With times getting tougher financially, I've been tracking my finances and I realize I need to start pinching pennies. With 2 gsd's (one 65 lbs the other 80 lbs), I've been spending a little over $100 a month on their food. They are currently eating Innova Evo Reduced Fat kibble, I need to switch to something more reasonable price wise or at least do a 50/50 mix with the Evo and another brand of dog food (I'm not sure this is a good idea though). I've had them both on Chicken Soup and they both did reasonably well on it so I may switch back, another option is Merrick. Switching them both over to raw in the near future is what I will probably be doing because it is a lot cheaper than what I currently am spending, probably about $60-70 a month for the 2 dogs. Any rec's on dog food brands that are reasonably priced and a decent grade will be appreciated. Thank you.

Kimberly

I just want to address one part of this. If I had to feed kibble, it would be a combination of different protein profiles. It would almost certainly be more than one brand.

It's the food the dog gets every day forever. This would be one of the ways I would provide some variety.

But why not switch to raw now?

If you can switch to raw and save money, I saw go for it now. Forget the kibble

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

...But why not switch to raw now?

Agreed!

If you're going to have to search for alternate foods and their contents, and balance that with a budget, do it once, and do the raw now. You'll be happy with the results in your dogs and your pocket.

Approximations...

These two dogs (together) would eat about 3 pounds of raw food a day.

At $1.00 a pound for food (an average price if you shop wisely, buy in bulk, or find a co-op) you could feed them for under $100 a month.

Many folks can feed raw for under $1.00 a pound, but that's the benchmark I use for myself.

Actually, I'd think they'd eat more than that. I think $1.00/lb is extremely reasonable...considering the "good" kibbles I'd feed are $2/lb and up. Also, don't forget hunters and butchers are your friends!

Why not do one meal raw and one meal a reasonably-priced kibble? I have done this (not for money but for weight gain) and it works very well. That way, they get the benefits of raw, but you can save a few bucks by feeding extra calories in cheaper way. Just an idea.

Like Connie said, if I am using a kibble for weight maintenance, I never feed only one formula or brand.

We have found that RAW is (for us) cheaper than buying 2 bags of kibble (which, between 3 big dogs, woudn't last very long, and with the cost to consumtion ratio it gets expensive-more so than picking up some 10lb bags of chicken leg quarters and some containers of organ meats). We recently bought 140lbs of chicken leg quarters for about $90. If we would have bought 2 35lb bags of Evo, it would have been at least $120. Add supplement cost once a month or every other month and it still ends up being cheaper than kibble.

When doing cost comparisons, you have to keep in mind that most meats are around 75% water and most kibbles are only about 10% water. It is not as simple as saying chicken costs $1.00/lb and kibble costs $2.00, therefore raw is cheaper. Then again, dogs also may need to eat less raw than kibble.

The only simple way to compare prices, is to compare total costs on a weekly or monthly basis.

Feeding raw costs me about 65 cents a pound.

Investment in other things:
- Freezer - free from craigslist
- Stainless table/workbench for prep - $130 from Ikea
- Huge wood chopping block - $14 from Ikea
- Heavy Cuisinart meat cleaver - $12 from Walmart
- 14 stainless bowls - ~$2.50 each from Fleet Farm
- Meat saw for cutting off big chunks without thawing all of it - $12 from Fleet Farm
- GOOD scale - $46 - http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-ibalance-5000.aspx

Around $250 worth of stuff.

I have so many bowls because I feed once a day and make up 10-14 days of food at a time. I keep 3-4 in the fridge at all times, and freeze the rest. You probably don't need the stainless table, but I got it because I didn't want to be preparing raw meats in the kitchen where my wife washes the baby bottles to avoid cross-contamination. Actually, you could get by without any of this stuff, but it really makes it much easier.

Find a local meat packer/distributor willing to sell you case quantities of meats. Some of them even have access to stuff that's marked as pet food grade.

As for quantities, I'm feeding about 2.25 pounds a day right now, which is about right for his activity level. When he was growing, I was feeding about 3 pounds a day split up into 2 meals. The size of the meals varies slightly depending on what I'm putting into it for the day. I follow the Leerburg diet fairly closely.

I just toss all of the meats into a rubbermaid tub filled with cold water to thaw. Then I pour out the water leaving the meat behind, set it on the stainless table, and go to work with the scale, cleaver, and bowls.

John is feeding 2.25lbs per day to ONE dog, correct? Kimberly is talking about more.

Kristen, I didn't say it was that simple. I was putting something very broad into quick perspective. I don't see a huge price difference, although I honestly don't pay that much attention. It's not that I'm rich, it's just that I decided long ago that my animals are my priority, and other things come second. I am not going to change how I feed them to save money, so why bother with the ugly figures, LOL?

My one dog needs about a 4.5-5lb chicken or other meat of equal weight per day to maintain weight. He can also eat 6 cups of kibble...but I'd rather split it. 2.5 lbs raw one meal and 2-3 cups Orijen another during times when he's too skinny.

I find that a lot of people say raw is so cheap, but they're not buying enough different things to truly feed the dog properly. Chicken leg quarters and backs are cheap, but certainly not balanced. I try to feed whole prey animals when possible, but they are very expensive. A lovely, fluffy bunny is $6-7...multiply that by 30 and you've got a big number...so I break it up a bit, and I don't think my dogs are suffering because of it.

I spend somewhere around $300/mo (if I don't get any free food)if you average it out. Some months I stock up and spend $600...and some months I don't need to buy anything. I really try not to dwell on those little details though. LOL.

For Kimberly, I would suggest she try what I've done. Give the raw you can afford to, and use a good kibble (for the money, I think Chicken Soup is good) the rest of the time. Or, use something like Orijen (which, btw, Fruitful Yield is not going to be carrying anymore, so everyone should run out and buy it all at 20% off) or The Honest Kitchen to make sure they're getting what they need. THK can add nutrients to really cheap raw meals and stretch your budget. Just a few ideas that might work.