No money..

[Wolf]

So, I lost my job a while ago though I had money saved up, so I was still trying to eat a good diet until I found a new job.. but so far no one is hiring me even after going to a few interviews and stuff, and I am starting to run out of money..

So I want to ask you guys if you know any good, cheap foods I can buy at a regular commercial grocery store that I can still eat raw and be healthy without spending a ton of money on meat.. I usually don't do well on a diet high in plant foods because I crave fat a LOT, and if I eat too much carbs I go crazy to eat some fatty foods, especially meat and dairy.  But I'm not going to be able to afford to keep buying a lot of meat, even commercial meat is still expensive, I don't want to eat grain-fed fat or organ meats, and raw dairy is super expensive.  Pasteurized dairy started tasting like plastic to me after trying raw dairy so I don't really want to buy pasteurized dairy either.  But any suggestions for foods that I could buy from a commercial grocery store that would still be healthy.. I don't know much about vegetables since I never really eat them, which ones can I even eat raw other than leafy stuff?  I usually hate leafy stuff like lettuce, spinach, kale and all that, I never really tried any root veggies other than regular potatoes.. though I liked cooked potatoes.  I don't know what to do, I'm used to eating mainly meat but I won't be able to affording eating as much and I don't know what else to eat..

[cherimoya_kid]

you might be able to get the fat trimmings for free from Whole Foods meat counter.  they often give those away to people who want them.

[Wolf]

you might be able to get the fat trimmings for free from Whole Foods meat counter.  they often give those away to people who want them.

Too bad there's no whole foods anywhere near me!  I wish there was though, me and my mom stopped by one on our way home from a trip to the beach, and I got the most delicious bone marrow from there.. I've never been able to find any bone marrow that tastes anything like it did!  It was so delicious, I probably could replace all the dairy I consume with that bone marrow if only I could buy it everyday.  But I can't afford the gas to take a 2 hour drive one way trip all the way out there even once a week.   

[TylerDurden]

Lex lives off  orders from Slanker's which involve dirt-cheap pet-food-grade grassfed meats.  Fat-trimmings from grassfed sources sounds like a great idea since one can live off fat for longer periods.

Other than that, there is this carnivorefeeder yahoo group. You could post there, pretending to be a pet-owner, asking for suppliers who provide higher-grade sources of meats for pets. Also, buying organ-meats should always be cheaper.

If you have no bank card etc., my suggestion would be to do Intermittent Fasting so as to reduce overall intake a little, and therefore cost.  I once went on an IF regime in which I also did whole-day fasts for 2 to 3 days a fortnight, it reduced costs considerably. You could do what one or more of our members do,  which is buy small amounts of grassfed raw meats(10% of diet) and have the rest of the diet consist of raw fruit and veg. I couldn't face such a diet as my own appetite climbs too much if I eat lots of carbs so that I would overspend, but then everyone is different.

[Alive]

Plus since RPD theory says RAF improves with age you can buy cheap short dated meats & offal on special. You could get to know a butcher and get his meat that is being thrown out due to being past its use-by date. I found short dated hearts & kidneys at $1 each - cheaper than junk food!

[TylerDurden]

Plus since RPD theory says RAF improves with age you can buy cheap short dated meats & offal on special. You could get to know a butcher and get his meat that is being thrown out due to being past its use-by date. I found short dated hearts & kidneys at $1 each - cheaper than junk food!

That's strange. I've tried getting hold of raw meat past its sell-by date and they usually refuse as they clearly don't want to be sued re food-poisoning nonsense.

[LePatron7]

I suggest looking into suet since it's so cheap and you can afford it. Also Alive's advice sounds good, so does using pet food.

I know you didn't ask for advice re getting a job. But here's some things that helped me.

I couldn't get an interview anywhere! So I looked over my resume and realized it sucked. I fixed up my resume, and that same day I was scheduling a job interview (and got the job, I'm just waiting for them to have hours available).

Also, I know what you say in the interview is really important too. I actually got one interview when my resume sucked. But I blew the interview.

