• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

One Vibrant Mama

  • Home
  • Blog
  • SHOP
    • Real Food Done-For-You Menus
    • Back to Basics
    • Real Food Storage
  • Recipe Index
  • New? Start Here!
    • What are Traditional Foods?
    • Article Index
    • Feeding Children
    • Snacks and Lunches
  • About
    • Meet KerryAnn
    • Contact KerryAnn
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Notice
    • Terms and Conditions
You are here: Home / Food Matters / Get Real: The Budget Tightens

Get Real: The Budget Tightens

November 21, 2011 by KerryAnn 6 Comments

My posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won't pay more but we will receive a small commission. That helps keep the blog up and the free recipes coming. Thanks! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

My posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won't pay more but we will receive a small commission. That helps keep the blog up and the free recipes coming. Thanks!

Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you.  We got hit with a nasty game changer on Friday.  There is major upheaval in our life for the foreseeable future.

We will live off of our food storage and the only grocery money I will be spending is on fresh produce.  There will be no room for organic in the budget, unfortunately.

So, how do you make buying choices when you’re strapped so tight you can’t consider organic?  You shop the low-pesticide produce items that are in season.

The Environmental Working Group regularly tests the pesticide levels of fruits and vegetables and puts out a report that has the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen.  The produce is peeled, washed or otherwise treated as you normally would prepare it before eating, then they test each piece.  They also have a complete list of all the produce tested, so you can look up other items.

The only exception I make to their list is corn.  Because almost all conventional dent corn is GMO and I haven’t yet seen a straight answer as to whether or not sweet corn is included, I choose to only buy organic.  Because corn is a grain, we only choose to eat it on rare occasion, even when it is organic.

So this week, we will be sticking to cabbage, onion, sweet potato, cauliflower, banana and broccoli.  As much as I love kale and potatoes, we will not get them unless the salvage has organic for the same price as conventional or less.  That does happen occasionally.  The salvage also occasionally carries bags of frozen, organic produce for $1 a bag, so I will pick up some if they have it this week.

 

When your grocery budget gets tight or you have an unexpected financial event, where do you cut?

 

[boilerplate plate = “sig” search = “replace” usequery=”anything”]

Related Posts

  • Good, Better, Best- Choosing Grains
  • Real Food Storage- Deep Pantry Principles for Traditional Foodists
  • Good, Better, Best- Choosing Meats
  • Good, Better, Best: When and How to Choose Organic on a Budget
  • Good, Better, Best- Dairy
  • Good, Better, Best- Dairy's Out, Now What?
  • Seven Nutrient Dense Changes You Can Make Today
  • Get Real: The Guilt-Free Guide To Traditional Foods
  • Get Real: The White Rice Debacle Gets Kicked Up A Notch
  • Get Real: Oatmeal? AGAIN?
  • Get Real: Don't Go Into Debt for Food
  • Get Real: I'm Not His Mommy, But I AM His Wife!
  • A Christmas Miracle: Greens with Bacon Vinaigrette

Filed Under: Food Matters, Get Real, Seasonal Eating, Vegetables

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna says

    November 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    I do much the same as you do. I shop the in-season, non dirty dozen, I look for onsale organic items. For meats, I do my best bust I can’t afford organic most times. Thankfully most of the meats around here are at least hormone free, so that is something. I also can’t afford organic, raw milk (not to mention it is illegal here in Maryland last I hears). So again I look for hormone free.

    I stick to making as most of the meals as possible so that I know they are chemcial and preservative free. I feel doing the best I can and prayer will keep the family healthy. I also feel I am doing better than the previous generation because I know better and am doing the best that I do at this time.

    If the financials situation improves, then I head back to buying organic as soon as I can.
    Donna recently posted..Menu Monday

    Reply
  2. LyndaB says

    November 21, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Ah, Kerry, I’m sorry that’s the situation for you. I was there for an extended period of time and it’s scary and hard. I think you’ve got the right idea on the veggies. As for the meat – regard actual hunks of meat as a rare treat or make it an ingredient in a dish rather than the centerpiece – and turn to your homemade broths instead. (Even when you can’t afford a pricy pastured roast, farmers that sell their meat usually are happy to sell the bones cheaply). I also pretty much constantly kept my crock pot working to cook a variety of beans and freezing the result in can sized portions so that I always had a whole lot of beans to either fill n with meat or to replace it. Eventually – and I know I’m preaching to the choir – your grocery budget can handle one or two ‘non-negotiables’ because you’re putting back a lot of pantry basics. You’re so ahead of the game now, that I know you’ll handle this well once you’ve had some time to think it out.
    LyndaB recently posted..Cheddar Corn Chowder

    Reply
    • KerryAnn Foster says

      November 28, 2011 at 4:30 pm

      I think that if it weren’t for our food storage, we’d be having to choose between our mortgage and food and power. It’s a tough spot to be in. I’m thankful I have the storage to depend on.
      KerryAnn Foster recently posted..Get Real: Oatmeal? AGAIN?

      Reply
  3. Claire says

    November 21, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Sweetheart, we are praying for you.

    Reply
    • KerryAnn Foster says

      November 28, 2011 at 4:31 pm

      Thank you, Claire!
      KerryAnn Foster recently posted..Get Real: Oatmeal? AGAIN?

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Get Real: Don’t Go Into Debt for Food | Cooking Traditional Foods says:
    December 5, 2011 at 8:03 am

    […] about the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen and base your money on organic produce with […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Primary Sidebar

One Vibrant Mama Newsletter

Subscribe to the One Vibrant Mama Newsletter to get notifications of new blog posts and emails!

Follow Us on Social Media

Meet KerryAnn

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow One Vibrant Mama on Instagram!

Recent Posts

  • Homeschool for College Credit
  • Homeschool Class Plans – The Ultimate Guide!
  • Homeschool a Distracted Child, No Matter Their Age!
  • How to Create a Homeschool Syllabus for Your High Schooler
  • Keeping A Homeschool Bullet Journal

Ads




Ads


Ads


Archive

Footer

Disclaimer

We make a good faith effort to keep up-to-date on the allergen content status of products. However, product formulations change frequently. Always check product labels for the most recent ingredient information and call the company if you have any questions as to the gluten content of a product.

Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products and/or information are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with your health care provider. If you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition or are taking any medication, please consult your physician. Nothing you read here should be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment.

View Our Disclaimers, Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy for more information.

About

The information contained on Intentionally Domestic is meant for educational and informational purposes only. We are neither doctors nor dietitians. We do not dispense advice on curing or treating any health ailment or disease. Please consult your health care provider before following any information on this site.

  • Grain-Free
  • Gluten-Free
  • Casein-Free
  • Egg-Free
  • Nut-Free
  • Soy-Free

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Got it! Maybe Later Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Subscribe to the One Vibrant Mama Newsletter

Introduce yourself and your program
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.