Schnookies post about the red koolaid being frugal got me to thinking. I live frugally, mostly. But, not when it comes to food, mostly. Of course, being GFDF, I have to spend money on certain items as they can be expensive. But, I also see it as a health thing. Isn't it more frugal to eat healthy and spend some extra money on food to do that than to eat cheaply but unhealthy? I'll admit, sometimes I just don't have money for the organic. But, I figure that those few times I am completely broke, eating something is better than eating nothing, even if it is not organic. And, luckily, they are mostly few. But, even then I have things I won't compromise on.

I think I am just rambling. I guess I am wondering what do you feel is more frugal, eating cheaply but unhealthy or eating organic for more money but hopefully better health.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It's more frugal to eat wisely/healthy than to eat junk because it's cheaper. The health benefits far outweigh the expense of eating a healthier diet.

That is the way I look at it too-BUT the past month I have been feeling uneasy aobut some of our sandwich meats. (sorry folks, I am not a complete vegetarian-hope it does nto gross anyone out)

But the nitrates can have some serious consequences...learning about this in herb school currently and it justified the concern I began having several week ago.
I decided to do my best not to buy deli style meats if I can help it.

Yesterday at co op I bought 10# grass fed beef to cut down on some fat. It cost double what I get the beef for at our local store.

I bought $400 worth of organic grains, the meats, Braggs, cheeses and yogurt, a few snacks made with organic ingredients, edamame beans (co op has the best!) and the few fresh produce that was instock.

For that money I got healthy whole foods...but not near as much as I woudl have got at the local store.

My desire is to be able to live on this planet and heal my families ails. Preventative medicine is the path I choose to do that mostly via herbs and nutrition.
So the trade off to me is worth it. BUT I cannot always run to Fayetteville and order from the co op so I dont always have these items at home adn have to buy store things.

BUT my next argument is that hand prepared food is far better than pre packed dinners and other foods. So I think a person is ahead if that is what they can do.


I try to be frugal, but mostly trying to hand prepare food and learning to use natures gifts in energy (the sun) and clothesline, etc....

We are trying to get a water collection system made before spring. Those things to me are as much a priority as eating right.

Our lake is so far down that a buried city has emerged. Running out of water is a frightening thought.

AAGGGHHH.
Koolaid is SUCH a fallacy.
Simple sugar: one cup sugar, one cup water, boiled together, and cooled.

Lemonaid: simple sugar+ lemon juice, over ice+ water to taste.

Blue lemonade: crush in a few (very few) berries, plus the lemonade.

red- pomegranate juice, or strawberries, or other berrries- obviously dilute like crazy, with the lemonade. If you want a blunt taste, skip the lemonade part.

Use lime. Dilute with cocunut, or use the can of juice from canned pineapple.

Use mint. Mint simples are gorgeous, even without liquor, a a la derby day.

Good grief. It is way cheaper than Koolaid. I don't see why everyone thinks KoolAid is cheap. If you don't want to boil, you can mix superfine cooking sugar and water, and let it sit. ( Boiled is better, though).

I'll do the numbers, and post them.

ari

Kool Aid is not frugal, better to drink water since Kool Aid has no nutritional value. I try buy the top twelve most sprayed fruits/veggies organic and not to compromise on that. I also feel that fats and animal products being healthy/organic is important. But I refuse to kill myself over everything I or my family eat. I feel that balance is important. What is it, Moderation in everything, including moderation.?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It's more frugal to eat wisely/healthy than to eat junk because it's cheaper. The health benefits far outweigh the expense of eating a healthier diet.

yes! :heart:

I do agree with Kristerae~the most important part is eating freshly made whole foods...but if you are eating animal products or the top sprayed produce, you should be eating organic. Being vegetarian, eating seasonally and locally, and simply are also ways to be frugal within the organic framework.

It makes me ill to think of all the crap my beautiful get through my polluted breastmilk. Don't get me wrong, I think my breastmilk is best, but I remind myself about how we as animals bioconcentrate everything into our body fat and give that as a legacy to our children.

I look at the other frugal choices I make as a way to fund my healthy organic choices.

AAGGGHHH.
Koolaid is SUCH a fallacy.
Simple sugar: one cup sugar, one cup water, boiled together, and cooled.

