Three simple ideas: Eat local and seasonal
I have a few more simple ideas to share with you to help with getting started with simple living. As many of us have discovered, simple living isn't simple, certainly when you're getting started, there are lots of new skills to learn and its important to find a routine that works. I've already shared simple ideas for growing your own food, for saving money on groceries, and cooking from scratch. If you do want to cook from scratch, the cheapest option is to supplement what you can't grow yourself with local and seasonal produce.
Simple: buy bulk meat directly from a farmer
I can't offer much advice with this one, as we kill our own animals for meat. You will have to look in the paper or online to find a local farmer that sells bulk amounts. And then you will need a large freezer! A side of beef is around 150 kg (depending on the animal of course) and a lamb is only around 20 kg. If you have the space for it, this is the cheapest way to buy meat, and you will end up with some interesting and unusual cuts so use as well. For tips on packing the meat see my post about homekill meat.
Simpler: buy real free-range eggs from a farmer
Again, we grow our own, but if you look around you can probably find someone at your work or in your local area who keeps chickens and has excess eggs. They will usually be cheaper than eggs from the supermarket, and taste better too.
Simplest: go to a farmer's market and buy lots of things!
We visit our local farmer's market once a month, but you might be lucky to have access to one that's more frequent. We usually stock up on bananas and apples direct from farmers. Throughout the year we have access to citrus, pineapples, potatoes, strawberries, mangos, a huge ranges of vegetables, as well as meat (lately a guy with goat meat has been coming, which is something different for us!). This is wonderful because our local supermarket does not stock good quality fruit and vegetables, so we buy enough to last the month. Just remember to ask stall-holders if they are local and if they grew their produce themselves, some people buy from the wholesalers and bring up a load of all sorts of things, so you're not really getting it any fresher than the supermarket (but sometimes its cheaper).
What do you think? Do you buy local and in-season produce? Where do you get it?
Simple: buy bulk meat directly from a farmer
I can't offer much advice with this one, as we kill our own animals for meat. You will have to look in the paper or online to find a local farmer that sells bulk amounts. And then you will need a large freezer! A side of beef is around 150 kg (depending on the animal of course) and a lamb is only around 20 kg. If you have the space for it, this is the cheapest way to buy meat, and you will end up with some interesting and unusual cuts so use as well. For tips on packing the meat see my post about homekill meat.
Simpler: buy real free-range eggs from a farmer
Again, we grow our own, but if you look around you can probably find someone at your work or in your local area who keeps chickens and has excess eggs. They will usually be cheaper than eggs from the supermarket, and taste better too.
Simplest: go to a farmer's market and buy lots of things!
We visit our local farmer's market once a month, but you might be lucky to have access to one that's more frequent. We usually stock up on bananas and apples direct from farmers. Throughout the year we have access to citrus, pineapples, potatoes, strawberries, mangos, a huge ranges of vegetables, as well as meat (lately a guy with goat meat has been coming, which is something different for us!). This is wonderful because our local supermarket does not stock good quality fruit and vegetables, so we buy enough to last the month. Just remember to ask stall-holders if they are local and if they grew their produce themselves, some people buy from the wholesalers and bring up a load of all sorts of things, so you're not really getting it any fresher than the supermarket (but sometimes its cheaper).
What do you think? Do you buy local and in-season produce? Where do you get it?
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