Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
I am impressed how many readers are committed to eating organic and natural foods! Dozens of readers (there were 64 comments) shared their strategies to save, including many who grow edible gardens as part of a contest to win the eBook “Real Food on a Real Budget.” The majority struggle with the cost of organic food, which is certainly a big reason why I have not fully embraced organic.
EllieD and Jana had a thoughtful conversation, spurred in part by a plea for help by Shane. A snippet of their exchange:
@EllieD, I think we do agree on a lot!
I like the Whole Foods in-store organic brand, it is dollars cheaper than other brands. The only problem I have is with canned goods. Most, if not all–except for Eden Organic brand–canned goods are contaminated with BPA. This is cause for concern. This is why I don’t often buy canned tomatoes at all, since Eden brand is quite expensive. I guess the best way is to can your own, in glass jars. (more…)
I spent $470 in my first week of giving up credit cards, putting me on track to blow up my budget this month. Part of that was due to a pricey snowboarding trip, but a lot of it was because I had a ton of cash in my pocket. When I feel flush, I buy stuff I would not normally splurge for (coffee drinks, fancy beef jerky, drinks for others, etc).
To reverse my spendy trend, I decided to carefully plan my errands and grocery trip yesterday so I would only have $5 extra with me. More often than not, if I always have an emergency $20 bill on me, I’m going to spend it. I estimated the cost of my errands ($5 – shoe repair guy; $25 – groceries; $5 – vitamins) and put $40 in my wallet.
The shoe repair bill was actually $7, raising my awareness of my remaining dollars. My first grocery stop added up to $11.87, an insane amount for three items (hummus, cheese, and salsa). I have a tasty hummus recipe and am debating making my own.
When I arrived at the second grocery store I was hyper aware of how much money I had left over – $21.13. Having a finite amount of dollars influenced what I purchased. I bought super cheap in-season strawberries for $.99 instead of bananas, and passed on sliced lunch meat so I could buy chicken thighs and pork chops, the two most expensive items on my list.
As I put each item into my cart, I wrote down its cost. When I felt I was approaching my dollar limit, I added everything up, including tax. Having to pay close attention to – no, being controlled by my limited funds – was painful. With a credit card, I do not limit myself when it comes to food. I aim to spend about $27 a week on groceries, but if a staple is on sale or I see a good deal, I do not hesitate to overspend. With cash, I don’t have that option.
By the time I made it to the drugstore to buy vitamins, I had a little over $6 left. I could pay for the vitamins using a $4 off coupon and the spare coins in my wallet, but I walked out of the store emptyhanded. It didn’t feel right to go home penniless.
