Tricia
OH yes - it can be cheaper than kibble. And I'm not even talking about factoring in the literally thousands of dollars I've saved on dental and vet visits.
For example - I can feed my two 150lb Great Danes full raw for about $200/mo - which incidentally is the same price as a month of kibble like Blue Buffalo or Merrick. Granted I am feeding them "human grade" meat not grass fed or organic. And I do it with no special equipment besides a $10 electronic kitchen scale and 2 dog bowls - although there are times when a chest freezer would come in handy for stocking up on good sales.
Here's how we do it:
300lbs at 1.5% (adult Danes are not very active) = 4.5lbs/day
they fast 1x per week or so. 6days x4.5lbs = 27lbs per week or 108lbs/month
They get RMB (thighs, necks, backs etc) one meal and meat, organs and even some of my leftover eggs, oatmeal, veg etc on occasion for their second meal. I just weigh it out and set down the bowl.
I do get meat from a local buying club but I also use a restaurant supply store called Cash&Carry. I think you could do the same at a Costco or Sam's. I buy RMB like chicken thighs, necks and even backs for anywhere from .42/lb to .98/lb Then get 5lb chubs of ground turkey or whole pork shoulders for around $1.5/lb.
My dogs also get whole sardines in lieu of supplementing fish oil and tripe in lieu of digestive enzyme powder. Those are our luxury products at 1.82/lb and 2.39/lb respectively.
So that's a little taste of a day to day feed in a house with 2 Great Danes. Ohh and can I just say that there is no farting like when they used to eat kibble. That in itself might just be worth it!!