# What's your budget?



## Neeko (Aug 11, 2010)

I know that many here buy in bulk, but if you had to break it down to a monthly cost, how much do you spend per month on raw food? How many dogs are you feeding? What are their sizes?

If I were doing just kibble/canned, it would cost me about $160-230 a month. I keep track of my expenses. This is for 2 bags of kibble, 15 cans of food, various treats, bully sticks, etc. 

I have realized raw is right, and am currently doing half and half. Need to put on my big girl panties and do full!

I have an 81 pound girl, whom I would feed about 26 oz daily if doing full raw. I would give my 94 lb boy about 38-40 oz daily, as he is high strung and has a fast metabolism. He looks very lean, and has actually gained 13 pounds since coming to us 11 months ago.

I would feed about 120lbs a month. This all really made sense when I realized my meat had to average $2 per pound for me not to be spending more than I would on kibble/canned. Between Saraga, Raw Paws, and My Pet Carnivore, I think this is very doable. I am excited, but nervous!

So does anyone set a budget? If you don't mind sharing, how much do you spend?


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We are a single income family so yes we have a strict budget. I figured I could do mid grade grain free kibble for $140 - $175 per month. That is for four collies and three shelties. On raw I feed about ten pounds per day.

Hunter - male collie (80 pounds) 1 3/4 pounds - 2 pounds
Marshall - male collie (60 pounds but a teenager) 3 pounds
Maggie - female collie (50 pounds) 1 1/2 pounds
Willow - female collie (50 pounds) 1 1/2 pounds
Cherri - female sheltie (20 pounds) 8 ounces
Dixie - female sheltie (11 pounds) 10-12 ounces
Domino - male sheltie (18 pounds) 8-10 ounces

We never spend over $175.00 per month and some months have been as low as $75.00. Very cost effective for us. 300 pounds per month on average for $175 or less. Wow that is't too bad.


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## Neeko (Aug 11, 2010)

That's very impressive. I love all your dogs' names. We think our girl may have some collie in her, somewhere.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

I have no idea. The word budget is new to me. LOL. 

Between bags of food, canned food and treats, I spent probably close to 200 a month.

I have three dogs

Mastiff used to get about 6 cups of food eating kibble
Lab used to get 4 cups of food eating kibble
Dachshund/poodle used to get about a cup or less of food eating kibble


I was just going over this with my husband today. Last month I spent about $120 (rough estimate) on raw including a couple of free craigslist scores. This month I have spent 106 so far. 

I need to buckle down and keep track to give you better numbers.

Mastiff eats 3-3.5 pounds a day
Lab eats 2-2.5 pounds a day
dachshund poodle mix eats .5 pounds a day 

So yeah, I will get back to you. 

I do know that so far I have purchased a 40 lbs. box of chicken backs for $35, 25 lbs. of beef chuck roast for $50, 50 lbs. of beef heart and 10 lbs of beef kidney for $106. Those are my biggest raw purchases to date. 

I have also been feeding venison I have shot this past season. 

Your numbers may vary. With free meat I am still not sure what my average will be. I never kept track before. I am going to start.

ETA: I forgot I also got 30 lbs. of chicken quarters for 0.39 a pound.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Although husband and I both work we don't make all that much money, and also choose to have multipul pets(including my gelding) so yes we are on a pretty tight budget. I feed around 5-7lbs per day, for somewhere in the 180lbs/month range. 

Rhett, (13.5 month old Border Collie, 55-ish pounds) 1.5-2.5lbs/day. 
Leo, (5 year old BC, 48lbs,) Keeva(5 month old BC should be around 40-45lbs full grown,) and Ducki and Pidgin(2 and 3 year old 8-10lbs cats) each get 1lbs/day. (On days that she runs around a lot Keeva might end up having an extra meal, but most of the time not.)
Brody, (2.5 year old Pug/x, 17lbs) 6-7oz/day. 
Dixi, (4 year old Mini Doxie, 8.5lbs,) 9-12oz/day. 

I haven't budgeted to spend more then 1.50 per pound since feeding raw, which I've never spent for a whole months worth of food. 

