My husband was really inspired by this week's Fat Post discussion, and would like to set up a big professional-type website on eating (and living!) on a tight budget.
So. Do you have experience living and eating nutritiously on a tiny budget? Are you interested in posting regularly? Contact me - either comment here or email me - and we're going to get something going. And the more the merrier - he would like a big, vivid community of writers, so don't be shy.
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38 comments:
Can one eat well and nutriously on a tiny budget? Me thinks not. I know, because I have tried. But don't let that discourage you--hopefully you have some readers who have done it and I'll be right there to find out how.
Nuts. I spelled nutritiously wrong.
I'm with Heidi. I've never figured out how to do it, but boy, would I love to hear from those who have! And I'd love to share the information with my kids, too.
=)
I'll do it! Write regularly that is. Because you inspire me. I'd be honored.
Here's the thing - my budget is tiny, but I am notoriously unconcerned with grocery money. So that might rule me out. But my husband is the king of "we don't need that" in every area of life. I could write about his philosophy - twice a month maybe?
Brilliant! Your fat post made me want to do something too, but I'm the worst at cooking...I think it's great that you write about things and DO something about it.
My friend is a nutritionist and this is a passion of hers so if you don't mind, I'm going to ask her. In the mean time, I'm going to work on putting my money where my mouth is. Sadly, all I have accomplished since the fat rant is adopting a chicken (for eggs...and to eat my snails). I'm going to attempt to grow cherry tomatoes in pots...so that might be interesting. I kill everything, so I if I can do it...
I don't know that I would have more than one post to contribute, but I LOVE the idea! We have a tiny budget but a big portion of it goes to food. I've found sometimes you have to give up some things in order to eat better.
Surprisingly, I have friends who have gone vegan who swear they save a ton of money that way. I might even be able to talk one of them into sharing a bit. We use some of her recipes and they are delicious!
And, totally being a comment hog here, I have a friend who just now found out that her daughter has Celiac's and is freaking out. I know she'd love some pointers.
The discussion was great yesterday...I must agree on just about every point. Preparing from scratch, healthy meals takes the better part of my day and some days it is all I can do to make some pasta and a salad because we needed a clean bathroom and clean clothes!
Hubby is now on a medically supervised diet and his food prep takes even longer, lots and lots of veggies. I try to prep a pile for a few days in advance.
I think we spend a lot, but you have us beat. I have access to every grocery store you can name and it is still work to track down the best deals each week, but I do. I have never bought organic meat and is something I am interested in doing so yes your food blog would be of a great service!
I would love to learn how to stretch my dollars further using the best possible ingredients.
Sure, count me in. Do you object to gardening-themed posts? The garden is a giant help to us economically.
I tweeted/emailed you. I'm interested. Your last post imspired me as well. It is sad that healthy, fresh food isn't available to everyone and everywhere. Due to the economy, returning to work after our third son was born wasn't an option. Now we have the 2 of us and 3 kids to feed on one budget?! I said bring it on and I think we've managed to figure a few things out. :)
I'm so excited by this! We need to do better with our food choices and I am thrilled that your family is going to be a resource for those of us with room to improve! I may not be able to write for you, but will definitely be a loyal reader!
I'm a veggie and my husband and kids are not. Our food bills, the desire to be healthy and cook from scratch, plus some picky eaters in the family, results in some creativity on my part.
I have A LOT to say on the topic of food and healthy eating...there is so much crap in the food we buy that we don't even know is there. Food dyes, preservatives, etc...anywho, I'd be interested in contributing.
I'd love to help out! We are vegetarian and I post regularly about our healthy eating choices on my blog - and would love to try and write about more healthy eating choices! Here's my blog, the recipes start with the "What's Cookin'" tag: www.venividiblogi.com
Do you guys know of Jamie Oliver? A British chef who is passionate about school lunches and their lack of nutrition contributing to obsesity. A television series about his quest began Sunday night on ABC in the states. Google him and join his cause; looks like you are thinking alike.
Linda
PS Follow Jamie Oliver on Twitter!
Linda
I'll do it!
I spend a lot of money on groceries - about the same as you - but we basically never eat out or get takeout. When I lived on a really tight budget I lived on rice and broccoli with generic rice cakes. So...what I'm saying is I've evolved significantly since then.
I'd love to write for you because I'm vegetarian, my kids and husband are not, one kid really likes meat, one just thinks it's okay, one eats tons of dairy, one eats almost no dairy...so I'm all about being creative in the kitchen. But like I said I don't know if I qualify because I do spend $$$ on groceries.