Lemonaid: simple sugar+ lemon juice, over ice+ water to taste.

Blue lemonade: crush in a few (very few) berries, plus the lemonade.

red- pomegranate juice, or strawberries, or other berrries- obviously dilute like crazy, with the lemonade. If you want a blunt taste, skip the lemonade part.

Use lime. Dilute with cocunut, or use the can of juice from canned pineapple.

Use mint. Mint simples are gorgeous, even without liquor, a a la derby day.

Good grief. It is way cheaper than Koolaid. I don't see why everyone thinks KoolAid is cheap. If you don't want to boil, you can mix superfine cooking sugar and water, and let it sit. ( Boiled is better, though).

I'll do the numbers, and post them.

ari
:hbeat:

OMG, what?? If you can't afford lemonade, etc, just don't do flavored drinks!! Ugh!

We don;t drink Kool Aid ir powdered drinks no matter how rich or poor we are. We drink mainly water, which is about as cheap as it gets.

I think that in so many ways, spending a bit more on good food is way better than buying cheap junk. If it comes down to cutting out other expenses or even applying for food stamps, I'd do that before serving up 99 cent hot dogs and kool aid.

OMG, what?? If you can't afford lemonade, etc, just don't do flavored drinks!! Ugh!

Um, yeah. I like water. Would rather save my "junk" calories for things like chocolate. Ds usually asks for water to drink. Not an issue for me.

LOL... just noticed something... *I* don't think koolaid is frugal. The OP is referring to a previous post in regards to something my MIL said. :lol:

kool aid?!?!? it's a non food in my book and not even up for discussion.

if you want to be frugal and buy/eat organic then only buy whole foods that you prepare at home. grind your own organic wheat berries into flour, make your own tomatoe sauce and ketchup, make your own mayo with your organic eggs and olive oil, and bake your own bread.


2c

Luna

LOL... just noticed something... *I* don't think koolaid is frugal. The OP is referring to a previous post in regards to something my MIL said. :lol:


LOL...I was sitting here thinking that I couldn't remember you being so uneducated!! :hahaha:

This is something I struggle with every time I go to the store. We love our junk and right now have koolaid in the fridge, we haven't had it in a while and it was good:) My problem is that where we live, Ca, organic is outrageous. I've tried buying at the health food places and spend almost my entire food budget just on fruits and veggies. If it were cheaper here I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd say I spend about $500 a month for a family of 4 for all our foods, tp, cleaning supplies, etc. I don't count eating out, but my husband, when he's working, takes his lunch so that's about $25 a week right there. Honestly here it would cost me about $70 just buying fruits and veggies, if I added meat I'd probably be looking at $125 just for maybe 1/2 our normal food. I also struggle w/ lunchmeat, my husband eats it daily and my kids eat it several times a week. I do feel fortunate though b/c we are all very healthy.

Teresa, I think you jsut need to branch of and start somewhere as a base. Maybe do mostly organic veg or grassfed meat or soemthing like that. It is expensive, but in California, you should have access to some quality produce somewhere so maybe try to find some local folks that do organic.

Like I said I dont do 100% organic, but we do try when we can to invest adn stock our pantry with organic staples. If you start somewhere it helps you keep going, even if it is just a littll at a time.:)

This is something I struggle with every time I go to the store. We love our junk and right now have koolaid in the fridge, we haven't had it in a while and it was good:) My problem is that where we live, Ca, organic is outrageous. I've tried buying at the health food places and spend almost my entire food budget just on fruits and veggies. If it were cheaper here I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd say I spend about $500 a month for a family of 4 for all our foods, tp, cleaning supplies, etc. I don't count eating out, but my husband, when he's working, takes his lunch so that's about $25 a week right there. Honestly here it would cost me about $70 just buying fruits and veggies, if I added meat I'd probably be looking at $125 just for maybe 1/2 our normal food. I also struggle w/ lunchmeat, my husband eats it daily and my kids eat it several times a week. I do feel fortunate though b/c we are all very healthy.

