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Health & Fitness

Budget Mondays 9/30/2013

Monday – 9/30/2013

It’s Monday – a painful day for most people, yours truly included. Sometimes it is made even more painful as we remember just how much money we ended up spending over the weekend.

Budget

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It’s one word that can make people cringe, angry and sad all at the same time, a rare occurrence indeed. There are plenty of reasons for this – people are told at work that their budgets are being cut, their ideas cannot be funded because they are not in the budget, and in our personal life, our budgets don’t usually quite match up to our desires.

Eating healthy is always a good thing, and more recently there has been a trend towards eating more organically-grown food. This trend has grown from a small segment of the population to something that is truly beginning to upend some traditional manufacturers. People are concerned about all of the chemicals that are used in the modern-day food growing and preparation process. Eating organic can be a healthy lifestyle change, but it can also be tough on your budget. Let’s look at a few ways to eat healthy and to keep your budget healthy.

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One of the most basic tips for getting the best bang for your food purchasing buck is to purchase food when it is in season. Food that is purchased in season virtually always tastes fresher, is crisper, and just tastes better overall. Depending on the food item, it might even cost more and taste worse when it is out of season.

Joining an organic food cooperative or any other similarly-focused local food organization can be a boon to the budget friendliness of your organic food purchases. Some of the more obvious benefits of joining such an organization are increased knowledge about local deals/sales, reputable local suppliers, and even gathering tips on how to grow your own organic food items.

Last but not least, coupons are always an excellent method to try and stretch your dollars further. Organic foods have gone from being produced almost exclusively by small, local farmers to being produced by some of the largest and best-known food organizations in the world. These larger organizations are more able to afford discounting their food products, and this increase in the amount of coupons offered can make purchasing organic food significantly more affordable.

As always, there are links with more ideas

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