Money..

VanillaBeanSeed

I just wanted to see if anyone else has this problem.

I am on a very fixed budget, I have a set amount of money I spend of groceries each week, which is not a lot. I find it hard to buy healthy fruits and veggies because of the prices. :[ I do what I can, and try to get them, but alot of it has to go to sustainable items for my cupboard, and freezer, so that we have enough to eat. Just wanted to know anyones thoughts on this!

Thanks!

skatters

I know just what you mean. I have found some better bargains in the freezer aisle. I buy a lot of my veggies there. Someone once quoted a study (how's that for knowledge? lol ) that said frozen veggies are just as good as fresh, since they are flash frozen at their peak.

Fresh fruit is a bit more difficult, of course. I buy a lot of bananas, those are inexpensive. Otherwise, I just look around for the best deals. Right now, it is citrus season where I am, so we eat a lot of citrus. It is also strawberry season - so lots of them too. I do NOT buy organic, because of price, but try to wash my fruits very thoroughly. Most berries can be bought frozen, though I splurge once in a while and get fresh. Lettuce and salad greens can be bought as a whole head, and ripped apart. Last night at the store, they had heads of lettuce for .99. Whereas a bag of iceburg lettuce cost $2.50. If you look around you can find spinach by the bunch, wash it and go.

When it comes time, local farmer's markets are great and inexpensive.

My other tip is to only buy what will get consumed. I know this sounds logical. But I tend to over buy fruits and veggies with the hopes that we will eat more of them, and that doesn't always happen. 2lb containers of strawberries were a better deal, bulk wise, than the 1 pound containers. But I know my family will only eat the 1 lb container.

Hope that helps some.

rchambers2072

2lb containers of strawberries were a better deal, bulk wise, than the 1 pound containers. But I know my family will only eat the 1 lb container.

with the strawberries, I bought the 2 lb container,cleaned them, cut the tops off and froze them. But then my son and I have smoothies every morning too.

And the fresh blueberries were way cheaper than frozen, so I bought those too.

We also are on a very limited food budget ...

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Does your area have a Coop?

We have a Coop program in the St Louis area where you get at least %50.00 worth of fruits and vegetables for $23.50.

Last week we got nearly $70.00 worth of produce for the $23.50. The more people that order a basket, the more food we get.

This is what was in last week's produce basket.