Cost of Raw Feeding for 5 Months

Since the end of April I've been keeping records of how much money I'm spending on raw meat for the pets. The dogs both weigh 40 lbs and eat about 12-14oz each per day, and the cats about 3-4oz each per day. That's about 2 lbs total per day, sometimes a little more or less, to feed 100 lbs worth of pets.

Prices vary widely by region, what is available, and what you're willing to spend. Some people may be able to feed their pets for free or cheap if they are able to get wild game regularly or leftover or freezer burned meat. Some people are able to pay big bucks for organic, naturally fed and raised meats. Some people even raise their own animals such as rabbits.

With that in mind, I'm averaging about $60/month to feed both dogs and both cats.

Here is the spreadsheet I have going. Almost all the meat has been bought at the commissary on a Naval base here in San Diego. I've listed the date of purchase, the item name, cost per pound, weight of package, total cost of the package, and a combined total for when multiple packages of the same item were purchased. The bottom of each purchase date includes the totals for that purchase, including the average $/lb, total lb, and total $.

Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
4/30/2012	Pork Tails	$1.65	0.86	$1.42	$1.42
	Trk Nk	$1.45	2.67	$3.87
		$1.45	2.50	$3.63	$7.50
	Pork Picnic	$1.13	3.87	$4.37
		$1.13	4.90	$5.54
		$1.13	5.41	$6.11
		$1.13	4.58	$5.18	$21.20
	Ch Qtr	$0.66	10.00	$6.57	$6.57
	Whole Ch	$0.77	4.32	$3.33
		$0.77	5.24	$4.05
		$0.59	5.13	$3.03	$10.41
	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.04	0.70	$0.73
		$1.04	0.75	$0.78	$1.51
	Sardines	$2.00	1.00	$2.00
		$2.00	1.00	$2.00	$4.00
	Ch Liver	$1.04	0.80	$0.83	$0.83
	Beef Liver	$0.97	2.03	$1.97	$1.97
	Total	$1.17	55.76	$55.41
APRIL TOTAL		$1.17	55.76	$55.41
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
5/10/2012	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.04	1.06	$1.10
		$1.04	1.17	$1.22	$2.32
	Whole Ch	$0.99	5.38	$5.33	$5.33
	Pork Belly	$1.60	2.39	$3.82
		$1.60	2.54	$4.06
		$1.60	2.09	$3.34
		$1.60	2.53	$4.05	$15.27
	Total	$1.35	17.16	$22.92
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
5/22/2012	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.04	1.24	$1.29
		$1.04	1.07	$1.11
		$1.04	1.17	$1.22	$3.62
	Ch Liver	$1.04	0.91	$0.95
	Pork Boston Blade	$1.46	10.23	$14.94	$15.89
	Pork Picnic	$1.27	11.97	$15.20	$15.20
	Sardines	$2.00	1.00	$2.00
		$2.00	1.00	$2.00	$4.00
	Ch Qtr	$0.66	10.00	$6.57	$6.57
	Total	$1.28	38.59	$45.28
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
5/24/2012	Moose and Elk	$0.00	45.00	$0.00	$0.00
	Total	$0.00	45.00	$0.00	$0.00
MAY TOTAL		$1.31	100.75	$68.20
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
6/5/2012	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.04	0.94	$0.98
		$1.04	0.97	$1.01	$1.99
	Ch Liver	$1.04	0.87	$0.90
		$1.04	0.90	$0.94	$1.84
	Beef Kidney	$0.78	2.69	$2.10
		$0.78	2.45	$1.91	$4.01
	Total	$0.95	8.82	$7.84
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
6/21/2012	Ch Thigh Filets	$2.19	2.80	$6.13
	Pork Belly	$1.61	2.58	$4.15
		$1.61	2.93	$4.75	$15.03
	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.04	1.24	$1.29
		$1.04	1.21	$1.26
		$1.04	1.20	$1.25
		$1.04	1.13	$1.18
		$1.04	1.11	$1.15
		$1.04	1.22	$1.27	$7.40
	Pork Picnic	$1.31	4.66	$6.10
	Beef Heart	$0.98	6.07	$5.95
		$0.98	5.62	$5.51
		$0.98	5.68	$5.28
		$0.98	5.22	$5.12	$21.86
	Total	$1.21	42.67	$50.39
JUNE TOTAL		$1.13	51.49	$58.23
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
7/9/2012*	Ch Qtr	-	-	< $4	-
	Ch Drumsticks	-	-	-	-
	Ch Thighs	-	-	-	^ < $5
	Total		~9	~ $9
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
7/16/2012	Trk Nk	$1.21	2.12	$2.57
		$1.21	1.99	$2.41	$4.98
	Beef Liver	$0.92	2.08	$1.91
	Ch Qtr	$0.94	10.00	$9.44
	Ch Liver	$1.25	1.25	$1.56
	Ch Thigh Filets	$1.99	2.68	$5.35
	Pork Belly	$2.05	1.98	$4.06
		$2.05	2.16	$4.43
		$2.05	2.23	$4.57	$13.06
	Total	$1.52	26.49	$36.30
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
7/27/2012	Sardines	$2.00	1.00	$2.00
		$2.00	1.00	$2.00
		$2.00	1.00	$2.00	$6.00
	Chicken Thighs	~1.8	~ 5	~ $9
	Total	$2.00	8.00	$15.00
JULY TOTAL		$1.64	43.49	$51.30
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
8/3/2012	Turkey Drumsticks	$1.38	2.38	$3.28
		$1.38	2.56	$3.53	$6.81
	Total	$1.38	4.94	$6.81
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
8/18/2012	Beef Heart	$0.96	3.27	$3.14
		$0.96	2.77	$2.66
		$0.96	2.71	$2.60
		$0.96	3.24	$3.11	$11.51
	Beef Kidney	$0.72	2.70	$1.94
		$0.72	2.53	$1.82
		$0.72	2.60	$1.87	$5.63
	Beef Liver	$0.92	2.02	$1.86
		$0.92	2.03	$1.87	$3.73
	Turkey Neck	$1.12	1.98	$2.22
		$1.12	2.24	$2.51	$4.73
	Total	$0.92	28.09	$25.60
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
8/28/2012	Pork Spare Ribs	$1.68	3.94	$6.62
	Ch Heart & Giz	$1.00	1.37	$1.37
		$1.00	1.45	$1.45
		$1.00	1.53	$1.53	$4.35
	Ch Qtr	$0.80	10.00	$7.99
	Ch Thigh Filet	$1.99	2.82	$5.61
	Ch Drumstick	$0.99	4.47	$4.43
	Pork Belly	$2.28	2.08	$4.74
		$2.28	2.01	$4.58	$9.32
	Total	$1.45	29.67	$38.32
AUG TOTAL		$1.18	62.70	$70.73
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
9/12/2012	Trk Nk	$1.11	2.10	$2.33
		$1.11	2.14	$2.38
		$1.11	1.98	$2.20
		$1.11	2.13	$2.36	$9.27
	Total	$1.11	8.35	$9.27
Date	Item	$/Lb	Lb	Total $	Combined Total $
9/24/2012	Turkey Drumstick	$1.31	2.29	$3.00
		$1.31	2.39	$3.13	$6.13
	Beef Kidney	$0.72	2.03	$1.46
		$0.72	2.22	$1.60
		$0.72	1.97	$1.42
		$0.72	2.18	$1.57	$6.05
	Pork Picnic	$1.27	5.71	$7.25
	Ch Liver	$1.25	1.25	$1.56
		$1.25	1.25	$1.56	$3.12
	Ch Qtr	$0.80	10.00	$7.99
	Beef Liver	$0.92	2.07	$1.90
		$0.92	1.92	$1.77	$3.67
	Beef Heart	$1.06	2.08	$2.20
		$1.06	2.27	$2.94
		$1.06	2.51	$2.66
		$1.06	2.36	$2.50	$10.30
	Total	$1.01	44.50	$44.51
SEPT TOTAL		$1.03	52.85	$53.78

