Posted in Uncategorized
I think it’s time that I finally admit it: I have a problem. For some women, it’s shoes, handbags, or jewelry. But for me, it’s all about food. Maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but we are in the midst of the apex of food season here in Portland and its surrounding areas. If you’ve been to a market lately (and you’re anything like me), you’ll be amazed and overwhelmed at everything our local farmers, ranchers, and food producers have to offer, and you may find yourself getting a little too excited. You can find everything from kale, berries, melons and tomatoes to hot and sweet peppers, apples, and even winter squash. Seriously…strawberries AND greens AND peppers AND pumpkins? How can it all be happening at once?!?
Must have all of them.
(I joke about my experience at local markets, but this type of unplanned spending can happen even if you can only make it to the store on limited occasions. The typical big-box grocery store can be very overwhelming and enticing.) Because I’m a bit excitable and impulsive when it comes to food purchases, it’s easy to overspend. Money that I shouldn’t really be spending seems to magically disappear from my bank account without my knowledge. It’s as if a couple of little Marxist one dollar bills decided to fly the coop, but they keep rallying their friends to join them in their exodus, so they’re leaving in armies now.
The moral of this little confessional is that when you don’t create a food budget, and when you shop for one meal or a few impulse items at a time, you lose track of your spending habits and you begin to feel like food is far too expensive. Luckily, there is help out there! Our friends at Food Hero know our pain (that’s me and you – fellow food lover), and they’ve created lots of user friendly tools to help us budget and spend appropriately. The best part about it is, we can still buy the healthful, seasonal, fresh foods that we so desire AND stay within our budgets. In fact, buying locally and seasonally is a great way to save money on food.
At this wonderful site, you can find tools to help you create a food budget, waste less food, transform your leftovers, and identify when your favorite produce is in season. While you’re there, I encourage you to browse around and see what other tips and tools Food Hero has to offer. It’s a great resource.
At My Street, we’ve got tomatoes, berries, zucchini, melons, peaches, pears, and corn (to name a few items), and we’d love to help you add these seasonal, affordable foods to your well-planned food budget. You can even check on me while you’re there and make sure that I didn’t go rogue and buy another pair of beautiful, shiny tomatoes that I didn’t need, since we all know I already have at least three more pairs at home…