The Top Three Ways to Save Money on the SCD Diet

The SCD Diet has given me my health back, but in the beginning it took my wallet through the ringer. When I started the SCD Diet, I was a sick, laid off GM engineer just starting a new job at a much lower salary. My family was broke and I was trying to figure out ways to save any $ I could. The best feature of the Standard American Diet (SAD) is that it’s really really cheap, although it made me feel like I was dying, I was dying with more cash in the bank. The SCD Diet has been the best investment I have ever made because investing in my health is priceless and I feel great. But it was a huge bummer in the beginning when I felt like garbage and was scraping pennies to stick to this diet that was still unproven.

It’s not cheap to be healthy and it’s a scary feeling to have to choose. I have spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to save money on this diet without compromising my health, so I summarized them below in the top three ways to save money on the SCD Diet.

1: I make 100% of everything I eat. I don’t worry about buying pre-made foods like frozen turkey patties or bottles of SCD legal this and that… they are expensive and not as pure as when I make something from scratch. The SAD had taught me to grab convenience and get everything pre-made. It was a tough paradigm to shift, but once I realized that I felt better when I made 100% of everything I ate, I realized that it also saved me a bundle of money! For instance, I could buy some pre-made turkey patties that may be SCD legal for $7.00 a pound frozen. Alternatively I could buy some clean turkey meat at my farmers market and make my own turkey patties twice a month for around $4.50 a pound. That adds up over time really, really fast. The bottom line: Make 100% of everything you eat and you will feel better and you will save money.

2: I hunt down nearby farmers markets and buy local and in-season fruits and veggies. I save a decent amount of money by skipping the middle man (the supermarket). While locally grown produce isn’t as good as organic, it’s very close (much better than store bought from another country). I scour the local newspaper and find little Farmers markets whenever I can and get all of my fruits and veggies based on whatever is in season in my area. In the long-term, saving $0.30 a lb every week for 52 weeks adds up fast. Plus, in the winter I found a local guy that owns a greenhouse and will deliver fresh fruits and veggies during the cold months. The bottom line: find a local farmers market and buy what is in season… save on the shipping costs and the middleman market, plus it feels great to support your local economy.

3: I seek out local farmers that sell meat in bulk. In most cases, buying a quarter cow (about 200 lbs) can save you close to $100 from buying at the store. Steve and I just got half of a grass-fed cow for close to $3.00 a lb. That includes ground beef and all the steak cuts. Compare that to the $3.50 a lb I pay for dyed garbage ground beef at the supermarket… not to mention the $11.00 a lb for a nice steak. Another really huge savings I stick with is to buy a whole chicken or whole turkey and then bake it or cook it in the crock-pot to feed the whole family… I save a bundle that way because when I buy pre-cut up meat, like chicken breasts or thighs, I am paying for someone to cut it up for me. The bottom line: Find a way to buy bulk meat from local farmers. Use Craigslist (that’s where we have had the best luck) or check out http://www.eatwild.com/.

These are just a few things that will help you pinch pennies and the same tactics I use for my family. If you take the time in the beginning to find all these shortcuts, it will be your normal routine each week or month and you will save

gobs of money. Just remember that investing in your health is a priceless expense and the SAD has trained us that food is an area where we don’t have to spend any money. Change that paradigm and cherish the taste of a good quality grass-fed cow, it’s good for the soul! Just because it’s good for you doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to save some dough.

Got any other SCD money saving tips? Leave in the comments section below.

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