Comments on: Reducing the Grocery Budget - Fruit and Vegetables http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/ Simple Living... Frugality... Gardening... Cooking From Scratch... Knifty Knitter Projects.. And More. Tue, 8 Jul 2008 21:10:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: lightening http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2965 lightening Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:48:54 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2965 Ben - I agree with the frustration over supermarkets taking advantage of difficult situations to up prices even when it isn't warranted. You have some great ideas there! thanks for sharing. ShadowKnight - thanks for your thoughts and feedback. One day I'd like to try a worm farm. I'm afraid at the moment I'd be likely to let the worms die. :-( Not deliberately of course. All of our scraps do go to the chooks but I know worm castings and worm juice is brilliant for the garden! Ben - I agree with the frustration over supermarkets taking advantage of difficult situations to up prices even when it isn’t warranted. You have some great ideas there! thanks for sharing.

ShadowKnight - thanks for your thoughts and feedback. One day I’d like to try a worm farm. I’m afraid at the moment I’d be likely to let the worms die. :-( Not deliberately of course. All of our scraps do go to the chooks but I know worm castings and worm juice is brilliant for the garden!

]]> By: ShadowKnight http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2892 ShadowKnight Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:59:52 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2892 Fantastic article. Well put together and highly informative. I agree with your grow your own sentiments to. Less than three months ago I would not go into the garden. Now I am after any excuse. I grow exclusively in pots and planters as we are about to move. However, I am having great success. It is easy as pie to succeed with a little persistance and forethought. Most plants will grow well in pots. Particularly herbs such as chives, ku chai (garlic chives), basil, parsley, mint, and rosemary. All they need is a sunny position and some water. Another idea for you all is to recycle the left over vegetables via vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is basically a worm farm. Done right a worm farm does not smell and also does not take up a lot of room in the garden. The worms will process vegetable scraps, cardboard, paper, egg shells, and other usual bin/recycle bin stuffers and produce a nutrient rich liquid fertiliser and soil. Although I am currently in a battle as my farms ecosystem was disturbed after meat entered the system I have found it easy and trouble free. Once again Lightening great blog and see you round the Aussie Bloggers Forum and Entrecard. Fantastic article. Well put together and highly informative.

I agree with your grow your own sentiments to. Less than three months ago I would not go into the garden. Now I am after any excuse. I grow exclusively in pots and planters as we are about to move. However, I am having great success.

It is easy as pie to succeed with a little persistance and forethought. Most plants will grow well in pots. Particularly herbs such as chives, ku chai (garlic chives), basil, parsley, mint, and rosemary. All they need is a sunny position and some water.

Another idea for you all is to recycle the left over vegetables via vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is basically a worm farm. Done right a worm farm does not smell and also does not take up a lot of room in the garden. The worms will process vegetable scraps, cardboard, paper, egg shells, and other usual bin/recycle bin stuffers and produce a nutrient rich liquid fertiliser and soil. Although I am currently in a battle as my farms ecosystem was disturbed after meat entered the system I have found it easy and trouble free.

Once again Lightening great blog and see you round the Aussie Bloggers Forum and Entrecard.

]]> By: Ben http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2824 Ben Thu, 03 Jan 2008 04:47:59 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2824 I have a love/hate relationship with the two major Australian supermarket chains as far as fruit and vegetables goes. Coles can be very opportunistic with their pricing - after the second flood in East Gipplsand in 2007, they quadrupled the price of the in-season Cauliflower and Broccoli - yet the labels on the trays showed that they had sourced them from Werribee (a couple of hundred Kms from East Gippsland). Sometimes though I have found some great bargains on plastic wrapped produce (another gripe of mine) that have an arbitary use by date that is near. Woolworths are only slightly better. A good green grocer is the best way to go. I also try and buy seasonally as well. I have ten different herbs growing as well as pots of leeks and onions. I have used leeks as an ingredient eight times since I started growing them. The punnet of seedlings cost me $3.25 and the leeks I've used so far would have cost me approximately $17.60 and there's still enough leeks to be used at least another twelve times. A $2.50 punnet of red onion seedlings has yielded approximately 3.5 kilos of onions which would have cost me just over $12.00 approximately - the taste is far superior to bought leeks and onions. I also have some farmers' markets that I go to. I'm also really cutting back on wastage - I love leftovers for lunch. I also make varied salads for lunch which are much cheaper than buying food at work. Food costs are starting to have an impact on the family budget in Australia and I think it will only start to get worse. In the next couple of years I am going to get a productive vegetable garden established. The fresh air is better than being in front of the TV anyway. All the best, Ben I have a love/hate relationship with the two major Australian supermarket chains as far as fruit and vegetables goes. Coles can be very opportunistic with their pricing - after the second flood in East Gipplsand in 2007, they quadrupled the price of the in-season Cauliflower and Broccoli - yet the labels on the trays showed that they had sourced them from Werribee (a couple of hundred Kms from East Gippsland). Sometimes though I have found some great bargains on plastic wrapped produce (another gripe of mine) that have an arbitary use by date that is near. Woolworths are only slightly better.