I've spent as much as 150 for one month(before we started buying bulk, and splurged as we only had 3 dogs and 1 cat to feed.)
And I've spent as little as 60 one month(YAY craigslist!Lol). That was an amazing month, I had all but Keeva, fed about 150lbs in that month and spent just under 60 for what I fed!!:thumb:

I do however put aside a little more on great months, as I'm a pessimist/realist and know that the month's opposite will pop up at some point!:wink:


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I'm feeding 10 small dogs and 2 cats raw and I think I guessed it was around $120-150 per month. I get a little venison free and hopefully hubby will kill a deer soon for the little blood thirsty beasts. We have some property that my sister-in-law plants a huge garden on and we can get a nuisance license to hunt for during the spring so maybe we'll have some free stuff coming. It wouldn't really matter what it cost though, I'd feed raw anyway. :wink:


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't really keep track anymore. I probably spend under 100 a month as a WHOLE but not nearly that much EVERY month. 

They eat about 100 lbs a month. 

I get so much meat for free that I haven't had to splurge on anything in a good while


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

my dogs eat under a pound a day.

there are some months when i don't spend a dime and there are some months when i spend 350.00

in two years, i've had one vet bill.....and that was a wellness check.

i don't budget. i should. 

i belong to a co op and i have a wonderful korean grocer and i kind of buy whatever i want....simply because my dogs eat under a pound a day. 

i have great admiration for those who exercise self restraint and set a budget.

two years later and i'm still a kid in a candy store...

my prices range all over the map with these guys, but they are my kids.....and i figure what i save on vet bills, i can spend on their food...and their supplements should they be needed...

i'm no help whatsoever LOL


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

magicre said:


> i'm no help whatsoever LOL


Oh but you are!!:thumb: I love coming over and helping you empty your freeze of all these great looking meats!!:biggrin1: (well I like coming over to your place to matter....well other then when I get sick, or wreck my car!!:tongue1
And of course, I have decided, that those of us who get the cheap beef scraps are allowed to splurge on other things!!LOL :lol:


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

For a lot of people, feeding raw is MUCH cheaper than kibble. I used to totally fall into this category, and then my supplier went to restaurants only, and I decided to feed about 80% red meat and fish. We feed 5 YOUNG (and growing) Great Danes, a Boxer with an insane metabolism that eats 5-6 lbs/ day herself, and a Corgi. We feed about 675ish lbs/month. We spend roughly $750 per month, but it can be as low as $600 or as high as $800. For us, though, we have virtually NO vet bills outside of annual blood work and health testing, and that makes up for it I'm sure. also, with such big dogs, avoiding denials year after year saves a bundle too. I also could do it on about $500/ month for all 7 of them, if I did more poultry, and have done that when money is really tight. That's one of the things I love about raw, when money is fine, I do better, but I don't have to feel bad if money is tight, we just modify it a bit. We do sacrifice in other areas, but are happy to do so. 


I could feed high quality kibble for free, but won't.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

CorgiPaws said:


> . We feed about 675ish lbs/month. We spend roughly $750 per month, but it can be as low as $600 or as high as $800.


Holy crap thats a lot of meat. You should just buy cows! LOL


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

We are also a single income family and that single income is a military salary. We don't have a set budget but we do spend as little as possible. We spend anywhere between $0.30/lb and $0.98/lb. We rarely ever go over that and that is for things like sardines and the occasional splurge on something like lamb. 

We feed approximately 124 lbs of meat per month and we never spend more than $124.00 per month. 

Dude: 8 year old male smooth collie (65 lbs) 1.5 lbs per day
Buck: 1 year old bluetick coonhound (61 but should mature to be around 80+) 2.5 lbs per day

We keep an eye out for sales and order in bulk through our co-op as well.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

Since I started buying in bulk I don't keep as close tabs on the price as I did before. I buy about 400-500 pounds every 3 months and have never spent more than $500. Even I can do that math to know on average it's a buck a pound! LOL!! 

