Discussion Board

I'm starting this plan today, getting all my lists together... We are on a VERY strict budget though, is this going to hurt me financially? Is it more costly than the norm? Does that make sense?

No, not really. You won't buy meat, dairy or processed foods. So if you keep it simple, you can focus on your favorite starch, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice and on your favorite veggies. We buy frozen green beans, corn. Tomato paste, no salt added. Boxes or bags of potatoes. We don't do fancy stuff...I've been on the plan since the first of the year. At first it was more expensive because I kept trying out new recipes, dressings and sauces. Most of that stuff I don't use now. Let your taste buds adjust, and soon you won't miss all the bad stuff enjoy and come back often

Here are a couple of newsletter articles on the topic:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/mar/foodcost.htm

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/mar/recipes.htm

Also if you search the site, a lot of members have posted about their own journey in cutting food costs.

Yes, you can spend a lot or you can spend a little but spending a lot will not necessarily give you better results.

Many of us here think of brown rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes as are our starch staples. You can buy others but these three are very nutritious and usually not very expensive. My rule of thumb in regard to potatoes is that we buy the sweet potatoes if they are good and no more expensive than white potatoes since they seem to be nutritionally superior.

You can buy fresh, frozen or canned veggies also according to what is good and cheap.

Except for seasonings (chiles etc.) you will not need to buy any other foods. Beans and fruits are optional.

So you can keep it simple and cheap and succeed!!!

Please keep us posted on your successes, MamaDeats!!!

Thanks everyone! I'm nervous but excited!!!

Six months ago I was having a hard time keeping within my food budget. Now I have so much left over in my food budget I can afford organic fruits, vegetables, and grains, with money to spare. My budget didn't change, my buying habits did!

I buy as many things as I can bulk. First I found them in the bulk food section of the grocery store. Then I found a food co-op where I can buy organic grains, legumes, and other good stuff at reasonable cost.

The whole, unprocessed foods that make up the bulk of my diet are cheap!! Even if I had to pay "too much" for them, they'd still be cheap food compared to the meats/dairy/processed foods I was buying before. They're so much cheaper that they more than offset the expense of the costly organic fruits/veggies.

You can do this on the cheap!

-Norm

I am like Blondie, My hubby still eats SAD but our grocery bill is considerably cheaper even though I buy organic as much as I can, and I have to spend a bit extra on my oats because of Gluten intollerance.

There are some folks on here that eat for less than $4 a day per person, that is pretty impressive when you think about it.

I spend about $50-$75 a week per person, and that includes not just food but everything, you know cleaning stuff and tissues etc.
It is hard to really tell and I suppose i should figure it out... but I know when I looked at meat for hubby on Sunday the price of it has gone up tremendously recently.

I've been feeding 3 adults for $200 to $250 a month and all of us are eating as much as we want.

Great testimonial, Rosey! This is one reason I see potential for someone starting a restaurant serving McDougall meals. Consider $250/270 meals month=$0.93!

Don't you think there is some place in the USA where a large number of people would be willing to pay 3x this much for good McDougall meals???

Any takers???