The Time, Energy and Objectives of Food Shopping

A lot of my time, energy and much money goes into buying groceries (or as my NY roommate would say "food shopping") and keeping the house stocked. I have several objectives about all this:

• Buy local when possible. For me, this means the Farmer's Market, a locally owned grocery store and a co-op.
  
• Organic - I have a list of fruits and vegetables I feel it's important to buy organic. Also we try to consume organic meats and milk.
• Save money - as stated above, we spend a large amount of our income on food and staples.

It's no way possible to fulfill these goals 100%. At times if I do one, it goes against another. I've found a need to list priorities and compromise:

• I look at buying locally as a guilty pleasure. For instance it is time consuming to go to the Farmer's Market on Saturday. The trek is about 24 miles round trip which not only takes up time but gas. Still I really enjoy it. The same goes with shopping the locally owned stores.
• Organic -a continued priority though I try to look for specials
  
• Saving money - I do go to the big, bad Costco. I've realized many of their items are not cheaper but some things I get on a regular basis are much less. I researched prices, I go with blinders on, only sticking to my list. (Well I like to lust at the electronics.) Regular grocery store - there is no way to avoid it. Now I use coupons - I haven't had much success in the past. I've started getting more savvy about them. I give some credit to Mel. I know now there are times to use coupons, times not to use them, various places to find coupons, and I try to coordinate savings with the store specials. I'm sure some people practically make coupons a full time job. I limit myself to 1 grocery store and 1 drugstore.

If money was no object, I'd purchase as much as possible locally and at Earthfare. (I wish we had a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's.) Before I know it, the kids will be gone and my shopping habits will change. For now this is my plan.