Posts Tagged ‘frugal food shopping’

Faulty Thinking

Most people think you can’t save money on groceries without jeopardizing health. The price of organic produce is what makes people think that healthy eating is out of reach. Grass fed beef and dairy is out of reach for most people. But, this is not an all or nothing endeavor.

Just because you can’t get the most expensive foods, does not mean you can squander your health. This is reminiscent of the reasoning that many people use. If they eat one cookie and break the diet, finishing the rest of them is mandatory, The diet is ruined anyway. Falling off the bandwagon does not mean you can’t get right back on.

Where to Start

This is simple to implement. Before the advent of processed food people lived and ate well. They also were use to counting their pennies. Gardens were common, fresh produce was available. Seasonal vegetables and fruit were available at every market. Its nutritional value was way beyond the conventional produce bought at our neighborhood supper markets.

However, fruits and vegetables are still very valuable and the typical American diet means that they are not eaten on a daily basis. It is crucial for maintaining healthy functioning cells. So the place to start is in the vegetable section. Produce is still the staple of a healthy diet not the side show.

All sale fruit and vegetables are good choices. Farmer’s Markets are great for local grown produce, without the over head costs, prices are good. There is nothing wrong with buying all kinds of beans for homemade soups. You just have to know where you get the most nutrition for the buck. Consumer awareness is where you start.

Money Robbers

The snack foods that cost so little, give so little. Except for empty calories, they have little to offer. Fortified processed food is still junk food. These products have the ability to deplete your stores of vitamins and minerals. This is really the most expensive food on the shelves. Taking hard earned dollars and flushing them down the toilet is the best analogy. When you get nothing for the money than it is the most expensive thing you can buy.

The high price of junk food comes years after you have eaten it. From dental bills, to prescriptive medicine junk food is expensive. It is buying now paying later. Consumer awareness tells you where to start and where to stop.

Common Sense

Common sense gets turned off when facing temptation. The advertising campaign counts on it. Save money on groceries without jeopardizing your health means avoiding the isles with the substances that are the most costly. The bottom line is just because its cheap does not mean it saves you money. The reoccurring costs are the ones from the doctors, dentists, and prescriptions. Expose your children to what it is to shop frugally without jeopardizing their health.

Sign of the times

Being frugal is part of the times. How do you do it and stay healthy? There is a smart way, and a not so smart way of doing it. Almost, everyone has some experience with the two ways of doing this. That is how the saying penny wise and pound foolish has gotten to be such a well used proverb. There are some areas that saving money must be used with caution, and much forethought.

Right Way

Almost, everyone is or has been frugal sometime in their life. Most times even when we made the wrong choice the consequence for our actions is not a big deal. Then there were times that we paid for our choice, and the price was much higher than the original tag. One of the areas that care must be used is in our use of everyday nutrition. What looks like a good deal at the moment can be detrimental in the long haul. Ingesting anything is like putting a cheap substitute for gas into your cars fuel tank and expecting the car to last a long time without major expense.

Saving money on groceries can be done and done well. Being frugal can be a very sane approach to making purchasing in the land of material abundance. Like everything else sometimes you get what you pay for. Pay very little and get very little in return. An educated consumer is what makes being frugal practical in the 21^st century. With information being disseminated in print and on the web, we can be the savviest consumer in the media age.

Nutritional Choices

The number one purchase that has the largest impact on our health would be our nutritional choices. The most important purchases are the ones that affect our health. This is something you may not see the consequences of immediately. But, it has the most expensive consequences and possible dire ones. We see it play out, with a forecasted drop in the life expectancy in America, as the next generation ages. Health care is in critical condition because of the alarming number of people with chronic health conditions.

Education is Key

So to be frugal at the grocery store takes a bit of education. It is well worth mastering the steps to be good at this. This is something that I take great pride in being able to teach. It is extremely gratifying knowing that those that master this will not only make wise choices but will save money and be healthier.

There is information that organic is best and while that may be true it is not economic for everyone. Conventional grown produce is surely a wise choice over very processed snack food. When you purchase empty calories you are getting nothing in return. Of course, if you consider weight gain, high blood pressure, and diabetes worth the economic gain of perhaps a few cents to a few dollars a week in savings a good trade, than go for it.

You can spend less and get nutritionally packed food. One of the biggest saving will come from being able to buy smaller sized clothes along with fewer prescriptions. Nutritionally dense food, which is sometimes the least expensive food on the shelves, it is the produce isle. The next place to spend some time is in the pasta, rice and bean section of the supermarket, without picking up any processed item. Frugally healthy means there are always good choices on any budget.