Action Plan on a Budget

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Wittmayer on January 4, 2012 at 5:02pm

For week 1 I spent about $70 for just myself. I had some of the spices already and I planned out the servings so I bought juuuuust enough to survive the week. I also left out of a couple ingredients that I don't prefer. 

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Permalink Reply by jshaffer2 on January 5, 2012 at 9:32am

I ended up spending about $130 for two people, which is about what we normally spend on groceries. I think the frozen fruit and the different juices for the smoothies were the most expensive part (we're doing the 7 detox smoothies since we don't have a juicer.) I think if you cut out one or two of the recipes you could cut down on cost. A lot of the veggies weren't very expensive. 

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Permalink Reply by Robyn on January 5, 2012 at 5:59pm

Hi there,

 

I'm definitely on a budget, and I spent around $60.00 for the Week 1 stuff.  I was able to save because I live nearby an indoor farmer's market where produce is much more reasonably priced than conventional grocery stores.  For example, I am able to purchase organic bananas for 59 cents per pound, yet my local Kroger, Whole Foods and health food stores sell organic and conventional bananas for 99c per pound on average.

To do this inexpensively, I find that if you can buy ingredients from Trader Joe's (they have some bottled green juices  there) as well as some other pure, unsweetened juices like pomegranate juice.  If you have an Aldi's nearby, they sell mostly junk, but its a great chain grocery for inexpensive large packages of fruit like mixed berries, mangos, and strawberries.  Definitely consider doing the smoothie recipes if you don't have a juicer or can't find a place in your area where they can make juices.  Where I live, there are many whole and health food stores that will whip up fresh pressed juices for you. 

If you or  friend has a Sam's Club or Costco, that will be an immense help also, for fresh and dried fruits and nuts. Oh, and it seems that bottled green juices are a better deal than trying to juice them yourself, even if they come at around $3/$4 each.  Why?  Because the amount of vegetables one has to buy to put through a juicer just to eek out modest amounts of juice is pretty significant. A big bag of carrots barely gets you a 1/2 gallon or so of carrot juice.

Honestly, because there are no convenience foods on the list,  and everything is cooked from scratch,  and you eat the same stuff over and over again during week 1, you'll see that while some of the ingredients are very expensive, the recipes for week one overall will cost you more in time than money.  There's a lot of cutting and chopping when using fresh foods to cook!! I'm used to saving time using frozen veggies. 

 The foods for week 1 you can pick and choose and will probably cost the same as if you purchased a week's worth of your normal groceries.

 

I no longer have my receipt, but here's what I recall:

3 Delicata Squash (had to go to Whole Foods for 2 of them, the frmer's market only had 1 left) = approx $4 for all 3

Broccoli Crowns (2) = just under $2  (I had one from a previous week of grocery shopping)

The fresh-pressed juices = I purchased 6 of these, for Tues-Sun which was $24 ($3.99 each at the Farmer's market).  By far, this was THE most expensive part of the shopping list because I don't have a juicer.  One carrot/orange/ginger juice, 2 green juices with romane, kale, parsley and pineapple, and two beet juice combinations.  I also purchased an Acai berry juice by Sambazon (also at Whole Foods) to substitute for the "berry" juices on the cleanse.  If you do purchase any of th Acai juices on the market, make sure the ingredients don't include other stuff that would not be allowed on the Week 1 cleanse.

 

Granny Smith apple for butternut squash soup- purchased from Kroger this sucker was $1.00!  Forgot to get it at the Farmer's Market where they were $1.89 per pound for organic Granny Smiths!

 

Two medium-sized butternut squashes=almost $3-$4

 

Peeled Garlic from Trader Joe's= $2.69 per bag

Kale was cheap= only 69 cents per bunch

Red cabbage = about $2.50

Bag of shredded carrots I used in the kale salad and in the butternut squash soup=$1.69

One red onion= just under under $1.00

One big bunch organic italian parsley - $1.69

Ginger root=2 3-inch pieces around $1.50

Hemp seeds from Farmer's market in plastic 'bulk' container=exact price $5.54 for .380 lbs    

Pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds=already had a bag of these in the pantry at home

1 bunch collard greens (not in the week 1 diet but they're "greens")= 1.89

Bag of mixed greens salad and arugula= $2.49 each x 2 = $5.00

Beets (2) - about $2.00, plus i had leftover beets from previous weeks in my refrig, from when farmers came in town to do an afternoon market in my community

From the above, this gave me enough kale salad for one person for at least 3 to 5  days if only eaten for lunch each day.  Butternut squash soup lasted about 2 1/2 days.  I made a collard green salad that will last another 3 days, so needless to say I'll be sharing both with my roomate before getting to Week 2!  The squash and broccoli will last about that long too, since I'm the only one in my household doing the cleanse.

