Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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We've had a number of questions asking about spending less money on evolutionary eating and living in general, but I'd like to take this question and try to flip that around.

Where in your life do you think you get the most positive results when you DO spend more money than you would 'normally'?

This is kind of like a Return on Investment sort of question, we all have limited funds, where do you put yours to get the most positive results out?

If you want to answer with rules, mottoes, accounting schemes, or just links to the best stuff on websites, I'll take it all and we can all try to use it to improve our lives.

edited Jan 28 2011 at 1:55

asked Sep 14 2010 at 17:56

Adam Crafter
11.4k●13●45

Girl Gone Primal · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-14 23:41:48Z UTC

I'll add to the chorus of spending money on high-quality, naturally-raised, grass-fed red meats, except that I find it much cheaper to buy my meat this way! I would buy it anyway even if it were more expensive because 1) it's much better for me, 2) it's much better for the animals, and 3) it's much better for the farmer (no middle-man). I like knowing exactly where my money is going, and that it's enriching the local community. I'll pay more for decent eggs as well, although the organic eggs tend to be grain-fed, and the free-range eggs are questionable as well. I have one source for pastured eggs, but the laying season has been erratic. This seasonality and temperamentality encourages me to give more money to this farmer since his income solely relies on his animals, unlike farmers who are supported by supermarkets (and their mandatory antibiotics). He's also my raw dairy producer, so it's win-win.

I will also never go back to any walking/running shoes other than Vibrams; I love them so much, and all other shoes feel uncomfortable now! So I pay their lofty fee - but they're worth the cost since the KSOs I bought mid-2009 are still in great shape, and I wear them to and from work every single day! Buono!

Pieter D · Answer 2 · 2010-09-14 19:38:14Z UTC

Time = Money

Money = Time

Time to do what really makes you happy, not to buy what makes you happy.

In my case: family time, time in nature, play, friends, travel...

In my experience paleo eating is not expensive, except for grass fed meats. Although I tell everybody that it's not the grass fed that is expensive, it is the conventionally raised meat the is too cheap...

Stephen-Aegis · Answer 3 · 2010-09-14 18:52:41Z UTC

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Buying Half a grassfed cow at a time...

What's more rewarding than my health

I only Want to do other Activities because I'm healthy and feel great... Most of which are social and mostly free(equipment)

Ultimate Frisbee/Volleyball/Tennis

answered Sep 14 2010 at 18:52

Stephen-Aegis
24k●2●33●106

Fearsclave · Answer 4 · 2010-09-15 13:50:11Z UTC

Money: better quality food as per the other answers. And my FiveFingers were probably the best fitness gear buy I ever made. And realizing that I didn't need a gym to exercise in is going to prove to be a major moneysaver over the rest of my life.

Time (which = money): I now walk an hour a day at lunch, religiously, and then eat at my desk, save when it's raining heavily. I also make a point of making time for exercise (I'm doing the Primal Blueprint Fitness thing) in priority; "I wish I'd spent more time on the internet" is not likely to be high on my list of deathbed regrets. I also have booked a lot of vacation time this fall for deer and small game hunting (but then again I was doing that before going Paleo).

AnamorphicWoman · Answer 5 · 2011-05-25 14:25:04Z UTC

Crossfit is the best decision I have made in a very long time. It is very expensive, but the fact is.. I'm excited to go to CrossFit & I actually miss it when I can't go.

It makes me want to work out. When I'm there, I want to be challenged. I love the people I work out with. The last thing on my mind at CrossFit is weightloss; instead, inspires me to ask my body for more, push my boundaries, see what I can become if I set my mind to it.

Honestly, the reason I'm starting paleo is because of the way CrossFit makes me feel. If they say Paleo will make me feel even better.. I'm willing to give it a shot.

texasleah · Answer 6 · 2010-09-14 18:44:06Z UTC

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The best ROI for me so far (as equated by weight loss/inflammation relief) has been grass fed beef and pastured butter. It's worth it's weight in KerryGold!

answered Sep 14 2010 at 18:44

texasleah
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	KerryGold is way cheaper at Trader Joes compared to my local Wegmans. Nearly half the price. That just means I can buy more of it at once. – speno Sep 14 2010 at 19:30
	Costco also sells it in bulk for cheap – Tsamko Sep 15 2010 at 0:04

xjhues · Answer 7 · 2010-09-14 19:10:58Z UTC

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In general, spending a lot to make sure my family gets high quality, real food instead of cheap processed junk.