Hi Teresa!
You live near me! :waving:

Costco has organics at VERY good prices. Their frozen organic is the same price as non-organic. Boney's in Oceanside (Oceanside Blvd just east of the 5) has very reasonably priced organic. On Thursday mornings there's a farmer's market in Oceanside next to the library (I think it's Pier View Way) and many of the farmers there are organic. There are also a few very reasonable CSA's around here.


eta: There's also a small HFS called Cream of the Crop that's located where the base of the 78 meets the PCH.

HFS, IME, are terribly expensive. They usually are in higher rent areas with not much inventory so what they do carry has to be marked up quite a bit. Farmer's markets are great places to check. It is interesting too. We get a delivery every 2 weeks from an organic produce supplier located in CA. We are a buying club they deliver to.

Where do you live at? :waving: I didn't know that about costco. Can you give me some examples to look for next time I go? (LOL) WE do have sprouts near us, it's owned or used to be owned by the brother of Boney's. I've looked at their organic produce and thought it high. Actually, Cream of the Crop is where I did shop for a while and that's when my bill went up so much. I think I was paying about $1.69 or so for apples and things. Can you tell me about the CSA's?

Hi Teresa!
You live near me! :waving:

Costco has organics at VERY good prices. Their frozen organic is the same price as non-organic. Boney's in Oceanside (Oceanside Blvd just east of the 5) has very reasonably priced organic. On Thursday mornings there's a farmer's market in Oceanside next to the library (I think it's Pier View Way) and many of the farmers there are organic. There are also a few very reasonable CSA's around here.


eta: There's also a small HFS called Cream of the Crop that's located where the base of the 78 meets the PCH.

I think your right. I was talking to dh on the way home from karate about this today. I think Sprouts runs free range chicken sometimes for like $2.69#, we normally pay $1.79# for reg chicken on sale. I was saying maybe I need to start stocking up at that time. WE also have a trader joe's around that I've only been to once so maybe I need to price their meats. I guess I struggle b/c I have these ideas of how I want to live and struggle with getting there:) I want to homeschool and have my children love it, but my son complains constantly:( I want to eat healthy and all organic but my budget can't handle that. It's hard (LOL) Thanks for the advice.

Teresa, I think you jsut need to branch of and start somewhere as a base. Maybe do mostly organic veg or grassfed meat or soemthing like that. It is expensive, but in California, you should have access to some quality produce somewhere so maybe try to find some local folks that do organic.

Like I said I dont do 100% organic, but we do try when we can to invest adn stock our pantry with organic staples. If you start somewhere it helps you keep going, even if it is just a littll at a time.:)

Ok, I am coming to live with you guys. Plain old, coop kept, chemical laden chicken is $3.99/lb on sale. Regular price is $6.99/lb. I can get organic chicken less than that on sale (less than reg price chicken). And $1.69 for apples. I am lucky if they are on sale for that here. I pay about that for organic through co-ops. But plain old apples at the grocer are usually $1.99/lb and up. Depends on the time of year. Alabama even raises a good portion of the beef available here and we are paying $2.79 lb for the full fat ground beef. the 2% fate beef is over $3.59/lb. We eat deer though so that price doesn't bother me.

Anyway, I wish I could get your prices, even on non-organic stuff. I thought CA was expensive? Is property the only thing expensive? My mortgage is only $508/month.

Kool-Aid is great for dying wool soakers.:) I keep some on hand so that my junk-lovin' visitors won't drink all of our juice.

I think I pay .39# for regular apples (LOL) That's why it's so hard for me to pay the higher prices. The most I'll pay for reg apples is .89#. Our chicken only runs $1.79 like every few months and I try to buy enough to keep us. The normal prices are $3-4# and I just won't pay that. I think everything here is expensive. We pay like $3.68 a gallon for reg milk, $1.89 for eggs, $2.89 for gas and our mortgage is almost $2300 for our tiny duplex:

Ok, I am coming to live with you guys. Plain old, coop kept, chemical laden chicken is $3.99/lb on sale. Regular price is $6.99/lb. I can get organic chicken less than that on sale (less than reg price chicken). And $1.69 for apples. I am lucky if they are on sale for that here. I pay about that for organic through co-ops. But plain old apples at the grocer are usually $1.99/lb and up. Depends on the time of year. Alabama even raises a good portion of the beef available here and we are paying $2.79 lb for the full fat ground beef. the 2% fate beef is over $3.59/lb. We eat deer though so that price doesn't bother me.

