Yeah, better food costs more than cheap crap. It also costs more than ordinary good food.
Still, there are good choices out there. Even if you can't afford fresh, locally grown, organic produce, you can still buy produce, rather than edible food-like products that come sealed in a plastic.
For me, the best strategy is to plan a diet built on the cheapest real food you can find, and then make strategic improvements to the extent that you can afford them.
Around here, stuff at the farmers market is only rarely cheaper than stuff at the grocery store--but at the peak of the season, it's about as cheap. When we can find cheap stuff, we buy it. (For example, we just found some locally grown organic whole wheat flour that was cheaper than ordinary whole wheat flour. We bought a big bag of the stuff.)
Once we've got our basic calories and nutrition covered--with local and organic stuff when it's about the same price, or supermarket stuff when it's cheaper--we go ahead and buy some superior food, shopping at that point for superior taste as much as for superior nutrition.
I'm confused. At least where I live, eating processed crap is incredibly cheap. It's way cheaper than buying fresh produce. Buying fresh, whole foods is expensive, particularly if they are local and/or organic. I love my Farmers Market, but they sell green beans for $4 a pound when they are 99 cents a pound at the grocery store (that's not an exaggeration). That's not an option for a lot of people. It's no wonder folks eat junk--it's cheap, it's easy, it doesn't require time or planning (as has been pointed out, time to cook is a privilege), and it's also what a lot of people grew up with and consider normal (and that last part is particularly problematic). I mean, if one does buy the cheaper produce from the grocery store, in a lot of cases, one has to know what to do with it. There are lots of wonderful, easy choices, of course, but honestly, lots of people aren't familiar with those choices--they didn't grow up eating vegetables regularly, for instance. And if one didn't grow up eating something, isn't used to it, has to figure out what to do with it, has to pay too much for it, etc., it's no wonder he or she would choose a cheeseburger.
I'm on a tight budget, but I really value fresh fruits and vegetables and so I shell out for them. But really, I'd save a lot more money if I converted to eating mac and cheese out of a box every night. Of course, my diet would suck and I'd gain 20 pounds, but there you are.
As a personal trainer I get the excuse that eating healthy is too expensive. I just wrote about how to eat healthy for about $30 a week. It is not a perfect diet but it shows how much good food you can have for a couple of dollars a day. Most people spend a couple of dollars in the vending machines everyday. People also think healthy means it comes in a reduced fat or fat free variety. This is far from the truth and these items should be avoided.
When the kids were little I was a stay at home mom and we would go to the park with kool-aid and some snacks. They would run and run and have a good time. When they were older we would go for long bike rides together to another park that had a pond in it and then come home to have a movie marathon. We had library days that we would get the movies from and also books. There are a lot of good places to go to that do not cost money.
We did go on vacations. We went to Las Vegas and stayed at Circus Circus and saw lots of acts. We also went to San Diego and did not go to Sea World but went to the beach a lot. My husband had to go there on business and I flew with the kids and we stayed in his room.
That's right. We have a theater that shows free movies every wed at 10 a.m. during the summer. Daycare centers will often pack the house, but it is available. Also, toward the end of the summer, we had a free international children's film festival. They said it was the first annual, so I guess I'll get to add that to my national parks, library, gardening plans. Oh, I've also been instructed to make my 2nd grader read aloud to help with reading and writing issues involved with a speech impairment. We'll probably have a quiet hour after lunch where we do shared reading.
Regarding Disney, the first time I ever went I was 35 YO and it was with my kids. It was fantastic, but not something I can do much and not something I fault my parents for not doing.
I think the Sunday Telegraphy of London just made up the acronym YAWN to create a story. Usually tabloids like to follow the behavior of wealthy 'celebrity' people, and to them, simple living is not as glamorous or scandalous as they would like. So, to them, frugal simple-living is boring. But who cares what THEY think?
We are not boring to the people whose opinions matter to us.
I dont understand why everyone compares milk or bottled water or coffee or soda to gasoline. for one thing the only thing that compares in price to gas now adays is the 2% milk and whole milk, but i dont drink 15 gallons of milk while driving 250 miles. so this relationship is totally off. looking at the list on wisebread website the quantity of gallons used by any individual person pails in comparison to the useage of gasoline that same person uses.
