raw on a budget

[Guest guest]

True!!

~k

 

On Mar 27, 2006, at 9:16 PM, SV wrote:

 

> Well, hopefully the guy driving the car has insurance. We cannot

> live in fear. 90% of what we fear NEVER comes true.

>

> Shari

[Guest guest]

SV wrote:

> Well, hopefully the guy driving the car has insurance. We cannot live in

fear. 90% of what we fear NEVER comes true.

>

> Shari

 

True, one must not live in fear, but it is also true that in seeking the

goal of abolishing fear, one must also take care not to lose all

precaution. Irrational fear may be crippling, but noetic dread is the

fruit of survival.

 

As a person who not only has experienced but also seen the financial

destruction that physical illness or accident can create, I can't

emphasize enough that I don't think anyone can really ever be prepared

for how quickly savings, income, assets, and retirement funds can all be

chewed up by a personal tragedy. Especially if you don't have insurance.

Those small bills, $120 here and $85 there add up very, very fast.

 

Also, keep in mind that the other guy's insurance company isn't just

going to knock on your door and fork over some cash the very next day,

or possibly even the next month. And if you have to resort to litigation

to get enough to pay for your injuries, it could be YEARS before you get

any relief.

 

-L

[Guest guest]

Allison wrote:

> I am a poor phd student living in Maryland area and

> the cost of living is not cheapt at all!!!

 

First, dear Allison, stop with the " I am poor " . You will stay poor if

you keep that up.

" I am a PhD student on a budget " should do, if you want people to

understand that you do not have the salary of a senator.

I am imagining that you are attempting to save as much money as you

can from your stipend... most of us do, but there is no need to

over-emphasize. (oops! I have tipped my hand... I know too much!!!)

 

> The tight budget is my priority concern

<snip>

> glad that you brought it up.

> Frankly speaking, i would love to buy organic every

> time when i do grocery shopping...but, i cannot afford [to]

 

Where are you in Maryland?

If you are near DC, then there are lots of places where you can find

reasonable vegetables. In Takoma Park, they have the wonderful

Seventh Day Adventist supermarket -- it is an amazing place!

There are also farmers' markets, and fresh food stores all around..

 

If you are in Baltimore, forget about it!!! There is fresh food all

over...

Granted, the Chinatown in DC is a bust, but no one ever said that was

the only place you could go for food.

 

Either way, you are in a place surrounded by farming areas... put on

your thinking cap, open your eyes, and get out and about.....

You are not in the hinterlands... and you have reasonable public

transportation available if you do not have a car.

Margaret

[Guest guest]

Hey Margaret,

Thanks for the great ideas and insights! You are

right. I should avoid using such negative words as

poor...

 

And you are also right. I don't have a car yet... But,

yes. There is public trasportation. I live around the

university area of Maryland, so far away from both DC

and Baltimore...

 

But, thanks for opening up my eyes.

 

And thank you for everyone's comment on this topic.

 

Allison

 

--- Margaret Gamez <mgamez1 wrote:

 

> Allison wrote:

> > I am a poor phd student living in Maryland area

> and

> > the cost of living is not cheapt at all!!!

>

> First, dear Allison, stop with the " I am poor " . You

> will stay poor if

> you keep that up.

> " I am a PhD student on a budget " should do, if you

> want people to

> understand that you do not have the salary of a

> senator.

> I am imagining that you are attempting to save as

> much money as you

> can from your stipend... most of us do, but there is

> no need to

> over-emphasize. (oops! I have tipped my hand... I

> know too much!!!)

>

> > The tight budget is my priority concern

> <snip>

> > glad that you brought it up.

> > Frankly speaking, i would love to buy organic

> every

> > time when i do grocery shopping...but, i cannot

> afford [to]

>

> Where are you in Maryland?

> If you are near DC, then there are lots of places

> where you can find

> reasonable vegetables. In Takoma Park, they have

> the wonderful

> Seventh Day Adventist supermarket -- it is an

> amazing place!

> There are also farmers' markets, and fresh food

> stores all around..

>

> If you are in Baltimore, forget about it!!! There is

> fresh food all

> over...

> Granted, the Chinatown in DC is a bust, but no one

> ever said that was

> the only place you could go for food.

>

> Either way, you are in a place surrounded by farming

> areas... put on

> your thinking cap, open your eyes, and get out and

> about.....

> You are not in the hinterlands... and you have

> reasonable public

> transportation available if you do not have a car.

> Margaret

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Let's see health insurance in the state of Washington for the two of us would be

over $400 a month and we are self employed. There is no way we can afford that,

so I guess we're screwed if we get hit by a meteor or a car, whichever comes

first.

