This is where I have a problem. I want to be frugal, but when it comes to the grocery budget, being frugal doesn't work so well with special diets. I see people bragging about how much they save with coupons at grocery checkout and how cheaply they feed their families by planning meals around the sales ads. This might work for someone whose family and themselves can eat just about anything on the grocery shelves.
But how can I cut the budget when I am trying to work around a gluten-free, soy-free diet? Gluten free specialty foods are quite frankly, very expensive. Soy-free items are just plain hard to find. My husband won't eat my gluten free bread because it is too dense for his liking. Besides it is more expensive than the one soy free bread I have found. The only loaf of soy free bread I have found is a very small loaf that cost $3.50. Ouch. My gluten free bread is over $4.50 a loaf. Double ouch. A bag of rice noodles for a cassarole is $4.95. Triple Ouch!
Then there is the fact that most of the foods you find on coupons are very unhealthy. Now I don't claim to never buy foods that are not healthy, once in a while we need a little fun. But unless we go vegetarian, which isn't as healthy as they claim, eating cheap doesn't seem to be in the cards for us.
I can be and am very thankful that we have enough money to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads. God has been very good to us. I don't mean to belittle His provision for us. I am just trying to figure how to stretch His provision a little further.
1 comment:
Marsha, I think everyone is feeling this way right now. The economy is a mess and we are all trying to find ways to cut back but health food is sooooo difficult. I would love to do only organic foods but with a family of six, even with a husband working two jobs, it just seems too overwhelming. So we settle for some but we do not have the problem with gluten like you do. I cannot imagine how you do it. You are an inspiration.
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