So in conclusion GAS is EXPENSIVE. if u can find something that also can be used to propell your vehicle that costs more than gas then u can say that gas is cheap. if you want to compare gasoline with anything compare it to hydrogen, or electricity or anything else that can be used to move your car down the road, not milk or coffee.
Why repeat what Sam just said above. It fits perfectly.
I think the "boring" side comes from the perception others have about us. If you are a YAWN you've been told, "oh, c'mon live a little". And deep inside you know that it is because people is asking you to do something that everybody (or maybe only the Joneses) do, but that it is meaningless to you.
We YAWNs spend our entertainment dollars in things that are meaningful to us and nobody else. Only that many times those things might not be what is expected from everybody.
Call me boring, and when I retire early based on being a YAWN, you can call me at my cell phone at the beach. Oh, how pretentious of me!
Yeah I know what you mean about spending entertainment dollars on things that are meaningful to you. For my hubby it's games because he loves games, and for me I spend money on good food. We don't care about cars, houses, and apparel that much. So people really have no idea how much we actually entertain ourselves.
Why repeat what Sam just said above. It fits perfectly.
I think the "boring" side comes from the perception others have about us. If you are a YAWN you've been told, "oh, c'mon live a little". And deep inside you know that it is because people is asking you to do something that everybody (or maybe only the Joneses) do, but that it is meaningless to you.
We YAWNs spend our entertainment dollars in things that are meaningful to us and nobody else. Only that many times those things might not be what is expected from everybody.
Call me boring, and when I retire early based on being a YAWN, you can call me at my cell phone at the beach. Oh, how pretentious of me!
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
I guess I am a YAN, too (without the wealthy-hehee!) I like the name "down-shifter" though because I think that it accurately describes living a simpler life.
I think YAWN is actually quite fitting for us, because mainstream culture probably does find us boring.
We're not living in the right cities or in the expensive condos, we're not drinking expensive coffee, we're not driving SUV's or expensive cars. We have some self discipline and that doesn't make for good drama. We're consciencely flying in the face of it all, and actually by doing that are largely ignored.
Boring buy that standard doesn't mean we're not having fun or are predictable or are uninteresting. We're just not buying into their game. We're a YAWN because we've taken our ball to play else where.
I just got back from the store and your info. cheered me up a lot! I had gotten two apples, a leafy green that I thought was a tough bibb lettuce (?), but the grocer told me is great steamed with garlic and oil and tomatoes. I had oatmean with raisins topped with peanut butter for breakfast. I made chickpea hummous for lunch. I'm not livin large - but I am not going hungry, thank G-d. Gotta get work...
But thank you. I don't know how my longago ancestors ate but grandparents ate too much sour cream and butter and died of strokes. And my dad had his arteries unclogged with a bottle brush (whatever that operations called!) So I know to watch my cholesterol and eat canned fish on sale for the omega 3s and watch the funfoods with trans fats. But your rundown is a great diet.
This is a bunch of cr@p! IF saving fuel only worked on those big scary trucks then why do race car drivers DRAFT? It's not to save fuel (although it does save fuel) but to go faster. The first vehicle breaks a path through the air-the second has less resistance to get through it-it's not hard to figure out. And it's only dangerous if the first driver is either A: an @sshole who will hit their brakes just to get insurance money, or B: a moron who doesn't pay attention to whats going on ahead and would have to slam on their brakes causing a wreck. If you're not comfortable driving so close to someone that you cant drive looking at the road ahead through THEIR windshield, GET OFF THE ROAD!
I believe Dave Ramsey says it best with "If you live like no one else you can live like no one else." When my wife and I are making a decision about something and we find ourselves saying something a long the lines of 'other people are doing such and such, so...' we immediately remind ourselves that we do not want to live like other people. Other people are broke and unhappy - my wife and I don't want to live like that. We make it a point to not follow the crowd.
Acronyms such as YAWN do not bother me. The idiots tend to yell loudest and longest - doesn't make them right, just annoying!
Yeah, better food costs more than cheap crap. It also costs more than ordinary good food.
Still, there are good choices out there. Even if you can't afford fresh, locally grown, organic produce, you can still buy produce, rather than edible food-like products that come sealed in a plastic.
For me, the best strategy is to plan a diet built on the cheapest real food you can find, and then make strategic improvements to the extent that you can afford them.
Around here, stuff at the farmers market is only rarely cheaper than stuff at the grocery store--but at the peak of the season, it's about as cheap. When we can find cheap stuff, we buy it. (For example, we just found some locally grown organic whole wheat flour that was cheaper than ordinary whole wheat flour. We bought a big bag of the stuff.)
