Frugal Shopping

For many, shopping frugally is important and it's no wonder why.  There ARE ways to be frugal and healthy.  Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers market is VERY selective about the food that they sell and their prices tend to be far better than Whole Foods market.  This isn't to criticize Whole Foods market though.  I admit that my hubby and I do most of our shopping at Vitamin Cottage and two big reasons are their standards and their price; but there are still items that we buy from Whole Foods.  Green coconuts, for example, never seem to be available at the Vitamin Cottage and I make kefirs very often these days.

If you plan your weekly menu carefully, you may even be able to fit a pricy meal into your budget once in a while.  We don't eat much meat in my household for a number of reasons but a major benefit is that this reduces the price of our groceries significantly.  Most nights we have vegan dinners, yet neither my husband nor I are vegan.  I don't believe hubby knew that he would come to enjoy vegan meals as much as he does now.  We also try to buy as many things in bulk as we can.  They tend to be on the cheaper side.  Stretching meals as much as possible is also a way to cut down on trips to the grocery store.  My last roommate and I used to buy whole fryer chickens often because each whole fryer chicken would provide about six meals for each of us.  I love to ferment vegetables because of the valuable cultures, however, it also preserves my vegetables.  They can last anywhere between six months to a year; if it didn't fly out of my fridge so fast!

Where there is a will, there is a way.  Eating healthy is significantly more expensive than junky eating, but once you make a habit of eating real food, you can't go back to the other stuff.  If you have any additional tips, please comment.  I welcome them with all my heart!