Paleo in an economic crisis.

I'm back from my Thanksgiving "vacation". It wasn't really much of a vacation to be honest--it was stressful...We drove across Washington through snow, fog, and ice to get there, and again to get back. Then, while over there I contracted a cold. Normally a cold for me starts out bad and is pretty much over in three days, but this time it is hanging on...I keep hearing that people who eat Paleo don't get sick very often--ever since I moved back to the states, I have been sick for a couple of weeks each year. I think I am just re-adjusting to the bugs over here versus the bugs in Europe. Chances are, I'm going to make it through about another year of this and be exceptionally healthy for the rest of my life!

So anyway, I am back, and going over the expenses from the trip I realize that we are mostly breaking even. Of course this means that something like a new battery ($98) or a trip home ($347) puts us behind quite a bit, which is not good. Our efforts to economize must be redoubled. Food is key. According to this article, the average american spends about 13% of their income on food. The average paleo follower probably spends a lot more. Jen Cereghino is doing it for about $150 a week for her and her husband--who she points out eats a lot more than the average person so it would possibly serve three less hungry people. She is doing it with grassfed and organic ingredients. In order for us to make our budget of $10/day, ($70 a week) we must eat industrially raised meat. We cannot afford meat that costs more than $2/pound. In fact, other than mushrooms, avocados and salad vegetables, most of what we buy is less than $2/pound. Fish is pretty much out, although sometimes shrimp is on sale and we will buy it. Also, sardines are an option if they are on sale and not canned in soybean oil--I look for olive oil, water, and tomato sauce. We eat a lot of carrots, and sweet potatoes and onions. Also broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower and spinach...

This week we have spent $74.07 so far, and this will last until Sunday. This is what we have had this week:

Monday & Tuesday: Three eggs each with two slices bacon. Then, All-day Paleo Stew (8 servings, so we ate this for two days) I also made us baked apples with cinnamon, honey, raisins and walnuts.

Wednesday: Sweet Potato Hash (minus the ground beef) with eggs (two for me, three for M), then Karney's Paleo Stuff and mandarin oranges (one for me, two for M)

Today we are having leftovers with eggs, and trying to have just one meal, if necessary, I can stretch it to two meals with three eggs each per meal.

Tomorrow I am roasting a chicken we got for .99 a pound, and we are having zucchini and mushrooms with it. That should last us through Saturday. Then on Sunday I will probably make Karney's Paleo Stuff again, or something similar. We are drinking water (lots!) and coffee and tea with coconut milk.

For the average American, like me, who makes enough money to be above poverty level, but not enough to put anything aside, this is possible, provided nothing changes. As we struggle with this each week, I hope that we will learn from our experience and manage to save even more money--but most importantly find a healthy way to live and eat without going broke in the process...