Once we've got our basic calories and nutrition covered--with local and organic stuff when it's about the same price, or supermarket stuff when it's cheaper--we go ahead and buy some superior food, shopping at that point for superior taste as much as for superior nutrition.
We've made some mistakes in our early 20's that we're paying for (paying off) as we enter our 30's.
I would love to become a YAWN. I can't afford to be very philanthropic now but I do volunteer my time to worthwhile causes.
I'm confused. At least where I live, eating processed crap is incredibly cheap. It's way cheaper than buying fresh produce. Buying fresh, whole foods is expensive, particularly if they are local and/or organic. I love my Farmers Market, but they sell green beans for $4 a pound when they are 99 cents a pound at the grocery store (that's not an exaggeration). That's not an option for a lot of people. It's no wonder folks eat junk--it's cheap, it's easy, it doesn't require time or planning (as has been pointed out, time to cook is a privilege), and it's also what a lot of people grew up with and consider normal (and that last part is particularly problematic). I mean, if one does buy the cheaper produce from the grocery store, in a lot of cases, one has to know what to do with it. There are lots of wonderful, easy choices, of course, but honestly, lots of people aren't familiar with those choices--they didn't grow up eating vegetables regularly, for instance. And if one didn't grow up eating something, isn't used to it, has to figure out what to do with it, has to pay too much for it, etc., it's no wonder he or she would choose a cheeseburger.
I'm on a tight budget, but I really value fresh fruits and vegetables and so I shell out for them. But really, I'd save a lot more money if I converted to eating mac and cheese out of a box every night. Of course, my diet would suck and I'd gain 20 pounds, but there you are.
As a personal trainer I get the excuse that eating healthy is too expensive. I just wrote about how to eat healthy for about $30 a week. It is not a perfect diet but it shows how much good food you can have for a couple of dollars a day. Most people spend a couple of dollars in the vending machines everyday. People also think healthy means it comes in a reduced fat or fat free variety. This is far from the truth and these items should be avoided.
http://theironedge.blogspot.com/2008/04/eating-good-on-30-week.html
I had my taxes done at H&R block and picked it up there, how will I get my check?
I had my taxes done at H&R block and picked it up there, how will I get my check?
When the kids were little I was a stay at home mom and we would go to the park with kool-aid and some snacks. They would run and run and have a good time. When they were older we would go for long bike rides together to another park that had a pond in it and then come home to have a movie marathon. We had library days that we would get the movies from and also books. There are a lot of good places to go to that do not cost money.
We did go on vacations. We went to Las Vegas and stayed at Circus Circus and saw lots of acts. We also went to San Diego and did not go to Sea World but went to the beach a lot. My husband had to go there on business and I flew with the kids and we stayed in his room.
Carol
From one guest to another -
That's right. We have a theater that shows free movies every wed at 10 a.m. during the summer. Daycare centers will often pack the house, but it is available. Also, toward the end of the summer, we had a free international children's film festival. They said it was the first annual, so I guess I'll get to add that to my national parks, library, gardening plans. Oh, I've also been instructed to make my 2nd grader read aloud to help with reading and writing issues involved with a speech impairment. We'll probably have a quiet hour after lunch where we do shared reading.
Regarding Disney, the first time I ever went I was 35 YO and it was with my kids. It was fantastic, but not something I can do much and not something I fault my parents for not doing.
I think the Sunday Telegraphy of London just made up the acronym YAWN to create a story. Usually tabloids like to follow the behavior of wealthy 'celebrity' people, and to them, simple living is not as glamorous or scandalous as they would like. So, to them, frugal simple-living is boring. But who cares what THEY think?
We are not boring to the people whose opinions matter to us.
I dont understand why everyone compares milk or bottled water or coffee or soda to gasoline. for one thing the only thing that compares in price to gas now adays is the 2% milk and whole milk, but i dont drink 15 gallons of milk while driving 250 miles. so this relationship is totally off. looking at the list on wisebread website the quantity of gallons used by any individual person pails in comparison to the useage of gasoline that same person uses.
So in conclusion GAS is EXPENSIVE. if u can find something that also can be used to propell your vehicle that costs more than gas then u can say that gas is cheap. if you want to compare gasoline with anything compare it to hydrogen, or electricity or anything else that can be used to move your car down the road, not milk or coffee.