Specifically, I suppose, buying grass fed beef. I wish my source was local instead of from some ranch in far off Uruguay, but c'est la vie. From what I've read it's still good stuff.

Whether or not this is the best return on investment of course remains to be seen.

answered Sep 14 2010 at 19:10

xjhues
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	I assume you've looked at eatwild.com and similar sites already? – Stephen-Aegis Sep 14 2010 at 19:17
	Yes, I've been to eatwild. The closest "local" place was 1.5 hours away. Drove there, wasn't impressed with the operation, but having made the trip felt obligated to buy some meat anyway. Didn't enjoy it. I did find a local source for eggs and goat milk/cheese, at least. – xjhues Sep 14 2010 at 20:31

Belinda · Answer 8 · 2010-09-14 23:30:10Z UTC

I pay more for grass-fed beef and lamb straight from a farm, and feel happy about that. I can't believe how little I spend at the supermarket (when it's just me - if my husband's there, we end up buying more because he's not true paleo). So it all evens out. I am also paying for a personal trainer, which I have found beneficial less for the motivation, but for the help in getting that last 10% out in the weights room - and for having someone watch your form, breathing etc.

DaveRN · Answer 9 · 2010-09-15 03:05:48Z UTC

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Grass fed beef, pastured eggs and raw goat milk, all from sources less than 30 miles from my home.

answered Sep 15 2010 at 3:05

DaveRN
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gone2croatan · Answer 10 · 2011-01-28 14:46:46Z UTC

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I always spent a lot of money on quality ingredients for cooking, so that's kind of a given.

I recently swallowed the sizable fees to join a local CrossFit box, which was important to me because I need the structure of a program like that or else I tend to slack off on my exercise due to boredom and laziness. It's expensive, but it's definitely worth it--there's no way I'll be skipping out on class when I'm paying an arm and a leg for it!

answered Jan 28 2011 at 14:46

gone2croatan
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How expensive is your location? I finally found a newbie box, but the sad part is there isn't much of a "community" feel about it yet. It's just me and the owner most mornings. At least he has all the equipment though. – sherpamelissa Jan 28 2011 at 15:43

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$120/mo. for 2x/week. Just typing that hurts. Ow. – gone2croatan Jan 28 2011 at 15:55

Oh! That's not bad! In Chicago here they get $200+. I was paying $120 a month at my old gym for unlimited bootcamp type classes. Now my new guy is $110 a month. I think it's unlimited, but he's really not sure yet. I'm going Mon/Wed/Fri. – sherpamelissa Jan 28 2011 at 16:52

I can't make myself drop the money on cross fit yet... I'm loving TACFIT at home, and we'll see how well that does for me. – Adam Crafter Jan 28 2011 at 18:31

It's especially awesome because we're now a single income family until the next round of film and TV hiring comes around. Blaergh. – gone2croatan Jan 28 2011 at 18:48

UncleLongHair · Answer 11 · 2011-05-25 14:30:38Z UTC

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Time off / vacation and food (not gourmet/fancy food, but real Paleo food, which can be expensive). When we go over our budget those are the only things we aren't willing to cut. And red wine :).

answered May 25 2011 at 14:30

UncleLongHair
15k●9●28

Knarf · Answer 12 · 2011-11-17 23:19:01Z UTC

Experiences.

Experiences include: Things you care about. For me, quality, local, fresh food. Good quality restaurants when eating out. Pay now for fresh food, and never pay for medication.

I'm a minimalist at heart, so I hardly own anything. It's pretty liberating; I feel people should give it a shot, not being too much of a consumer.

Spend extravagantly on things you give a hoot about! Since this is Paleohacks, I hope everyone chimes in with food as a chunk of their spendings.

Where in your life do you feel best spending More Money?

Where in your life do you think you get the most positive results when you DO spend more money than you would 'normally'?

12 Answers