After that experience, I looked into how to do better. Since then I've kiilled it at two interviews. One company hired me, I did all the stuff needed to get hired. Blood work, flu vaccines, TB tests, etc. The second company says they're going to bring me on board, but they seem to be giving me the run around. So I'm not sure what's going on with them.

[Alive]

@Tyler - the offal specials were short dated, rather than past their use-by date.
When my mate & I were hitch-hiking teenagers with no money a butcher gave us off-cuts really cheap, there must be all sorts of meat bits that they can't sell that are perfectly good for RPD, especially these days how people are so fussy. Saying you want meat for pet food is a great idea.

[Wolf]

Ordering from slankers is going to cost me like $15 in shipping fees unless I buy over $100 in orders which is a lot of money and a lot of meat, and take like 3 or 4 days to get to me.. and I also tend to have no appetite for meat unless it's super fresh, if it gets just a little brown I get repulsed by it for some reason now.. even though I used to actually prefer my ground beef  to be brown on the outside, now I can't even eat ground beef raw at all.  I'm also kinda iffy on frozen meat too.  Otherwise I have not been able to find any grass-fed farms or butchers near me anywhere, no matter how much searching I did by internet, or by driving around, or by searching on GPS.  I've been to a couple good places, but they're all at least an hour drive away, and I usually go shopping once a week to make sure my stuff is all fresh, and I can't be driving an hour out just to buy some grass-fed meat packaged in plastic from a place with no butcher and I wouldn't be able to get any fat even or organ meats, and that's the closest one.

I'll probably at least keep buying raw grass-fed butter every week so that I have one decent source of raw grass-fed animal fats, but I'm probably going to have to go with a higher intake of fruits and veggies that I can buy from the commercial grocery store that is right down the street from me.. but I don't know what kind of veggies to eat, since I was never big on eating veggies my entire life, and I definitely don't know which are good to eat raw or what.

I don't have a resume, I just fill out applications and a resume would just repeat all of the same exact info I'm already putting on the application, so I see no point in wasting paper making resumes too.  I only have a high school diploma, no college degree yet, and have done nothing extra that I could add to a resume.. no volunteer work, no special training or skills, nothing.  Just have had a couple of other minimum wage jobs which go on the app.  I only got one real interview which I though went real good but then they never called me back.

[Alive]

... and I also tend to have no appetite for meat unless it's super fresh, if it gets just a little brown I get repulsed by it for some reason now.. even though I used to actually prefer my ground beef  to be brown on the outside, now I can't even eat ground beef raw at all.  I'm also kinda iffy on frozen meat too....

Well that must make your life difficult!

I am loving how I can forget about my RAF and re-discover it later - its great to eat even though its a bit dried out, smelly or has a green tinge

[TylerDurden]

I suppose you've already checked this resource? :-

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

[jessica]

food stamps.

[Dorothy]

How about eggs? Those stay fresh a long time. Maybe you could do work on a farm in exchange for eggs and anything else they had that you would be able to eat - maybe a freshly killed chicken - they might even be willing to put you up for a couple of days at a time or you could tent it. If they butcher their own meat for their own consumption you could ask for the organs. It might be easier to find pastured chickens than grass-fed cows? Paying someone in extra eggs and milk for hard labor could be good for a farmer.  Do you have good energy? Are you strong? I think if I were in your situation that is what I would do........ hunt down a farm with kind people........ and apply for food stamps too.    

[Wolf]

I suppose you've already checked this resource? :-

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

yes I have, several times, that's how I know there's no farms near me..

food stamps.

How do I go about getting those?  And would it be affected by the fact that I live with my dad who makes decent enough money, and that I don't have to pay rent?

How about eggs? Those stay fresh a long time. Maybe you could do work on a farm in exchange for eggs and anything else they had that you would be able to eat - maybe a freshly killed chicken - they might even be willing to put you up for a couple of days at a time or you could tent it. If they butcher their own meat for their own consumption you could ask for the organs. It might be easier to find pastured chickens than grass-fed cows? Paying someone in extra eggs and milk for hard labor could be good for a farmer.  Do you have good energy? Are you strong? I think if I were in your situation that is what I would do........ hunt down a farm with kind people........ and apply for food stamps too.

