Organic and conventional can coexist!

While writing my CVS sale circular post I realized that this blog may contradict itself a bit. While I enjoy doing things as naturally and green as possible, I also understand that not everyone can afford to do that. That is why I will alert my readers when something goes on a great sale, green or not. Because of this, I feel like my blog doesn't fall into the "green" category, which sucks, because I don't think being green is an all or nothing endeavor. Furthermore, I think that people living a completely "green" lifestyle often scare everyday people away, because people think you have to transform your whole way of life. I try to strike a perfect balance between natural and cheap. Usually the two can coexist peacefully with a little work, but occassionally, I'm making the non-organic tuna noodle casserole with the Campbell's soup, ok? Even a little arsenic won't kill you, so I'm assuming that my family will be okay.

More of my life would be greened had it not been for me stocking up on amazing sales, but for now, I have plenty of laundry soap left and I'm not just going to throw it out to buy some environmentally friendly product. What I will do, however, is buy a different brand (or make my own) once that runs out. I just did the same thing with my $.99 Palmolive dish soap. I waited until all the soap I had ran out, and then went to Whole Foods and purchased a Method product (there's a cheaper one there for $3.39 for 25 oz.). I purchased the Method because I had a coupon from this season's Whole Foods circular and it came to a total of $3.49. I paid the extra $.10 because the Method one had a vitamin E type of thing in it to hopefully help my hands (even though I'm not such a believer in that kind of stuff).

I also encourage buying everything you can possibly afford organic, but for us it's just not 100% possible. However, I am working towards that goal every shopping trip. In fact, last week, I had my first entirely organic shopping trip. I spend a total of $32.23 (actually it was $29.23, I had a $5 coupon from my neighbor...so I added that because I know you don't have that coupon) and got:

- A gallon of organic whole milk (for yogurt making - costs half the price of buying organic yogurt) ($5.99)
- 2 half gallons of organic 365 soy milk (one vanilla and one plain) ($3.39 each)
- one pound of organic 265 black beans ($1.99)
- one 12 oz. bag of frozen organic 365 spinach ($2.19)
- one dozen organic eggs (used my coupon from the circular to save $1) ($3.49)
- 24 oz bag of organic pacific rim blend coffee (lasts us about 2 1/2 weeks - we DRINK coffee...a lot of it - this would probably last someone normal a month) ($9.99)

So, I walk home from the store - spring in my step - feeling pretty good about myself. I get home, and what do I realize? THE MILK ISN'T ORGANIC. It's plain Garelick (antibiotic and hormone free at least) and it was a DOLLAR more expensive than it is downstairs at CVS (to add insult to injury). Anyways, I amended my list for you to reflect what the price WOULD have been had I not been an IDIOT. What makes this even worse is that last week, Mike (my fiance) left our SIX DOLLAR GALLON OF MILK in the stroller and forgot about it. I still made yogurt out of it when I found it the next day because I couldn't stand to waste it, and it didn't make me sick, but it also didn't make me look forward to eating that yogurt. Ehh...

My point is that I'm not judging you! Buy what you can organic, and make the rest of your food from scratch with fresh ingredients when you can. Either way, eating carrots (organic or not) is better than eating baked Lay's. Fact.

When a deal is too good to pass up, I will let you guys know, and if you're already using a more natural, green product, and you can afford it, than of course that's always best. But since I created this blog to help all of us living on a tiny budget, I think it's important that everyone be aware of the sales going on! I know not everyone can afford to be totally green, all we can do is our best, right?

The good news is that since we've made the switch to more organic grocery shopping, I've noticed a change in our consumption. First of all, we buy less because it's more expensive. Second of all, because we buy less, we usually wind up using it all, and not letting any go to waste. When I would spend $20 on conventional produce, you could be sure I'd waste about $5-$7 of it, but when I spend $15 on organics I am sure to use them all. This has caused our grocery bills to remain close to where they were before we purchased anything organic.

And, overall, when I dread paying organic prices, I think of what I am actually paying for. I'm paying for food that has not been genetically modified, that has not been sprayed with poisons, that tastes better, and that is healthier and more nutritious for me, my family, and the earth. That helps, too.