So...is it worth it??? Where else can I cut costs???
We have been spending a ridiculous amount of money on groceries. I have been trying to do meal plans and have found the cheapest places to find the food I want us to eat. I cook a lot from scratch. I buy our meat in bulk from a local farmer's market that humanely raises animals without steriods and with minimal antibotic use. It averages about 2.39 a lb. for hamburger, round steak, chuck roast, and cut up chickens--not the greatest cuts, but I can work with them. I buy organic and raw cheese from my co-op. Organic Mozz is 5.39 lb. and cheddar 4.69 or something a lb.
I buy organic potatoes, carrots, spinach, apples--things that are high in pesticides.
I clean with vinegar. I've just gone back to buying regular (not recycled TP on sale and Tide, though I may go to All or Arm and Hammer that I can get way cheaper). I buy natural hair products and soaps through my co-op or Frontier, so they are generally close to half what I would pay in the store.
I am faced with having to return to work because we are barely making ends meet. I think I should just stop worrying about organics and GMOs and all of it and feed and bathe us as cheaply as possible.
If you had to make the choice, which do you choose? Organic, natural foods or not working? We are big meat eaters, and DH will revolt if I try to feed him vegetarian meals more than once or MAYBE twice a week.
I'm really sad, but I have to find a way to make a serious difference in the amount of money we spend every month, and we don't live extravagantly as it is. Or, I just need to bite the bullet and go back to work. I just don't know how I'm going to do it. And I definitely don't want to do it.
__________________ Jody
Mama to two boys (5-10-98 and 6-01-01), and two girls (11-18-03 and 1-11-07)
Hmm...I have struggled back and forth on that one the whole time I have been a SAHM. There have been times when I did my food shopping as cheaply as possible (shopping pretty much only at ALDI's and Sam's Club) and there have been times, like now, that I shop for food as you described in your post (grass fed meat from a local farm, csa veggies, breads from scratch,etc.). After waffling back and forth a few times, I finally decided it was too depressing and too unhealthy for my family to eat food that we knew wasn't healthy (and didn't taste as good). So, to make a long story short, I will be looking for a job come September (one last summer as a SAHM). Dh just doesn't make enough for us to affort grass fed beef and CSA veggies. Sorry, I know that wasn't the answer you were looking for, but it is the answer that we came to.
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Kathy
Mama to Zachariah (12) & Isaiah (4)
Boy, that's a tough one. I do WOH, and, doing so more easily allows us to vote organic, but that is not the reason I work. So, would I WOH if eating organic was the only reason? I do not know. Maybe if I could work part-time doing something I enjoyed.
In about a year, I will be in a position where I do not have to work anymore if I chose not to, but I think I'm going to continue on a part-time basis because I want to have my dd continue to attend her pre-school 2x/week - so in a sense, I am chosing to work simply to provide our family with something that I feel to be beneficial.
But, organic, I would try to figure something, because I cannot put hormones and pesticides in my family's bodies.
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Rebecca, wife and mother
Happy Holidays
(and it was the best I could do - I gave it three different photoshoots)
We do not eat organic unless it's out of our own yard. Quite simply we can't afford it! Yet I am not willing to put my child into the care of another in order to buy it. I guess the way I look at it is that my DD is still eating more healthfully than 90% of the children her age. I also know that if she was in daycare it would be difficult to keep her from wanting those candies & junk foods that the "regular" kids are eating.
So I guess the simple answer is No, I would not get a job just to buy something, food, housing, clothing, what ever. Being with my DD is much more imporatant IMO.
Chole
__________________ 18th century Mama to a exciting 8yr old, SO to a graphic novel guy
I would buy non organic meat for dh only and feed everyone else organic vegetarian. If he insists on eating meat I would NOT go back to work to feed him that way. I also wouldn't sacrifice my children's health by feeding them non organic so that he could keep eating meat.
Of course, that is me. Staying home and eating organic are probably the two most important things on our list, plus I am one of those hard@ss wives. Not sure how dh puts up with me
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Allison
mama to Ara, Simone, and Zarin
I'm with Allison. LOL. Only harder. LOL. I'd ask dh if meat was more important than me staying home. (o; I'd rather eat beans and be able to SAH......and he'd agree. Trust me, he would. LOL.