There aren't really any farms in the area, and the closest ones aren't going to be nice, family owned organic grass-fed farms.  I've also been tending to dislike the store-bought eggs, whereas the eggs I can sometimes get from my aunt or uncle are absolutely delicious to eat raw.  But the store bought ones (even organic and cage free) were making me gag.  However, I did just find these eggs that look like they'll be good, from this uh.. http://thehappyegg.co.uk/  from them.  I googled them on my phone when I was in the store, and I saw a video of the chickens out dust bathing and there was grass, and read something about them getting to eat bugs, so I bought them, though I didn't find anything on what feed the chickens get, but if they get to roam and eat bugs I'm sure it's better than most the other eggs in the store and almost about as good as my aunt or uncle's eggs.

[jessica]

wolf, you are in california correct?  there has to be a farm somewhere close or at least like minded people who are eating good food. local harvest isnt the only source, many farms and ranches arent listed on there.  if you let me know where id do my best to find some kind of local source for you.  as far as the food stamps thing goes you probably wouldnt qualify if you arent paying rent.

[Alive]

Pay rent to your dad 

[Dorothy]

yes Wolf - eggs from chickens that get to run in the grass and eat bugs in a large area are much, much better. They might never be quite as good as your aunt and uncles - but far superior to store bought usually.

Can you perhaps buy a few more chickens for relatives to keep so you can get eggs and take care of their chickens for them or do some odd jobs in exchange?

[Wolf]

wolf, you are in california correct?  there has to be a farm somewhere close or at least like minded people who are eating good food. local harvest isnt the only source, many farms and ranches arent listed on there.  if you let me know where id do my best to find some kind of local source for you.  as far as the food stamps thing goes you probably wouldnt qualify if you arent paying rent.

Yes I am in southern cali, but I think I just happen to be in a bad spot.. an hour or two in like most directions and I'd be close to something okay, but there's like nothing by me... I mean one whole side from my house is just huge fields and fields of dead yellow grass and dirt with nothing but a big lake that is fenced off and no one's allowed in.  It's really hot here most of the time, so no grass is gonna (naturally) grow enough to feed any animals on a farm anywhere near here.  There's a couple good stores like 20 minutes away that I can go to, but they don't have any good selections of grass-fed meat.. usually small selection or out of stock, no butchers, all vacuum sealed in plastic, one store has it all frozen solid rock hard and it's all brown already.. they do have raw dairy though, and other raw stuff, organic stuff and all that.. non SAD stuff.  but it's all expensive..

Pay rent to your dad 

I don't have a job and I'm saving my money to buy my foooood.. if I pay him rent then I'll have to eat the SAD food he buys.

yes Wolf - eggs from chickens that get to run in the grass and eat bugs in a large area are much, much better. They might never be quite as good as your aunt and uncles - but far superior to store bought usually.

Can you perhaps buy a few more chickens for relatives to keep so you can get eggs and take care of their chickens for them or do some odd jobs in exchange?

Well, my aunts and my uncle have their chickens in pretty small pens, and also do not have any grass in the pens.. they do feed their chickens lots of bugs, but not as their main feed and they feed them grains or something too, some organic stuff they buy somewhere.. They also live like an hour or so away, too far to be driving there daily to take care of any chickens, even once a week would be a bit much..

[William]

I don't have a job and I'm saving my money to buy my foooood.. if I pay him rent then I'll have to eat the SAD food he buys.

Within a truly trusted relationship, (family only) you might pay with a promissory note. No money needed now. This is legal in Canada, and I bet elsewhere; if so you might qualify for food stamps.

I eat a whole beef tongue every week or two, they are fatty and if you get used to the taste are maybe the most nutritious part of the animal. Also cheap, as most people won't eat them. 

[AlphaCog]

I'll play the devil's advocate here and recommend dirt cheap cooked "safe starches" like white rice etc, if you can tolerate it. When ideal eating like grass-fed meat/organs or ocean-caught fish isn't available, at least you'll have suboptimal-but-better-than-SAD foods available. You'll spend less time worrying about food and more time concentrating on living.