If you ever need/want low-budget dairy-free recipes and tips, let me know!
That was a great blog post, by the way.
I'd love to join in. Lots of hard work and organization, yes, money, not necessarily.
Beck - This is an awesome idea! We are a family of five living at our country's (US) federal poverty level. It's struggle, but I it a major goal of ours. Sometimes I have great ideas & sometimes I just am out of juice.
I would love to contribute. I'd probably not be able to commit to more than once a month right now, but I would love to join.
I'm interested. I'm not sure how qualified I am, but I am very, very interested.
One absolutely can eat well and on a budget. In fact, even the most impoverished can eat well. Example: Costco carries a great deal of organic products and they accept food stamps. Many farmers markets are setting up WIC and Food Stamp redemption programs.
Also, people can look in the most unlikely places to find fresh foods and organics for very little money: Asian markets, banana box store, clearance bins, Amazon grocery, etc. Also, don't overlook specialty markets just because you think they're going to be more expensive. They often offer bulk bins (where you can save loads of money )and have great sales.
If you're looking only to buy highly-processed "diet foods," you will likely not save much money at all, but if you're looking to truly eat in a healthful way, you can absolutely do it without breaking the bank.
I'm a couponing bargain shopper from way back, but a health scare drove us towards organics at the beginning of the year. My husband was TERRIFIED I'd blow our budget, but so far, we're good. I've applied the same bargain-hunting principles and with some diligence and creativity, we're eating well on very little.
I have lived on little and generally eat nutritiously, (can always do better) but would be interested.
I'm very interested in reading/following , but doubt I'd be any help whatsoever.
I am interested in trying to grow a few things of my own, but don't have a clue and I do not have a green thumb at all.
;-(
I'm in. Although as I said in my comment for the previous post, our grocery budget may be disproportionate to our overall (small) budget, since I do buy some foods organic. But we make most things from scratch and rarely eat out, and buy in bulk, etc.
You know how to get in touch. :-)
Cool idea!
beck--i would like to help or guest post if you ever need anyone. eating healthy on a tight budget is my thing. :-) and i love recipes, cooking, baking....eating!
Hi Beck-
I'm a lot older than your regular reader/commenters- and my ideas of budgeting and good food are not always appreciated by my organic,green and local food children. But, I make my own bread and pizza and applesauce from windfalls, and freeze fruit in season. If you are interested in an older perspective, I'm in.
We do it though we have gone through various stages of it-- sometimes it is easier than others and with multiple food allergies in the family it is extra interesting. (Dye and preservative free, mostly meatless but hubby eats no beans, organic when possible, multiple regular food allergies, mostly coupon free because coupons seldom work for our needs, feeding 5 on roughly $50 American a week). I could share about our experiences but am not great (totally SUCK) at regularly posting.
Can't wait to see how this turns out. I don't know how much help I could be. Feeding a family of nine - some weeks I do better than others at healthy balanced inexpensive meals.
Go you!
I'd be interested in this for sure! I follow Mary on Ownhaven pretty well but they do a lot of their budget/healthy eating by having an enormous garden and raising some of their own livestock which is wonderful but not really an option for a huge percentage of people. We actually cheat a bit in that my parents do have a beef farm so we get all of our all-but-certified organic and very lean beef for free and we only eat meat about 2x a week anyhow, but we did live as a family of three below the poverty line for nearly 2 years (lived as a family of 2 just at the poverty line for 5 before that...ah, grad school marriage...) and still live by a lot of our more resourceful ways. We have access to my MIL's apple tree in the fall which keeps us in applesauce and applebutter all year long and we grow a small garden (maybe 6' x 10')which gives us some peas and eggplants and tomatoes and cucumbers--usually just enough to round out 2-3 meals a week for a month or two but we freeze/process/can some of that each year, too. I have a fair number of "under $5 for a family of 4" meals I could share.
I love your idea - I will sure be a reader of this! Looking so much forward to the result.
And if I come up with an idea how to support this I'll report back in ;-) ...
Ah, and don't you dare neglecting this blog once you have started a project like this.
This sounds like a fantastic plan! I'm already spread way thinner than I'd like, but I'm game for the occasional vegetarian meal if the need should ever arise. And, of course good luck!
I would love to learn how to stretch my dollars further using the best possible ingredients.
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What an awesome idea! I don't think I have anything helpful to contribute, but I'll sure be reading it!!
Oh, and "Health Wealth"??
I would be interested in posting. You CAN eat nutritiously on a tiny budget. I did it.
http://www.milehimama.com/food-stamp-challenge/
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