Years ago when I started switching my family from a more conventional diet to whole foods, people often asked me how I could possibly afford to eat that way with a family. They often said that they would love to do the same, but it just wasn’t possible for them.
To give you a little background, I support a family of four. I am married, have two children, two dogs, two guinea pigs, two new baby goats, a flock of chickens and an ornery chameleon. My husband is a heavy equipment mechanic, something he loves to do but is a far cry from millionaire wages. I have spent the last year working on very little pay to get my grocery store up and open. Prior to Kickshaws, I supported my family with a home-based bakery specializing in custom sculpted cakes. I have martial debt from my previous marriage and my husband has child support for his children from a previous marriage. We own our home and the mortgage payment that goes with it. We do not have a lot of money to throw around and cut corners everywhere we can to make ends meet.
A little over a year ago things tightened up considerably and my husband and I sat down to talk about how to manage our finances. One of the first things I had mentioned was trying to purchase more conventional (i.e. cheaper) foods to reduce food cost. My husband’s immediate reply was a resounding “no.” I suffer from a few autoimmune conditions that resulted in what we thought was permanent disability. I was bed ridden for over two years, unemployed and barely able to care for my kids. Then I took our nutrition into my own hands and made a change that has affected us ever since then. So my husband said that we would not change how we eat under any circumstance.
That left me with a few options. I had to either rob a bank, or figure out how to reduce other costs to be able to feed my family the foods that were healing them and me. I came up with a number of things that eliminated hundreds of dollars from our monthly budget and that money was left to feed my family and pay other bills.
At Kickshaws, we hope to help our community by offering tips and tricks to hack your own lifestyle to improve your health and well-being without having to remortgage your home. Living naturally does not necessarily have to mean living outside of your budget. With this series The Cost of Living Naturally, we hope to help you understand the benefits of living a natural life as well as how to be able to do so affordably.
Next: The Cost of Living Naturally: The Benefits
Editor’s Note: You can “like” Kickshaws Downtown Market on Facebook and follow them on Twitter (@kickshawsfxbg)
Thank you for reading. Follow Fredericksburg.Today on Facebook and Twitter, too.