__________________ "Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity."
George Bernard Shaw
P.S I should also add that I got a job to solve this in my house. LOL. Only it wasn't solely over food....we need extra money for things like the kids sports, food, and a few extras. I got a part-time job, dh is home with the kids on weekends and the nights I work. It works well. Yes, I wish I could quit sometimes. And I could, and we could eat beans and not allow the kids to play soccer and attend camp. But those things (sports, camp, eating healthy) are really important to me...and yes, we could eat healthy without my money and eat a lot of home-cooked beans and such...and if it was only about the food bill? I would. But for us, we needed more money for other things too. I did not want to ever say no to sports for my kids.....it is important for me to know they get to try their passions and see what they like or don't.....gives them esteem and etc. Soccer alone can cost $1000 a year for 3 kids, and that's rec league. If any of them wanted to get more serious and go classic, it's $1000 per kids! Yipes. LOL. Or things like my sons science camp....it was $140 for a week, day camp style. I wanted to say yes, and to swim lessons in the summer for the kids one "sport". (We have a one sport at a time rule. LOL) My paycheck allows all this. And working later nights (but home by 11 pm latest) and some weekends enables all this, plus allows me to buy from farmers markets and such without worry. It IS hard, and a trade-off....but for us, worth it.
First off, I have to totally agree with Allison...excellent advice!
So, can you grow anything? Even if you live in a house with little or no yard, or even an apartment, you can grow a few things in containers. If you have a larger yard then you are in cost-cutting business! Growing food is CHEAP, and easy, and when you can up your harvest your cheap food lasts and lasts. You can also buylarge quanities of fruits and veggies when they are in season/on sale and can them yourself. Fresh peach cobbler in the dead of winter is wonderful thing!
Have you tried making some of the things you buy in packages? You mentioned detergent....have you tried any of the make-your-own recipes out there? Too much of a products price is in the darn packaging...learn to make those things yourself and save a bunch. I really strive to not buy things in packages. I *do* buy some prepackaged stuff. I am very weak when it comes to truffle filled chocolate Any time you buy any thing in a package you are paying for the conveinience(sp) of having the work of making that product done for you...you just have to decide if it's worth it, or if you can or want to make it. Also, if an iten on your shopping list is expensive, treat that item as a luxury and not a need. Outstanding cheese is a treat for me, as well as fine chocolate. Those are things I *could* have every day if I made a sacrifice elsewhere, but choose to enjoy them occasionally instead.
More about meat: Do try to squeeze in those meatless meals once or twice a week. The other days, try making meals that 'stretch' the meat, like cassaroles, lasagna, burritos/enchalads, stir fry, etc. Any time you can cut the meat before cooking it gives you the oppertunity to use less. Learn to use herbs and spices to really liven up a dish, so that the meat is not the 'star' of the plate. Simply serve smaller meat portions and larger side dishes. Heck, make the meat the side dish!
Switch to cloth wherever possible. Flour sack towels are terrific replacements for paper towels. Closely examine any products you use and throw away...any of those products are pure convienience (I never spell that right) and there is an alternative out there. It may not be a glamorous alternative, but there *are* choices (think cloth tp).
Cut cost in places besides your food budget. Do you pay for trash service? If so, decrease the amount of trash you make. Cut out 'extras' on the telephone. Switch back to dail-up internet if you are not using it now. Shop second hand for everything. Only buy new things on sale. Drive less. Reuse things until they fall apart I could go in but you get the point. I'm sure you already do many of the things I've mentioned. I'm just trying to throw ideas out there for you.
I understand your position completely, and know you have some tough choices to make. You'll do what's right for you and your family. If Organic/all-natural is really important to you (and it sounds like it is!) then you will find a way to make it work. You have a lot of support here!
Could you try to work a part time job with maximum impact? I know Whole Foods gives employees a 20% discount. They should also be able to schedule you so that you don't need to find outside child care.
Originally posted by choleblack I also know that if she was in daycare it would be difficult to keep her from wanting those candies & junk foods that the "regular" kids are eating.
Not our daycare - they can't bring in that kind of food. Beside, the daycare and the children prepare and serve incredibly healthy - organic - foods. She probably eats better with them than with us and she eats healthy with use. But then, we have a very special daycare and feel truly blessed. Until we found this one, I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to work.
Just wanted to say that some daycares have great policies on food. - no junk, plenty of pumped breastmilk, kids help prepare the food, and lots of organic veggies. (they made the most delicious fresh veggie soup the other day when they were learning about the different vegetables).