Anyway, I wish I could get your prices, even on non-organic stuff. I thought CA was expensive? Is property the only thing expensive? My mortgage is only $508/month.

This is such a hard one when living on a very small budget. But, health is more important than money truly.
So, we buy organic the highly treated foods - apples and apple juice we only buy organic. Actually, all fruits and veggies we buy organic. Flour we cannot justify the cost difference of organic yet. But corn chips we do buy organic as conventional ones are often Genetically engineered and treated.
We hope to switch over and buy organic milk directly from a farm in the next town with our glass bottles. We don't buy organic cereal yet. But often do buy organic pasta and pasta sauce (plan on canning our own this year though!).
Warm wishes,
Tonya

I live near the main gate to Camp Pen, off of the 5. :waving:

The very back row in the freezer section of Costco has organics. The selection varies but the usually have corn & mixed veggies as well as berried. They also have organic milk, soy milk and apples.

Boney's is cheaper than Sprouts for produce. Cream of the Crop is more pricey. For some reason my kids LOVE going there. I think it's the Rasta & hippie look that many of the employees have, as well as their cool bulk bins. :hahaha:

There's a new Henry's opening off North of the 76 on College. It may be open already.

For CSA's you can check into localharvest.org. Tierra Miguel is one of the better priced. Not certified organic but they don't use pesticides, use living compost, etc. I know they deliver in Oceanside & Carlsbad but I'm not sure about Vista.
http://www.bewiseranch.com/csa.htm
Organic Planet in Fallbrook
Here's another directory:http://www.foodroutes.org/localfood/index.jsp?&lat=33.3694&lon=-117.218&scale=1


If you call the Waldorf school in Cardiff they can tell you what CSA they use. I can't think of it atm.


Where do you live at? :waving: I didn't know that about costco. Can you give me some examples to look for next time I go? (LOL) WE do have sprouts near us, it's owned or used to be owned by the brother of Boney's. I've looked at their organic produce and thought it high. Actually, Cream of the Crop is where I did shop for a while and that's when my bill went up so much. I think I was paying about $1.69 or so for apples and things. Can you tell me about the CSA's?

Linda, Do you still have the link to what the 12 most sprayed fruits/veggies are? Might help to post the list here. Besides buying those things organic, sometimes I just avoid buying them at all.

40% of the population in Paris keeps a small garden outside the city limits. The others are considered poor.

America, during WW2, kept victory gardens, which provided some ?30%? ?40%? of the fresh produce in America.

A lot of "fresh porn" is written by people with access to gardens, in other words.

One thing that genuinely bothers me about the world right now is the mystification, and concomitant, the perfectionism, attendant on very basic activities that people have done, more or less, forever.

Like, do you think in the 1940's people were not gardening b/c they couldn't worm compost? Also, let's see, the vision of leisure on plantations- they had working gardens rather than front yards. It was a really big deal last year for us to buy a house, and stick seeds in the ground and have them grow. I don't know if this is just me.

Think about what one can read from HDepot, or MS- there's a lot of equipment, or exotic, delicate plants. I shouldn't pick on Martha, say, southern living- you know- if you can't go over the top, don't try?/

Organic food carries a price premium. Some farmers are persuaded to switch to organic b/c they can charge more for their produce.

I don't know that organic food is even "aimed" at us- mid- thirties families with children. I know most marketers segment the market into upscale baby boomers,with no children in the house. Or, if they do conceive of a family, it's in the top earnings groups, with a great deal of disposable income.
\
This is not realistic for most families in America today.

Our family, right now, barely purchases organic. It had better be - say - 10 cents difference. Financially, we are sucking fumes. I am working towards a better job, so that I can take back over the groceries, and afford organic. I have degrees- {Not organic, not healthy), { not organic, basically healthy}, and{ organic and healthy}. I've paid for groceries to keep us within spitting distance of the middle section. This has meant I haven't done things like, pay bills. I can't do that for a while, but I"m hoping DH will believe me, and let me be in control of the garden.