A good green grocer is the best way to go. I also try and buy seasonally as well.

I have ten different herbs growing as well as pots of leeks and onions. I have used leeks as an ingredient eight times since I started growing them. The punnet of seedlings cost me $3.25 and the leeks I’ve used so far would have cost me approximately $17.60 and there’s still enough leeks to be used at least another twelve times. A $2.50 punnet of red onion seedlings has yielded approximately 3.5 kilos of onions which would have cost me just over $12.00 approximately - the taste is far superior to bought leeks and onions.

I also have some farmers’ markets that I go to.

I’m also really cutting back on wastage - I love leftovers for lunch. I also make varied salads for lunch which are much cheaper than buying food at work.

Food costs are starting to have an impact on the family budget in Australia and I think it will only start to get worse. In the next couple of years I am going to get a productive vegetable garden established. The fresh air is better than being in front of the TV anyway.

All the best,

Ben

]]> By: Festival of Frugality #105 | Sense to Save http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2651 Festival of Frugality #105 | Sense to Save Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:05 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2651 [...] Lightening has a monster of a post showing how to be frugal when buying fruits and vegetables, and how choosing to buy those items instead of say, chips, is ok on your wallet and great for your health. [...] […] Lightening has a monster of a post showing how to be frugal when buying fruits and vegetables, and how choosing to buy those items instead of say, chips, is ok on your wallet and great for your health. […]

]]> By: lightening http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2504 lightening Sat, 08 Dec 2007 22:52:41 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2504 Hi Mrs Fussypants and thanks for dropping by! :-) I can imagine feeding 4 boys would be an interesting challenge! Hi Mrs Fussypants and thanks for dropping by! :-) I can imagine feeding 4 boys would be an interesting challenge!

]]> By: Alli ~Mrs. Fussypants http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2501 Alli ~Mrs. Fussypants Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:31:10 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2501 I buy those Gi-Normous bags of frozen mixed fruit & broccoli florets. That helps alot! Feeding four boys a healthy diet ain't for sissies! ;) Great post! I need constant reminders. Love & Blessings to you. I buy those Gi-Normous bags of frozen mixed fruit & broccoli florets. That helps alot!

Feeding four boys a healthy diet ain’t for sissies! ;)

Great post! I need constant reminders.

Love & Blessings to you.

]]> By: lightening http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2494 lightening Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:31:18 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2494 Emma - the fulfilment for $$ spent is an excellent guage for whether your money is going in the right place. I love the fact that the YMOYL system really doesn't "deny" you anything but encourages you to realise that all of us waste money on stuff that doesn't really matter simply because we don't know any better. River - great suggestions there! I would really like to make my own fruit and veg bags but haven't gotten to it yet. :-) I have cut back to not using them where I'm only buying a small number of an item and I do use them as bin liners but it would be great to have my own cloth ones as well. Cat - what a great location your work is!!!! It would be wonderful to get a regular supply of fresh fruit and veg. I agree with your ideas for being organised too. Trish - I have now set up links to the rest of the posts in the series in my sidebar. Good luck with your budget! It always takes a bit of tweaking to get these things right. Tracking where your money goes is even more important than a budget too. Let me know if you need any more information on that. I'm no expert on budgetting but I have "been there, done that" and made plenty of mistakes along the way (which make for great learning curves :-) ). Edi - it's really interesting trying out new and varied foods isn't it? I'm not all that adventurous myself but we have been slowly expanding our reportoire and now that we're doing some gardening we're expanding it even further. The kids seem a bit more open to trying things we've grown ourselves. Lady Why - no we won't talk about that! LOL. It's good to work on these things but not be too hard on ourselves. Menu planning does help. :-) I've been extremely slack on mine these past few weeks but usually I find it does help! Most weeks I post a menu plan on Monday. Frugal Rosie - great name! :-) My DH LOVES it when I make banana cake. It's a good cake for me to make because I don't like it and therefore don't eat it! Sadly bananas here have been almost too expensive to make too many of them. Mrs Mordecai - I have to admit I'm not that great at remembering to water things. I just hope the novelty doesn't wear off! :-) Narelle - thank you so much for stopping by and for your comment. I hope you come by again! :-) Kendall - $1.89!!!! I am jealous! But then, if you can't get them cheap, who can? They're about $3.99 here at the moment which is still better than the $16.99 they got up to last year!!!! I prefer around $2.99 or lower though. It seems doubtful we'll ever see the days of 99c per kg again! But they do provide quite a nutritional punch so 99c per kg was probably severely under-rated!!!! Heather - I'm glad I'm not the only one!!!! I have to admit sometimes I get rather frustrated when people claim that anyone spending lower amounts of money is somehow not doing the right thing health wise by their families. Not that our diet couldn't be better.....but the things we could do without would actually reduce our spending further, not increase it! :-) Emma - the fulfilment for $$ spent is an excellent guage for whether your money is going in the right place. I love the fact that the YMOYL system really doesn’t “deny” you anything but encourages you to realise that all of us waste money on stuff that doesn’t really matter simply because we don’t know any better.