 

I stand by my first explanation about fear. And no, we are not daredevils or

flaunting our safety. Just living within our means and that does not include

medical insurance. Besides, if either one of us came down with cancer we have

decided not to go the traditional medical route. And heart disease seems to be

out of the question eating the way we eat.

 

Sorry, you're arguement will not convince me nor scare me into believing I need

medical insurance.

 

Shari

 

 

[Guest guest]

Allison,

 

You are right, eating raw is more expensive than the food that most

graduate students eat, especially if you were living on Ramen noodles

for half your meals as my girls did in college. It isn't more

expensive than eating a regular diet and buying meats, cheeses, etc. I

am a child of the 40's but I still remember how cheaply I ate in grad

school and more recently how my kids economized to save money for other

things. Eating raw would be more expensive than that unless you are

eating just carrots and things like that which wouldn't be very

appetizing in the long run.

 

BTW, have you tried buying raw sunlower seeds and soaking them

overnight. You don't have to let them sprout, just wait until they get

a little bud on them. At this point you can dump the water, let them

dry and keep them in the refrigerator. The raw sunflower seeds I buy

are less than three dollars a pound which is a cheap source of protein.

Soaking them increases the action of the enzymes by something like 300

percent, waiting for them to bud makes them a biogenic food meaning

that they are alive which is the best. Soaking also makes them taste

much better. Takes away that bitter taste.

 

Tammy

On Mar 28, 2006, at 7:02 AM, Allison Zhang wrote:

 

> Hey Margaret,

> Thanks for the great ideas and insights! You are

> right. I should avoid using such negative words as

> poor...

>

> And you are also right. I don't have a car yet... But,

> yes. There is public trasportation. I live around the

> university area of Maryland, so far away from both DC

> and Baltimore...

>

> But, thanks for opening up my eyes.

>

> And thank you for everyone's comment on this topic.

>

> Allison

>

> --- Margaret Gamez <mgamez1 wrote:

>

> > Allison wrote:

> > > I am a poor phd student living in Maryland area

> > and

> > > the cost of living is not cheapt at all!!!

> >

> > First, dear Allison, stop with the " I am poor " . You

> > will stay poor if

> > you keep that up.

> > " I am a PhD student on a budget " should do, if you

> > want people to

> > understand that you do not have the salary of a

> > senator.

> > I am imagining that you are attempting to save as

> > much money as you

> > can from your stipend... most of us do, but there is

> > no need to

> > over-emphasize. (oops! I have tipped my hand... I

> > know too much!!!)

> >

> > > The tight budget is my priority concern

> > <snip>

> > > glad that you brought it up.

> > > Frankly speaking, i would love to buy organic

> > every

> > > time when i do grocery shopping...but, i cannot

> > afford [to]

> >

> > Where are you in Maryland?

> > If you are near DC, then there are lots of places

> > where you can find

> > reasonable vegetables.  In Takoma Park, they have

> > the wonderful

> > Seventh Day Adventist supermarket -- it is an

> > amazing place!

> > There are also farmers' markets, and fresh food

> > stores all around..

> >

> > If you are in Baltimore, forget about it!!! There is

> > fresh food all

> > over...

> > Granted, the Chinatown in DC is a bust, but no one

> > ever said that was

> > the only place you could go for food.

> >

> > Either way, you are in a place surrounded by farming

> > areas... put on

> > your thinking cap, open your eyes, and get out and

> > about.....

> > You are not in the hinterlands... and you have

> > reasonable public

> > transportation available if you do not have a car.

> > Margaret

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

> Tired of spam?  Mail has the best spam protection around

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

SV, that's fine - I wasn't trying to scare you or convince you into

doing anything - you have your own life, make your own choices, they

don't affect me. I just wanted to share a different perspective.

 

I understand about the costs, I wasn't able to afford health insurance

either. My husband and I lived very carefully, grew nearly all our own

food, carried little debt, held a fair amount of savings. I felt the

same way, and we were young as well, but you don't have control over

everything. Many if not most of us were probably all exposed to awful

contaminants during childhood, and exercise and a good diet tips the

scales against a heart attack, but doesn't guarantee it.

 

Anyway, he got cancer. I was 28. I became the sole income producer,

caretaker, gardener, etc. We made it for about three years because I was

very well prepared. We just couldn't do it forever.

 

But here's the thing - I'm still here and life is good. And as a bonus I

got to experience some interesting things along the way - after we lost

our home we built a very small, very primitive woodland cabin where we

lived for over three years. I watched wildlife from my window, I

contemplated the world, I regained my sense of well-being, learned to be

at peace with many different pressures that are part of modern living. I

also went outside in -15 degree weather to break of firewood from the

woodpile with a sledgehammer, nearly fainted when I chopped into my

frozen finger with a kindling ax, learned to conserve water in a very

realistic way.