It is of no small comfort that the really dry language of UN reports applies to me- women spend on food and clothes for their children, and then themselves, and education. And that, a huge, huge, problem in the world, is that women don't control more of the money, b/c that would probably solve some of the more intractable problems that the UN struggles against.

Ya'll too- anti-deforestation, biodiversity, stable economies-that's what you are buying when you purchase organics.


I know considering health and price has affected the things I like to eat. Lentils, for instance.

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, drink water every day. However, there are times when one needs a celebratory drink- birthday parties, for instance. Houseguests, visitors, special playgroups.

The hands down, flat cheapest party setup is the lemonade, a bag of chips, and a bean dip- mashed cooked beans with ---take your pick-----salsa, or hummus, lemon and garlic.

The flat cheapest birthday is lemonade, rice, black beans, a mango, a red pepper, and cilantro, and tortillas.( this comes to slightly under 5 dollars, here) Maybe sour cream if you have to reach. If you can afford it, cheese, although that's iffy, b/c non- vegetarians load up on it. For cake:

1 cup flour,
1 cup sugar,
1 tsp (?) leavening
Some oil- I want to say 1/4 cup
1 egg.
grated peel of one lemon
milk until the batter looks right.
some lemon juice from lemon

bake in floured holder at 350- 400 degrees (depends) for 20 - 30 minutes ( this is off the top of my head, I have to go look up the recipe). Cook until golden, and done.- my shallow glass tart pan takes 25 minutes, but it's not a typical pan. If you haven't a pan, a skillet can work.

Top lightly with what you have on hand- the prettiest one I managed had a few bluesberries in the middle, some lemon peel ribbons springing out from there, some thin lemon slices, and sprinkled with sugar.

The candles are the most expensive item on the cake.

I don't really care for lemons, and I like iced birthday cakes as much as the next kid with a smeary face, but lemons are 10 cents each, while vanilla costs about 4 dollars per quarter ounce. The cake "costs" two lemons.

I tried king cake one year- a braided yeast bread, with dyed sugar topping ( purple, gold, green) and red beans and rice. The grownups liked it, but the kids didn't think the cake was real. And yeah, three six packs of soda pop, with the lemonade- generic, in purple cans, gold cans, and green cans. These are under a dollar for a sixpack.

This is so off- topic- well, it's cheap, if not organic.

ari

This is something I struggle with every time I go to the store. We love our junk and right now have koolaid in the fridge, we haven't had it in a while and it was good:) My problem is that where we live, Ca, organic is outrageous. I've tried buying at the health food places and spend almost my entire food budget just on fruits and veggies. If it were cheaper here I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd say I spend about $500 a month for a family of 4 for all our foods, tp, cleaning supplies, etc. I don't count eating out, but my husband, when he's working, takes his lunch so that's about $25 a week right there. Honestly here it would cost me about $70 just buying fruits and veggies, if I added meat I'd probably be looking at $125 just for maybe 1/2 our normal food. I also struggle w/ lunchmeat, my husband eats it daily and my kids eat it several times a week. I do feel fortunate though b/c we are all very healthy.

Trader Joe's has high quality food, including orgaincs, for a very reasonable price. I love them and stock up there whenever I'm in CA (or any are that has one).

We spend about 400-500 a month for our family of four, and we buy organic beef, produce, and eggs.

We just discussed this at our discussion group! I think I was the only one playing this balancing game; most of the others have money enough to buy what they want, and the other less fiscally able mom just does not see a problem with not organic.

So, at our house, the only "canned" things you'll find are tomatoes, jelly (we eat jelly about once a month), nut butters, and condiments. We DO make our own mayo sometimes, but sometimes it's cheaper to buy it ready made. We have been very unsuccessful gardeners, so we still buy tomatoes instead of having our own. I have no idea how many tomatoes we would have to plant since we eat SOOO many.