 

So, don't be daunted by the expense of a few ingredients, your overall bill should be reasonable because there isn't a can or box involved.  I will have plenty of ground hempseeds left after this week, even though these suckers were $5.00 just over a quarter pound. 

 

Find some of the recipes you want to use that have some of the less expensive items, then hit only Costco, Wal mart, Trader Joe's or and even check out Whole Foods sales (if any of these or similar stores are in your area), and you'll be pleasantly surprised at your overall bill.

 

My very best wishes to you and your wife on this adventure!

 

(Pictured is the butternut squash soup and kale salad from the magazine)

 

 

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Permalink Reply by khyati.desai1 on January 10, 2012 at 3:01pm

My husband and I spent about $130 for the two of us for week 1 recipes but we've been having leftovers and I expect we'll have ingredients left over for next week. We mostly shopped at Trader Joes. It was more than we spend usually but it's yet another part of the experience to learn from for us.

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Permalink Reply by Danielle Kris Marie on January 10, 2012 at 3:10pm

I live in Miami, I wish I had Trader Joes or some such, but I had to use Publix and Whole Foods(yikes let me tell you) but I ended up spending about 119 dollars on the food for Week one. I'm the only one doing this however and since the recipes call for usually two servings I have left overs so it is more economical 

As far as I'm concerned it was way less than the consistent eating out diet I had before, plus when I calculate it including snacks it came to about 3 dollars a meal. You can't beat that in terms of budget.

 

My best advice is don't make all the meals, make the ones that are feasible to you, my local grocery store had a terrible selection of dried fruit and I had to go to Whole Foods for the rest, but the menu I chose was stuff I could get cheap at my super market, mostly for Week 1, the soup and smoothies, avacado a few times for lunch and cauliflower recipe for dinner. For Week 2, I'm sure I'll have left overs plus I'm checking out local Farmers markets for more of a bargain.

 

You also have to remember that your health and you wellness is worth a little extra money, think of it as an investment in you, cheaper doctor's bills and less trips to the pharmacy. Health care far outweighs the cost of food, in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Jacobi on January 16, 2012 at 3:35pm

I spent about $90 for my husband and I the first week, and each week has gotten progressively less expensive. It pays to figure out what grocery stores have the best deals. I don't know where you live, but in the DFW area we have a natural food chain called Sprouts that has ridiculously cheap produce. However, everything else there is way overpriced, so we use coupons and take advantage of sale prices at our regular grocery store for dry goods, fish, etc. 

Also, I think it's ok to take advantage of what is abundant where you live, and therefore naturally cheaper. If collards are expensive, substitute any other green, for example. If fresh herbs are out of the question, I think it's ok to use dry. Frozen vegetables are often much more reasonably priced than fresh, and often more nutritious. Tilapia is usually about 1/4 of the price of halibut. Doing some is better than doing none, in my opinion.

All of this being said, we've definitely saved money since we started the action plan. By cutting out convenience foods, alcohol, desserts, and of course eating out/take out, I've saved quite a bit. Plus, since the portion sizes in the plan are so much smaller than what we're used to, we're just generally eating less. 

Don't let money stand in the way of making this healthy choice, because it definitely IS possible. Good luck to you!

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Permalink Reply by Nikole Rife on January 23, 2012 at 11:12am

My husband and I actually ended up spending LESS on groceries for Week 1 than we normally would on a regular grocery trip.  Sometimes pre-prepared, "convenience" foods really add up, and buying the whole ingredients turn out to be cheaper.  Also, we're saving a ton of money by not eating out as often as we normally would. Good luck!

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