Khan 2.5yr old Bullmastiff (120lbs) 2.5lbs per day
Shelby 6yr old Boston Terrier (9lbs) 6-8 oz per day
Bonzi 11yr old Corgi (30lbs) 10 oz per day


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I get all my meat from grocery stores, nothing from hunting or in bulk or craigslist. But, I only get it on sale or when it has the yellow clearance stickers and it is over half off. I'm going to try to start adding some more exotic meats in ground form from a local company if I can get Rocky to eat them! I have one luxury in that my boys have very low metabolisms and just don't eat much. In fact, today Rocky did not eat all his breakfast again (but Shade tried to grab it). 

Rocky - 90 pound Chow mix - eats about 1.5 pounds a day
Shade - 80 pound Rottie mix - eats about 1.5 pounds a day

So I feed 3 pounds of food daily. 


I don't keep an exact record, but I get all my chicken quarters for $.49 a pound and that makes up the bulk of their food. Turkeys are $.89 a pound, pork is about $1.50 a pound. Beef is about $2 a pound. Then add in about a carton of eggs a week, several cans of sardines and salmon, and you probably end up around $100- $150 a month. 

My dogs have not been to the vets in 2 years except for a heartworm check. Shade had a constant rash that he was on allergy pills and medicated shampoo for before he came to live with me and that has gone completely and is now covered in hair. So add in the 'lack of vet bills' to the money per month, too.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

i dont spend anything on meat i get it from our local grocery stores throw aways they toss out close to 60 pounds of meat trims per day which is beef trim,beef tendon,bones,pork trim,pork bones,chicken livers,chicken hearts, chicken necks, and once in a while htey will toss in some packaged meat that went bad or had been open like steaks,fish,whole chickens,pork roasts,ribs,turkey breasts anything they sell.
i dont know how much i feed per month never thought about it.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

xchairity_casex said:


> i dont spend anything on meat i get it from our local grocery stores throw aways they toss out close to 60 pounds of meat trims per day which is beef trim,beef tendon,bones,pork trim,pork bones,chicken livers,chicken hearts, chicken necks, and once in a while htey will toss in some packaged meat that went bad or had been open like steaks,fish,whole chickens,pork roasts,ribs,turkey breasts anything they sell.
> i dont know how much i feed per month never thought about it.


I asked my local store about meat for the dogs and they said they are not allowed to sell any or discount any or even give any away as dog meat that they throw away. :frown:


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

chowder said:


> I asked my local store about meat for the dogs and they said they are not allowed to sell any or discount any or even give any away as dog meat that they throw away. :frown:


I have asked chain stores but they say no. 

My mom goes to a local store that is not a chain and she gets stuff free.


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## pogo (Aug 28, 2011)

I have a 22kg staff and 42kg ambull, and buy in bulk but it works out at about £10-15 a month depending if i get a lot of fresh fish or things like whole pigs heads etc


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

chowder said:


> I asked my local store about meat for the dogs and they said they are not allowed to sell any or discount any or even give any away as dog meat that they throw away. :frown:


thats the good part about living here in upper MI the entire UP is jsut like one community everyone knows everyone and people really dont care. im going to be trying a few other grocery stores in the area to see if i cant get some more


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Scarlett_O' said:


> Oh but you are!!:thumb: I love coming over and helping you empty your freeze of all these great looking meats!!:biggrin1: (well I like coming over to your place to matter....well other then when I get sick, or wreck my car!!:tongue1
> And of course, I have decided, that those of us who get the cheap beef scraps are allowed to splurge on other things!!LOL :lol:


this is true....that beef scrap is awesome and ordering in bulk can be very cost effective when you have bunches of people ordering.

but you know as well as i the reason you got freezer stuff from me.





it's to make you my bitch.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

chowder said:


> I asked my local store about meat for the dogs and they said they are not allowed to sell any or discount any or even give any away as dog meat that they throw away. :frown:


haggen food stores and top food stores give their excesses to the food bank.

but they can and do give me fish carcasses for 'crab' bait.

and this is when i wish i fed salmon.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I am feeding 2 small dogs. Buster, 5 month old Toy Fox Terrier, eats 4.5 oz per day. He should weigh 6-8 lbs when grown. Lola is a 9 lb Jack Russell Terrier and she eats 4 oz per day. I have gotten a lot of free meat from various sources and right now it is costing me $2.15 per lb. That will vary over time but I have had great luck with free meat so far.


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