River - great suggestions there! I would really like to make my own fruit and veg bags but haven’t gotten to it yet. :-) I have cut back to not using them where I’m only buying a small number of an item and I do use them as bin liners but it would be great to have my own cloth ones as well.

Cat - what a great location your work is!!!! It would be wonderful to get a regular supply of fresh fruit and veg. I agree with your ideas for being organised too.

Trish - I have now set up links to the rest of the posts in the series in my sidebar. Good luck with your budget! It always takes a bit of tweaking to get these things right. Tracking where your money goes is even more important than a budget too. Let me know if you need any more information on that. I’m no expert on budgetting but I have “been there, done that” and made plenty of mistakes along the way (which make for great learning curves :-) ).

Edi - it’s really interesting trying out new and varied foods isn’t it? I’m not all that adventurous myself but we have been slowly expanding our reportoire and now that we’re doing some gardening we’re expanding it even further. The kids seem a bit more open to trying things we’ve grown ourselves.

Lady Why - no we won’t talk about that! LOL. It’s good to work on these things but not be too hard on ourselves. Menu planning does help. :-) I’ve been extremely slack on mine these past few weeks but usually I find it does help! Most weeks I post a menu plan on Monday.

Frugal Rosie - great name! :-) My DH LOVES it when I make banana cake. It’s a good cake for me to make because I don’t like it and therefore don’t eat it! Sadly bananas here have been almost too expensive to make too many of them.

Mrs Mordecai - I have to admit I’m not that great at remembering to water things. I just hope the novelty doesn’t wear off! :-)

Narelle - thank you so much for stopping by and for your comment. I hope you come by again! :-)

Kendall - $1.89!!!! I am jealous! But then, if you can’t get them cheap, who can? They’re about $3.99 here at the moment which is still better than the $16.99 they got up to last year!!!! I prefer around $2.99 or lower though. It seems doubtful we’ll ever see the days of 99c per kg again! But they do provide quite a nutritional punch so 99c per kg was probably severely under-rated!!!!

Heather - I’m glad I’m not the only one!!!! I have to admit sometimes I get rather frustrated when people claim that anyone spending lower amounts of money is somehow not doing the right thing health wise by their families. Not that our diet couldn’t be better…..but the things we could do without would actually reduce our spending further, not increase it! :-)

]]> By: Heather - Doodle Acres http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2493 Heather - Doodle Acres Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:58:39 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2493 What an excellent post!!! And I agree with you that we've never eaten better than in the 4 months or so since I've been budgeting our food budget. I like the idea of sectioning off a portion for fruits and veggies. I think I'll try that. What an excellent post!!! And I agree with you that we’ve never eaten better than in the 4 months or so since I’ve been budgeting our food budget.
I like the idea of sectioning off a portion for fruits and veggies. I think I’ll try that.

]]> By: Kendall http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2492 Kendall Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:36:05 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2492 Bananas were $1.89/kg at Supa IGA in Rockhampton this week. I bought 6 kilos! That's the cheapest I've seen them for a long time. I'm hoping that we don't go through all of them before they get too spotty and squishy because I want to have some to put in the freezer for smoothies. I love all your frugal tips. You spur me onward and upward to better frugal habits. Bananas were $1.89/kg at Supa IGA in Rockhampton this week. I bought 6 kilos! That’s the cheapest I’ve seen them for a long time. I’m hoping that we don’t go through all of them before they get too spotty and squishy because I want to have some to put in the freezer for smoothies.

I love all your frugal tips. You spur me onward and upward to better frugal habits.

]]> By: Narelle http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2491 Narelle Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:50:00 +0000 http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/12/07/reducing-the-grocery-budget-fruit-and-vegetables/#comment-2491 So neat! I stopped by here from Crystals blog and was thrilled to see an Aussie! Enjoyed your post...I too am trying to figure out lowering our grocery costs. Hope this finds you doing great. Narelle So neat! I stopped by here from Crystals blog and was thrilled to see an Aussie! Enjoyed your post…I too am trying to figure out lowering our grocery costs. Hope this finds you doing great.

Narelle

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