There, I said it, call me pretentious. Thanks.
Why repeat what Sam just said above. It fits perfectly.
I think the "boring" side comes from the perception others have about us. If you are a YAWN you've been told, "oh, c'mon live a little". And deep inside you know that it is because people is asking you to do something that everybody (or maybe only the Joneses) do, but that it is meaningless to you.
We YAWNs spend our entertainment dollars in things that are meaningful to us and nobody else. Only that many times those things might not be what is expected from everybody.
Call me boring, and when I retire early based on being a YAWN, you can call me at my cell phone at the beach. Oh, how pretentious of me!
Yeah I know what you mean about spending entertainment dollars on things that are meaningful to you. For my hubby it's games because he loves games, and for me I spend money on good food. We don't care about cars, houses, and apparel that much. So people really have no idea how much we actually entertain ourselves.
There, I said it, call me pretentious. Thanks.
Why repeat what Sam just said above. It fits perfectly.
I think the "boring" side comes from the perception others have about us. If you are a YAWN you've been told, "oh, c'mon live a little". And deep inside you know that it is because people is asking you to do something that everybody (or maybe only the Joneses) do, but that it is meaningless to you.
We YAWNs spend our entertainment dollars in things that are meaningful to us and nobody else. Only that many times those things might not be what is expected from everybody.
Call me boring, and when I retire early based on being a YAWN, you can call me at my cell phone at the beach. Oh, how pretentious of me!
Has anyone received their stimulus check yet??? I thought they were going to start sending them Direct Deposit on April 28th.
Has anyone received their stimulus check yet??? I thought they were going to start sending them Direct Deposit on April 28th.
Has anyone received their stimulus check yet??? I thought they were going to start sending them Direct Deposit on April 28th.
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
http://www.rothrockchevy.com/ in the Philadelphia, PA region is offering to double your money if you spend your economic stimulus check on an in-stock pre-owned car.
I guess I am a YAN, too (without the wealthy-hehee!) I like the name "down-shifter" though because I think that it accurately describes living a simpler life.
cheap ain't goodwill. Not anymore.
I think YAWN is actually quite fitting for us, because mainstream culture probably does find us boring.
We're not living in the right cities or in the expensive condos, we're not drinking expensive coffee, we're not driving SUV's or expensive cars. We have some self discipline and that doesn't make for good drama. We're consciencely flying in the face of it all, and actually by doing that are largely ignored.
Boring buy that standard doesn't mean we're not having fun or are predictable or are uninteresting. We're just not buying into their game. We're a YAWN because we've taken our ball to play else where.
I just got back from the store and your info. cheered me up a lot! I had gotten two apples, a leafy green that I thought was a tough bibb lettuce (?), but the grocer told me is great steamed with garlic and oil and tomatoes. I had oatmean with raisins topped with peanut butter for breakfast. I made chickpea hummous for lunch. I'm not livin large - but I am not going hungry, thank G-d. Gotta get work...
But thank you. I don't know how my longago ancestors ate but grandparents ate too much sour cream and butter and died of strokes. And my dad had his arteries unclogged with a bottle brush (whatever that operations called!) So I know to watch my cholesterol and eat canned fish on sale for the omega 3s and watch the funfoods with trans fats. But your rundown is a great diet.
thank you for being here and posting, Philip.
This is a bunch of cr@p! IF saving fuel only worked on those big scary trucks then why do race car drivers DRAFT? It's not to save fuel (although it does save fuel) but to go faster. The first vehicle breaks a path through the air-the second has less resistance to get through it-it's not hard to figure out. And it's only dangerous if the first driver is either A: an @sshole who will hit their brakes just to get insurance money, or B: a moron who doesn't pay attention to whats going on ahead and would have to slam on their brakes causing a wreck. If you're not comfortable driving so close to someone that you cant drive looking at the road ahead through THEIR windshield, GET OFF THE ROAD!
I believe Dave Ramsey says it best with "If you live like no one else you can live like no one else." When my wife and I are making a decision about something and we find ourselves saying something a long the lines of 'other people are doing such and such, so...' we immediately remind ourselves that we do not want to live like other people. Other people are broke and unhappy - my wife and I don't want to live like that. We make it a point to not follow the crowd.
Acronyms such as YAWN do not bother me. The idiots tend to yell loudest and longest - doesn't make them right, just annoying!