 

Not that I would have never done those things without the cancer, it was

just a jolt for me to do it more quickly, even if I was unprepared.

Great things happened, horrible things happened, it's all about living.

We all make it one way or another. Or we don't. The world still goes on.

 

 

 

SV wrote:

> Let's see health insurance in the state of Washington for the two of us would

be over $400 a month and we are self employed. There is no way we can afford

that, so I guess we're screwed if we get hit by a meteor or a car, whichever

comes first.

>

> I stand by my first explanation about fear. And no, we are not daredevils or

flaunting our safety. Just living within our means and that does not include

medical insurance. Besides, if either one of us came down with cancer we have

decided not to go the traditional medical route. And heart disease seems to be

out of the question eating the way we eat.

>

> Sorry, you're arguement will not convince me nor scare me into believing I

need medical insurance.

>

> Shari

[Guest guest]

Tommie wrote:

> A dehydrator is an option, not a necessity. I have heard lots of raw

> foodists say that the only things that are essential are a knife and

> a cutting board. Actually, the cutting board isn't essential. I grew

> up not using one and I still don't.

 

Thanks Tommie! You have reminded me that I haven't plugged the list

files and databases recently (what? it's been about two or three days,

at least!!!!)

 

In the book database on the list website, there are several books

listed (and they are generally really cheap,too) which do not use

dehydrated food recipes... the ones I have posted, personally, are

" vintage " raw foods recipe books, from before dehydrators.

 

One of the reasons for the databases and the files is so that we don't

have to keep saying the same things over and over...

Whoever you are, whatever your interest, get thee to the list website

and do a tour...

definitely check out the files and the databases. The links are

interesting, but the files and databases are very to the point...

if you see anything that you feel is missing, please either add it, or

let me know (off line) and I will add it.

Margaret

[Guest guest]

Any time!

 

Tommie

http://www.rawburchard.blogspot.com

 

rawfood , " Margaret Gamez " <mgamez1 wrote:

>

> Tommie wrote:

> > A dehydrator is an option, not a necessity. I have heard lots of

raw

> > foodists say that the only things that are essential are a knife

and

> > a cutting board. Actually, the cutting board isn't essential. I

grew

> > up not using one and I still don't.

>

> Thanks Tommie! You have reminded me that I haven't plugged the list

> files and databases recently (what? it's been about two or three

days,

> at least!!!!)

>

> In the book database on the list website, there are several books

> listed (and they are generally really cheap,too) which do not use

> dehydrated food recipes... the ones I have posted, personally, are

> " vintage " raw foods recipe books, from before dehydrators.

>

> One of the reasons for the databases and the files is so that we

don't

> have to keep saying the same things over and over...

> Whoever you are, whatever your interest, get thee to the list

website

> and do a tour...

> definitely check out the files and the databases. The links are

> interesting, but the files and databases are very to the point...

> if you see anything that you feel is missing, please either add it,

or

> let me know (off line) and I will add it.

> Margaret

>

[Guest guest]

Shari wrote:

> I just don't get where people are spending all this money on raw

food. > Our food budget went waaaaaaaaaay down when we gave up:

 

I, too, noticed a major reduction in my food bills when I went raw.

Meat is expensive. The things you use to make meat taste good are not

cheap. Processed and packaged foods do not come cheap.

Of course, if you are doing raw, there is a little pre-planning

involved, and it might take a bit longer to get dinner together, but,

price wise, it is much more manageable.

I feel extremely lucky, since my favorite vegetable (!!!) is garlic,

that the 99cent store frequently has peeled raw garlic cloves-- when

they are there, I grab them and chop them in my food processor and

either store them in olive oil or dehydrate them.

Margaret

[Guest guest]

jen wrote:

> Unfortunately for me, day for day, week for week, raw eating is just

> so much more expensive than cooked. Compare a meal made of nuts,

> fruits and vegetables compared to one of pasta or rice! There's no

> comparison...

>

You are right!!! There is absolutely no comparison.

What you are saving in money, you are sacrificing in quality of

nutrition. When you are eating raw food, you are getting 100%

vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats... all the good things your

body needs to keep itself in optimum form. What are you getting with

rice and pasta? Filler. Fluff. Even if it is whole grain rice and

pasta, it is still not going to deliver much nutrition.

 

Often my weight loss (regular food) clients complain about giving up

pasta and rice. I gave them up long ago, so I would not gain anything

by not eating raw. I would just be eating a lot of vegetables (isn't

that what raw food is?), and a lot of some form of protein (don't I do

that anyway?)

Margaret