasn’t entirely obvious that this is for two people following the diet until I did a bit more digging. So that eased my initial concerns a bit.
If the shopping lists pointed out the ingredients and spices that are on the staple list, it would also help a bit with the perception that it’s expensive.
Ultimately, with how often my fiancee and I would eat out, this is definitely going to be less expensive. I am still new, so after a couple weeks I’ll come back and let everyone know what I did to cut costs.
@Ryan – That is super affordable. Would you be willing to tell us if you’re eating organic or pasture raised products? Just wondering if you’re buying in bulk or buying conventional. That info is super helpful for people. Thanks!
I’d also like to know where Ryan shops; I just did my first weeks shopping (Week2) at Trader Joes and Whole Foods and spent $430. Didn’t buy the shrimp at $18 per pound.Thanks
Our first week plus staples was about $400 at Whole Foods and a few things at Kroger. We were buying for 3 adults though.
Our second week was closer to $325, again at Whole Food & Kroger. I know we are “saving” money vs going out to eat, but this has almost doubled our food budget per week.
Is there anyway to save? We’ve looked into butchers etc but they seem to be about the same price. I’ve looked into buy 1/4 cow etc, but haven’t found anyone close…maybe I’m not looking in the right area.
l l l l I have a Soyabella milk maker not for making soymilk anymore but for making almond milk or grinding the nuts into a semi-coarse flour. I just made the carrot banana muffins with this and they came out fantastic. The almond milk separates easily but if you want to do without all the added stuff in the bought kind, this is the way to go. You can also use other nuts and sunflower seeds. I also have a vitamix but it doesn’t work as well for grinding a small amount of nuts. I’ve tried making my own nutbutters first by grinding the nuts in the soyabella and then putting it in the vitamix along with palm oil or coconut oil and honey and sea salt. It takes some time and is messy but it does save money. Living in the midwest, I can get pecans and walnuts locally and usually cheaper than almonds. I never hear about the nutrition of pecans.
This reply was modified 110 days ago by lbgardener. Reason: The top is cut off
This reply was modified 110 days ago by lbgardener.
My husband and I have just started Paleo and are spending about $50.00 a week on groceries. However, that includes a lot of fresh organic produce – which is in small supply in our rural area, so we pay a heavier price for it. We try to catch our protein sources on sale at our local stores and buy in bulk when they prices are lower.
Kim
I just started eating primal/paleo about two weeks ago. I spent more these first couple of week simply because I was getting myself set up with items/food that I didn’t already have. Now that my pantry is stocked, my food bill is going down again. I won’t see a true weekly average until next month now that everything is starting to settle into a new normal with our food budget. Like many, I can’t afford to buy grass fed beef unless it’s on sale, so the majority of our meat comes from the regular market. I only every buy from the discounted meat bin, buying leaner cuts of meat or trimming off the excess fat for others cuts of meats as recommended because of the poor 6:3 ratio of fat in typical store bought meat. I do have a source for grass fed beef, where I can purchase 1/4 of a cow, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to start doing that as we will need to buy a freezer first to store it. Buying it this way will cost us $3.99 lb., which sounds good to me, but I’ve never purchased beef in this way before so I’m not sure.
I bought everything for Week 1 of the Quickstart Plan at Fairway in Manhattan yesterday and it cost me $308 for 2 people. We didn’t buy organic vegetables, but bought grass-fed beef/organic chicken.
I almost passed out at the register but I figure we’ll save money by not going out to eat. Plus, my health is worth it, right?
Rachel
Rachel,
Yes, your health is definitely worth it! But also, you probably bought a lot of staples in that first trip that you won’t have to buy again for a while. So hopefully your next trip will be a lot cheaper than your first. But keep us posted!
We spend approx 300 dollars a week for two people and a half? a toddler anyway. We double dinner recipes though, because otherwise we wouldn’t have any left over for one lunch, much less 2 lunches. We buy grass fed beef, pastured chicken and lamb through the butcher. We buy the dirty dozen organic but our bill is still pretty high. We shop at sprouts on wednesdays when their weekly adds for both weeks apply which seems to help a bit.
I want to pass out when I see our monthly groceries bill, but I have to figure that this is an investment in our health.
How much does eating Paleo cost you per month? What kinds of things do you do to cut costs?
Neely
you save lots of money by not buying ‘junk food” and all the milk based food (cheese, milk, etc.), and all the pastries, cookies : full of sugar, etc…
so eating PALEO at the end is cheaper….
Lona Holbrook
Herzliya
Israel
JeanineB.Holbrook
My family has discovered that because we aren’t eating out as often (we’ve rediscovered how tasty just meat and veg can be), we’re breaking even. Average weekly food bill for our family of three is about $70-80. Certainly doable!