Just wanted to add that I am not going back to work just to buy organic food. Sorry if I gave that impression. I have been a SAHM only for 4 years since my youngest was born. Before that I was the "breadwinner" and dh was the SAHD. Shortly before I got pregnant with our second child, dh became a Waldorf teacher. During the pregnancy, we saved a great deal of money to allow me to be the SAHM with our little one. My dh makes very little money and we've been supplementing his salary with this money while I have been home. The supplemental money is almost all gone and it is time for me to start supporting the family again. My sons will not be in daycare, they will go to school with dh and come home withh him afterwards. We simply cannot, no matter how frugal we are, live off of his salary. Ooo, I hear the neighbors dog trying to get into our chicken coop again, gotta go and protect my "ladies"!
Location: somewhere between complete exhaustion and utter euphoria
Posts: 5,883
I returned to work a year ago because of some bad financial decisions. I have no choice. It is killing me. My girls are not as happy or as healthy. I am not as healthy (despite improving all our diets.) I am definitely not happy. I love my job and could not do this otherwise. But, I HATE being separated from them. I hade never planned to be. The cost of me working barely makes it a reasonable option, especially as the cost of living increases. Pay is not increasing with that. Personally, as much as I believe organic food is necessary, I would NOT go back to work if using non-organic could keep me home. Do the research and decide which foods your family eats are the most harmful. Get those organic and nothing else. Avoid sugar (expensive). Consider doing things that you can do at home or your children can go with you or your DH can keep kids while you do. What about a paper route? Mail delivery part-time in rural areas pays well. What about being a cashier at Sam's Club. Anyone I know that does that loves it and Sam's teacher makes more at Sam's over one weekend than a week as a teacher (daycare). I imagine the hours would be really flexible. Can you cut hair? Can you mend clothes, iron clothes, do some shopping for neighbors? I wish I could find someone to come in and fold and iron and put away our clothes three times a week. Folks could drop ironing off on the way to work and pick it up after work. Keep your eyes and ears open. What do you neighbors need.
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Michelle
-- Mom to Beth, 11 and Sam, 8
You all are going to think I'm ridiculous when I tell you the situation. Honestly, it's not just about food. We have very little money for luxuries. We have plenty, and live well, and the kids get pretty much anything they want, so it seems it should all be OK. We live luxuriously compared to the way we grew up. I, personally, would be OK with the fact that we have little money to get through the next two weeks, especially since we have a stocked freezer and pantry, but I know it stresses DH out. The other part is our home needs some improvements that we simply cannot afford at the moment.
I try to cook most things from scratch because I like knowing what's in them. I use cloth quite often, though we do have paper around--DH insists on paper napkins and plates, but I try to hand out cloth and keep the dishwasher empty to encourage them not to be used. I use cloth tp for pee and to wipe DS usually, cloth dipes, etc.
Groceries is the only place I am thinking I have left to cut. But, the whole reason I switched to organic in the first place was the sense of peace it gives me.
Here's the kicker--when I said I have to go back to work, I am not leaving the house. I teach college writing online. I have the ultimate job. It's just hard because it takes a lot of time and mental energy, and I work in the evenings when DH is home and on weekends and at night when everyone else has gone to bed, and so it stinks, especially because I feel like we've just gotten the hang of spending time as a family...The truth is if I can get my act together and maybe hire a mother's helper once a week or something, it probably will be the best thing I can do for us--I can feel free to buy whatever I want foodwise, it will let DH off the hook somewhat and probably be good for us. I need to keep in mind that I'm blessing my family and lose the attitude about having to do this. I do have to find some way to get things done during the day though, since DS will be in first grade next year and I definitely don't want to be doing work every night and weekend when he is only home then. I am hoping by fall that at least DS #2, if not DS #2 and the baby, are sleeping through the night. As it is, if I stay up after everyone goes to bed, I miss my only decent stretch of sleep, because from 2 am on, I am up every two hours until morning.
Thank you for your thoughts and ideas, they do help. They also remind me that I am blessed to have the options and liberties I do.
Location: somewhere between complete exhaustion and utter euphoria
Posts: 5,883
Can you hire a homeschool teen to come in until your kids are all in school? Once they are in school, you have all day to clean and do your college work. I realize this uses money as opposed to saves it but it would be temporary, right? Plus, a hs teen would probably be fairly cheap.
I was thinking of seeking out a homeschooler. And just now, I was thinking, maybe I could even work out a trade whereby she/he could have access to my course materials and I could tutor her/him in writing, grammar, punctuation, etc. I don't know if this would be of interest, but I am a teacher and it is a skill I have to offer. There is a homeschooling building in our county where maybe I could post a listing, and I know there are a number of homeschooling families in our co-op. I'll have to look around....
Jody
and Sam, 8 
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