Healthy living costs more initially, but it saves you money ultimately when you avoid expensive medical care and/or long term prescription drugs.
One of the ways I save money is to buy everything in bulk.
Not just food.
If I can save money on all my household purchases,
I'll have more money to spend on healthy food.
Some things I buy on Amazon,using their Subscribe and Save option which gets me 15% off. I get most of our paper products here (napkins, tissues, TP, computer paper and ink), flax seeds, manuka honey, and some of our supplements.
Other things I get through our Frontier Co-op Wholesale account. You only need 3 members to create an account, and orders over $250 ship free. Many items sold in Whole Foods are the Frontier brand and you can get them here at wholesale prices. I get our paper plates here, our dish and laundry soap, and many of our spices. They sell some Bob's Red Mill products, too. Every month, they put some products on sale where you can save even more.
I also use Vitacost, LuckyVtamin, and iHerb, all of which have great pricing and a low free shipping threshold. I use them for Eden canned goods, Yellow Barn tomatoes, and some supplements.
Another option is to purchase items by the case from Whole Foods. Case purchases get a 5% discount. For instance, if you buy a whole wheel of cheese, you get 5% off and it won't come wrapped in plastic! At home, slice off wedges as you need them, wrap the rest in parchment, and store in your fridge. We've never had one go bad before we could finish it.
When you shop in a grocery store, don't buy anything but food! All other items have a huge markup and can be purchased elsewhere for much less. You'll have to research the best places based on where you live. I suspect Costco, Target, Home Depot and Ace Hardware would be a good place to start.
If your grocery puts something on sale for 50% off (and I have read that any less than 50% off is not a good deal), stock up if it's something that won't go bad before you can use it all.
STORAGE
Low-cost "organic" foods
are generally not truly organic.
You may think you're 'saving' but you're really paying more for conventional food.
Don't laugh about this next suggestion...
Live by the Moon!
WASTE
Yes, WASTE costs you money!
are generally not truly organic.
You may think you're 'saving' but you're really paying more for conventional food.
When sourcing chemical-free and GMO-free food, DON'T TRUST ANYONE!
As more and more people insist on
organic and pasture raised food, more and more farmers switch to those
methods; but...some of them do so only in name! They take
advantage of every loophole in the Organic Standards to avoid producing a
truly organic or pasture raised product.
has several 'scorecards' you can use to determine which products are indeed what they claim to be.
- Horizon Organic is one of the worst scofflaws. They're cheaper for a reason. If you check the dairy scorecard, they get a ZERO COW RATING!
- Aurora Dairy, which supplies Costco, Walmart, and Target is another scofflaw.
- Most 'free range' chickens and their eggs are NOT free range - the birds have one tiny door in their overcrowded barn and they NEVER go outside! Organic Valley (you thought they were one of the good ones, didn't you?) rates TWO EGGS out of five, which is LOWER than the USDA STANDARD! Buy from a local farm where you can SEE how the chickens are raised!
- Even USWM, an online store I used to trust, is sneaky: On their FAQ page they claim to, "...farm with organic principles in mind since 2000." But on another, hidden, page they admit most of their "poultry options are free range, but not GMO free." In other words, they're NOT ORGANIC and therefore laced with roundup and other chemicals. For truly GMO-free pastured chicken, Tropical Traditions is the only online source. (Chicken has the worst omega 3:6 ratio of any meat - you shouldn't be eating much of it anyway.)
Several years ago, the butcher at Whole
Foods had the audacity to tell me there was little difference between
their 100% grass fed beef, and their conventional beef. While it's true
that conventional beef spends the first 12-18 months of it's life on pasture,
it's the last few months in a feed lot that alters the omega 3:6 ratio
from healthy to unhealthy. This conversion happens in as little as 30 days!
Ergo, don't trust anyone. Do your own
research.
If it's too cheap to be organic, it probably isn't. Don't laugh about this next suggestion...
Live by the Moon!
Given that Biodynamic Agriculture does many things 'by the moon', and it works exceeding well for agriculture (see pictures here) I researched whether there were things I could do in my personal life that would benefit from 'living by the moon' and THERE WERE!
For instance:
if you wash your hair (or your laundry) on a propitious day, YOU WILL USE LESS SOAP!
If you use less soap, your container will last longer and you'll save money!
Here is the LUNAR CALENDAR I USE.
Change the time zone to yours, it makes a difference.
WASTE
Yes, WASTE costs you money!
- Obviously, don't buy/take more than you can use before it goes bad.
- If 'stuff happens' and you realize you won't get to it, freeze it.
- Take smaller portions - you can always have seconds.
- When transferring from one container to another, use the best spatula ever!!
No comments:
Post a Comment