Ryan
This was actually one of my main concerns. I was a little worried after seeing the shopping lists for the first time. It wasn’t entirely obvious that this is for two people following the diet until I did a bit more digging. So that eased my initial concerns a bit.
If the shopping lists pointed out the ingredients and spices that are on the staple list, it would also help a bit with the perception that it’s expensive.
Ultimately, with how often my fiancee and I would eat out, this is definitely going to be less expensive. I am still new, so after a couple weeks I’ll come back and let everyone know what I did to cut costs.
syeakey
@Ryan – That is super affordable. Would you be willing to tell us if you’re eating organic or pasture raised products? Just wondering if you’re buying in bulk or buying conventional. That info is super helpful for people. Thanks!
Neely
I’d also like to know where Ryan shops; I just did my first weeks shopping (Week2) at Trader Joes and Whole Foods and spent $430. Didn’t buy the shrimp at $18 per pound.Thanks
w8loser
@w8loser – Thanks for sharing some details. How many people were you shopping for? That seems very high for 2.
Neely
Our first week plus staples was about $400 at Whole Foods and a few things at Kroger. We were buying for 3 adults though.
Our second week was closer to $325, again at Whole Food & Kroger. I know we are “saving” money vs going out to eat, but this has almost doubled our food budget per week.
Is there anyway to save? We’ve looked into butchers etc but they seem to be about the same price. I’ve looked into buy 1/4 cow etc, but haven’t found anyone close…maybe I’m not looking in the right area.
skimberlin
@skimberlin – Have you looked on http://www.eatwild.com to find a rancher in your area for meat?
Neely
l
l
l
l
I have a Soyabella milk maker not for making soymilk anymore but for making almond milk or grinding the nuts into a semi-coarse flour. I just made the carrot banana muffins with this and they came out fantastic. The almond milk separates easily but if you want to do without all the added stuff in the bought kind, this is the way to go. You can also use other nuts and sunflower seeds. I also have a vitamix but it doesn’t work as well for grinding a small amount of nuts. I’ve tried making my own nutbutters first by grinding the nuts in the soyabella and then putting it in the vitamix along with palm oil or coconut oil and honey and sea salt. It takes some time and is messy but it does save money.
Living in the midwest, I can get pecans and walnuts locally and usually cheaper than almonds. I never hear about the nutrition of pecans.
lbgardener
My husband and I have just started Paleo and are spending about $50.00 a week on groceries. However, that includes a lot of fresh organic produce – which is in small supply in our rural area, so we pay a heavier price for it. We try to catch our protein sources on sale at our local stores and buy in bulk when they prices are lower.
Kim
I just started eating primal/paleo about two weeks ago. I spent more these first couple of week simply because I was getting myself set up with items/food that I didn’t already have. Now that my pantry is stocked, my food bill is going down again. I won’t see a true weekly average until next month now that everything is starting to settle into a new normal with our food budget. Like many, I can’t afford to buy grass fed beef unless it’s on sale, so the majority of our meat comes from the regular market. I only every buy from the discounted meat bin, buying leaner cuts of meat or trimming off the excess fat for others cuts of meats as recommended because of the poor 6:3 ratio of fat in typical store bought meat. I do have a source for grass fed beef, where I can purchase 1/4 of a cow, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to start doing that as we will need to buy a freezer first to store it. Buying it this way will cost us $3.99 lb., which sounds good to me, but I’ve never purchased beef in this way before so I’m not sure.
Minichick
I bought everything for Week 1 of the Quickstart Plan at Fairway in Manhattan yesterday and it cost me $308 for 2 people. We didn’t buy organic vegetables, but bought grass-fed beef/organic chicken.
I almost passed out at the register but I figure we’ll save money by not going out to eat. Plus, my health is worth it, right?
Rachel
Rachel,
Yes, your health is definitely worth it! But also, you probably bought a lot of staples in that first trip that you won’t have to buy again for a while. So hopefully your next trip will be a lot cheaper than your first. But keep us posted!
Neely
Neely
We spend approx 300 dollars a week for two people and a half? a toddler anyway. We double dinner recipes though, because otherwise we wouldn’t have any left over for one lunch, much less 2 lunches. We buy grass fed beef, pastured chicken and lamb through the butcher. We buy the dirty dozen organic but our bill is still pretty high. We shop at sprouts on wednesdays when their weekly adds for both weeks apply which seems to help a bit.
I want to pass out when I see our monthly groceries bill, but I have to figure that this is an investment in our health.
carmenh