Anyway, back on topic, we ARE frugal in MANY ways. We are going to scavenge seasonally this year, picking apples, berries, grapes, etc that people let fall and rot. We do not buy shampoo, we minimize laundry washing (no we do not smell ;) ), we wash all dishes by hand, we prepare lots of food. I'm the only person I know who considers canned tomatoes, peanut butter, and fruit to be convenience foods. I am often surprised by how many people are trying to live frugally but still buy packaged cereals, bottled water, baking mixes, flavored yogurts, lunch meat, etc. I also KNOW that we do some things not frugal that I am blind to, or that we actively choose to do. (Do not ask about our revolving car problem)

I think I am rambling, but I want to say one more thing. Part of our long term health goals are leaving the world maybe a bit better than we found it, or at least maybe not much worse. So, we look really hard at how our choices impact the world, at least we try to, and food choices are part of this equation. So, we do not eat really proceesed stuff like soy milk even though it's "healthy" and we're trying to eat locally, oddly easier in Vermont than Texas.

We try our best to eat/drink well here, but the cost definitely is a problem for us. Like the other lady in Alabama said, our chicken is upwards of $5.99ish a pound for regular Tyson chicken! I try to make things from scratch, buy whole grain products, and stuff like that. I do buy our hot dogs, bacon (not vegetarians, sorry) without nitrates and spend the extra there. If I bought all the food I wanted all natural, organic, etc. we would spend SOOO much $$ on food. I tried for a couple weeks and was going WAY over budget. Another thing is that we get our milk, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, & juice from WIC and am not allowed organic. The closest I have gotten so far is the natural Skippy pb without hydrogenated oils, but I still am not allowed organic.

We try our best to eat/drink well here, but the cost definitely is a problem for us. Like the other lady in Alabama said, our chicken is upwards of $5.99ish a pound for regular Tyson chicken! I try to make things from scratch, buy whole grain products, and stuff like that. I do buy our hot dogs, bacon (not vegetarians, sorry) without nitrates and spend the extra there. If I bought all the food I wanted all natural, organic, etc. we would spend SOOO much $$ on food. I tried for a couple weeks and was going WAY over budget. Another thing is that we get our milk, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, & juice from WIC and am not allowed organic. The closest I have gotten so far is the natural Skippy pb without hydrogenated oils, but I still am not allowed organic.

That's a sin for Tyson to charge that for a local product.

I live in the northeast and imo, food is pretty $. I have found a source of local, certified organic , grass fed beef for $5/lb. It's a small farm, just a few cows. The cows are 'processed' locally. I can't believe crappy Tyson chicken is 5.99lb where you are. That's wrong and outrageous. Maybe there are local farmers near where you live who might secure you a free range chicken or two here and there for less than that.

The other thing I suggest is not buying chicken parts, but whole chickens. Whole chickens, pound for pound, are cheaper than chicken parts. I guess I have seen bone, skinless chicken breasts for the price you're saying. Thighs are cheaper as well, even if you buy them boneless. They make greats soups and stews.

I am really thinking about this a lot. We are in the process of switching to CF/GF, and I have no idea how much I have spent on groceries in the past couple months. And I just placed another co-op order for around $100 (I didn't even add it up). We're also faced with other allergies that we are adjusting to: no chicken, no eggs.

I went out last week and bought 3 lbs. of ground beef (2.69 per pound) and a whole turkey around 20 lbs at (2.10 lb) for meats that are not treated with hormones, minimal antibiotics, etc. But, we also buy meat from our regular grocery, usually beef for around $2 a lb (hamburger, roast, etc.).

I am so tired of non-food, and I am trying to find alternatives for us, as obviously, cutting out gluten makes for a totally different diet. We have been dairy-free before, so that's a little easier, but, again, for some of these things, there is a certain amount of money that must be paid. I can get things far more cheaply from my co-op than I am able from the health food store or grocery, but it's still going to cost us. I cook from scratch, and am continuing to try to find new recipes, etc. that will work for us. We are also trying to stay away from soy, and I am thinking corn may be a problem, so I am keeping that in mind, but really dreading the idea of trying to get all of that out of our diets as corn seems to be in EVERYTHING!!! I have come to a conclusion, though, that, for some of this, I just have to say, that's what groceries cost--that's what "real food" costs instead of something loaded with colorings and flavorings and preservatives, YK? It's rough, and I am going to have to get myself back on a budget soon, but I will still be working to give us the best possible food for the cheapest possible price. I've got to get back to planning my garden!!!