Budget Surprise

Up until very recently, Bobby and I had spent the majority of our grocery money on those corporate junk foods meant to save us time and money.  With my new project as well as a desire to do Barbara Kingsolver proud, I set out to purchase primarily locally produced foods at the farmer's markets and do my best to at least avoid the frozen foods aisle. I decided that I would make an honest effort to buy organic where I couldn't buy local, so off to the store I went.
I visited Ralph's, my supermarket of choice, with my grocery list in hand and determination on my sleeve. I did very well until I hit the soup aisle.  Looking at the Ralph's brand price and the organic price for beef and chicken stock, my resolve started to waver.  I thought to myself there is no WAY that this can be a less expensive trip to the grocery store! I began to worry that our $100.00/week food budget would be very difficult to stick to.  Of course I made sure that I had an extra stash of money labelled "just in case!" in my wallet, but I didn't want to resort to that if I could help it.
I need not have worried however, as it turns out, those time/money-saving frozen foods we previously purchased were what cost the most.  Cutting them from our list was liberating in a rebellious sort of way.  I felt like beating my chest, or else biting into a beer can a-la Teen Wolf style just to show how crazy I was getting. I compensated by giving Bobby a high-five.
Not only did we lighten our financial burden, we also made a move in the right direction health-wise.

This week, we gained something more than a few saved dollars, we gained a spiritual sense of freedom as we cooked our way into health and happiness with organic and locally produced foods.