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Making Room in Your Budget for More Real Food
People often express surprise that someone as frugal as me would buy organic produce, organic dairy, or free-range eggs. But if you want to know how I do it, you need to look and see what is not in my grocery cart. There is very little packaged or precooked food.
As I was perusing the grocery store fliers this evening, I started comparing sale items ounce per ounce and pound per pound. If you apply a little “freakanomics
” to your grocery basket, you will find you can afford healthier food.
At Safeway this week there are a couple of items on sale for $2.50:
16 oz. Ritz .156 per ounce $2.50 per pound
12 oz. Fig Newtons .208 per ounce $3.33 per pound
14.5 oz. Pop-tarts .177 per ounce $2.83 per pound
8.4 oz. Quaker Chewy Granola Bars .297 per ounce $4.76 per pound
In that same sales flier you can purchase:
5 lb. Box of Clementines for $4.99 or .0625 per ounce or $1.00 per pound
You can also buy cantaloupe for .49 a pound
or broccoli crowns for .79 a pound
But wait a minute you say, the above produce isn’t organic.
You’re right, I don’t want to force organics on you. But for fun, let’s visit Scolari’s where you can buy organic Pink Lady apples for .99 a pound.
And we can visit Raley’s where you can buy organic strawberries for $3.97 a pound. More expensive than the organic apples, but still less per pound than the Quaker Oats Chewy Granola Bars.
Or we could visit Savemart and buy organic spinach for $3.99 a pound.
Or Smith’s where we can buy organic Italian squash for $1.50 a pound.
How do I find money in my budget for organic milk at $5.68 a gallon? By skipping the juice and drinking water instead. Double what ever you pay for a 64 oz. container of juice and you will have it’s price per gallon. You will probably be surprised to find you are paying close, if not more per gallon for juice than I am for organic milk!
How can I possibly afford $1.99 a pound for a whole free-range chicken? By seasoning meat from the spices in my cupboard rather than buying packaged seasonings for .69 – $1.29 an ounce, which on sale = $11.04 a pound!
How do you make room in your budget for real food?
Susannah Thomas says
I read your blog with great interest, and a light-bulb went on over my head! I don’t do the coupon thing myself–90% of what coupons cover are things I consider to be pretty bad for you: sugared cereals, so-called “convenience” foods which are loaded with salt, saturated fats and trans-fats, refined flours, I could go on and on. I went on Weight Watchers years ago and had my eyes opened. For instance, did you know that, ounce-for-ounce, fruit juice contains as much sugar and calories as soft drinks? But, your point about organic products has finally given me an argument I can use to persuade my husband that, yes, we really do need to go there! So, thank you, so much.
Danielle Hull says
wow! I never thought of it like that! I am looking into some organic whole chickens. I just read an article (I don’t think it was here) about the “broth” (read “weight”) they add to conventional chicken in the store, so by the time you cook the chidken and cook of that junk, you’re really not saving that much per pound from buying organic or free-range chicken!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
This post contains some very wise advice! I think your comparisons are wonderful – and very thought provoking. I totally agree with everything you have said, and I’m so glad you’ve shared this post with the Gallery of Favorites!
Lee says
I love this break down. For the most part we've cut out a lot of that tuff and still have to scrimp to buy non-organic. On the other hand, it just reminds me that we're doing the right thing. And as there's breathing room, even if the fruit seems high, it's actually cheaper than the snacks.
a moderate life says
Hi Alea baby! Heck yes, it is all in your thought processes related to how expensive something is really. I made these gnocchi which are about $8 bucks a pop packaged for the cost of two old russet potatoes I was going to throw out, a cup of flour, some salt I already had and a walk in the woods to get the delicious secret ingredient, pine needles! who knew? of course, Oh gasp! I spent a bit on organic grass fed butter, but that's not a splurge, as Julia Child would say, that is the Enrichment Butter! its mandatory! Big hugs! Alex
tamilyn says
Can you come teach my daughter math? 🙂
I have to check out the co-op market and see what they have for meat. Usually I go to our local butcher, but while his beef and pork is local, his chicken is not.
Christine says
Great post! For years I've been ignoring the supermarket flyers and coupons b/c I told myself they were just for packaged stuff I don't buy much of (which is mostly true). But since converting to working part time and being at home with a little one, I have a bigger incentive to save those pennies, and also make cooking for the week easier. (I'm a personal chef but it can still be tough getting dinner on the table 🙂 Going thru the flyers, stocking up on pantry items, using coupons for dry goods that aren't full of chemicals – all great ways to complement our monthly pasture-raised meat CSA and the local veggies we get in the warmer months. One thing I learned recently: most supermarkets have their flyers online now, so you can create and print shopping lists and easily compare prices. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kankana says
such an interesting post. I should really save those coupons.. i just feel so lazy to save them !!
A Cooks Quest says
You said it very well! I love the price break downs you give.
Swathi says
Nice post,I cut coupons from Sunday paper, however most of them for ready food, so i get back only few coupons.
Stacie says
I am honestly so glad I found your blog. I read every post and say to myself, "I KNOW, RIGHT?!". These are the SAME THINGS I tell my friends on a daily basis but they ignore me. They're very into "couponing" but I tell them time and time again they'd save more by buying quality whole foods and investing in a stocked spice cabinet than getting prepackaged rice mixes, etc, for pennies. Phew, let me get off my soapbox and just say…I LOVE THIS POST!