If you're up for it, go for dumpster diving. Especially on your nearby organic store.
The Art & Science Of Dumpster Diving
dumpster diving

And here's a site to make a quick buck on whatever skills you have: http://fiverr.com/

[goodsamaritan]

Wolf,

How about marrying a paleo dieter / raw paleo dieter who has extra money to feed a wife and children?

I don't know if this is culturally offensive to you, but it's not offensive here, so please don't be offended.

[jessica]

try ad get a job at those stores....youd make money and get a discount.  find out who they are getting their good meat and veggies from, if anyone is local contact them yourself and see if they offer any less expensive cuts, soup bones(which usually have a lot of meat, fat and marrow), organs or dog bones(good tasting marrow, and good for stock) that they might not mind to delivery to you on the day they deliver to the store, or perhaps the store can "special order" them for you and you can pick them up when they arrive.  ask the stores to hold back a few pounds of whatever is least expensive, maybe just some ground beef.  look up local weston a price people and network with them.

[eveheart]

I live in California, too, so I know that people in this region who get jobs have a resume, network with other job seekers, and don't mostly play video games (as you have stated elsewhere). Many find positions as volunteer workers in jobs that lead to gainful employment.

Make sure your resume highlights your achievements rather than focusing on your chronological history alone. Take a resume-writing workshop and any other classes at the One-Stop Center that serves your county. These classes are free, and so is the coach that can be assigned to you.

Even with the high unemployment rate that we have nowadays, any person can be a successful job seeker. Alternately, being unemployed is a natural opportunity to strike out on your own and do what you have always wanted to do, whatever that is, so explore this opportunity, too.

HTH

[Wolf]

I've never even seen beef tongue for sale, let alone grass-fed, and it would be too expensive to ship/buy online, plus it can get pretty hot sometimes and anything left on my front step might not stay raw for long.

Rice would probably be fine, I mean I used to be able to tolerate any food but after eating raw I know eating anything like pizza or oven-baked sandwhiches from work made it feel like there was a rock in my stomach.. I think it was just the bread because I'd put the all other ingredients in a bowl without the bread and didn't get the rock in my stomach feeling after eating it.  I haven't really eaten rice lately though, I don't know if it would cause me problems.  I also don't know if it would cause me to break out more or not.. that's what I'm most worried about.  I have been craving pasta though, but I didn't want to eat wheat.. maybe rice pasta would be better?
....I'm not going to dumpster dive unless I am completely homeless and have no where to go.
I think I really might be able to use that website though, thank you very much for the link!

As for marrying someone.. I am true to my name of Wolf, and I am a virgin who is waiting for marriage, because I want to mate for life.  But I have also fallen in love with someone already and he is the only one I want to marry... It's rather complicated though, and I don't really want to get into that on here.

I did apply to one of the stores, but they said they aren't hiring.. another one said they weren't hiring, trader joe's straight up rejected my application, and I forgot to ask at another place because I haven't been there in a while since the other place is closer and cheaper.

I don't have any achievements to put on a resume.. I don't even know what to do to get these "achievements" to put on a resume.. there's nothing I could put on a resume that wouldn't already be on the application.. I should try out one of those employment centers, I forgot about those.. I've never been in one and I don't know how they work.  The only thing is that I really don't want to work at any food places because I will definitely be tempted to eat whatever food the place offers and it's most likely not going to be raw or paleo. 

[eveheart]

I don't have any achievements to put on a resume.. I don't even know what to do to get these "achievements" to put on a resume..

There is an art of writing your achievements in a resume. The general idea is to search your life for what you have accomplished that benefited another person. Get it? There are plenty of tutorials on the internet on how to write a resume that helps you sell yourself to an employer, but you first must sell yourself to yourself.

Here's an example: as a pizza delivery driver, were you on time? were your customers happy to see you because you were upbeat and friendly? did you get the deliveries right a huge percentage of the time?

There is a trick to using those employment centers: you will get out of it what you put into it. It's easy to get down when you are looking and looking for work. Employers don't hire "down" people, and they can tell. Find out how you can lift yourself up by doing things like smiling and lifting other people up.