*Note: The receipt was lost for the first purchase in July. We were out of town and I didn't remember to record it.

Also note that at the end of May I got about 45 lbs of wild moose and elk for no cost.

I have not included the cost of fish oil supplement, which was about $20 from what I remember for 400 softgels.

The complete total so far is $357.65.When that number is divided by 5, to cover the 5 months of May through September (not counting April since that purchase was the last day of the month), the average is $71.53. This is a little misleading as I usually have about 3-4 weeks worth of meat in the freezer. I buy more of a specific item when I run out or when it goes on sale, and it's extremely rare for my freezer to be truly empty. So really, the $357.65 would be able to cover me for almost 6 months, which would be $59.06 per month. 

Total amount purchased over the last 5 months is 367.04 lbs. That's an average of $0.97/lb. Not bad, and certainly much cheaper than a high quality kibble! Without factoring in the free moose and elk, the average would be $1.11/lb which is still really low.

Assuming the meat I have now could last through the end of this month, meaning for 6 months total, cost per day is $1.94. On average, the amount fed per day is 1.99 lbs. I don't think I could quite make it to the end of the month but at least 2-3 weeks as of now before the freezer was completely empty.
 
Again, prices vary widely by region and what you're willing and able to pay for. You may be able to spend a lot less, or you may have to (or be able to) spend a lot more. If your pets are bigger or smaller, or if you have more or less pets, that will be a major factor as well.

There are many ways to help cut costs of raw feeding. Look for a local co-op in which people bulk order to save on shipping costs, and bulk orders cost less per lb. They often have more variety than you may be able to find in stores as well. Check in reputable ethnic and foreign markets as well. Often you can find great variety for great prices in Asian or Hispanic markets. You can post a want ad on Craigslist or Kijiji for unwanted, leftover, freezer burned meat. Often hunters will be looking to clear out their old freezer burned meat from previous years to make room for the upcoming hunting season. You can consider roadkill too. Check on Freecycle and other such sites for meat. You can also contact slaughterhouses, abattoirs, taxidermists, and contact farmers and ranchers to see if they could sell you stillborns, animals that need to be culled, animals that have stopped producing, and get any "scraps." Check the advertisements for your local stores for weekly sales so you can stock up when prices are low, and check to see if they have a discount bin for meat that is about to expire.

Be creative and don't be shy! It can help if you phrase your inquiries in such a manner that it appears you are doing a service by taking/purchasing unwanted meat that would otherwise be wasted, and I've also found it helpful to say I make a "healthy homemade diet" for my pets instead of saying "raw" as ill-informed people may panic at the R word and decide not to give you the meat.