Grocery Tips & Tidbits

One of my recent blogs caused quite a stir and I really didn’t mean to do that! The Wolff Pack is not poor and I’m sticking to that! I have heard from various people and sources that our ability to grocery shop within such a small budget is a bit of an anomaly compared to our peers in Denver and across the nation. I am in charge of grocery shopping for the Wolff Pack and it’s a responsibility I take great pride and pleasure in. However, I don’t think I do anything special so I am confused when people comment or think it’s anything out of the ordinary. I’m not entirely sure how I know how to grocery shop, but I blame it on my mother. She would take us with her to the store and I think I went pretty willingly. (Mom, if you’re reading this, just play along.) I know I got a good start by watching her grocery shop and I’ve also had the opportunity to put those lessons into practice over the last 4 years as I was responsible to feed myself every day. I think the best way to learn is to make all the mistakes for yourself. However, when you live on a $85 per month food budget, there isn’t much room for error. I’ve compiled some grocery guidelines, tips and practices that I follow, mostly for my fellow Dwellers across the U.S. If you (yes, YOU) have anymore to add to the list, please do so in the comments.

1. Read all the ads for the local grocery stores.
2. Make a list based on those ads.
3. Stick to that list!
4. Grocery shop regularly so that you know what an average, good and bad price is.
5. Comparison shop. The stores that include the “Price per ounce” right on the price tags are SO helpful. Use them!
6. Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. (See #4)
7. Shop around. Don’t depend on one grocery store for all your groceries. Read all the ads, go where the sales are and don’t be afraid to try new places.
8. Don’t pay more than $1 a pound for produce. (Yes, this means you have to buy in season. And if you live in Florida, I imagine you are stinkin’ lucky because you have fresh stuff all the time!)
9. Don’t pay more than $3 a pound for meat.
10. Don’t buy the first thing you see. Check similar items and KNOW that it’s a good deal, don’t just assume.
11. You can either have convenient or cheap, not both. Learn how to do the work and save yourself a lot of money.
12. Buy things that are processed as little as possible. Processed often equals convenience, but it almost always equals “not as good for you” and higher price. One of the few exceptions is frozen fruits and veggies and sometimes canned fruits and veggies. But it usually only applies to those items that are not in season.
13. Learn how to cook. (I cannot emphasize this enough.)
14. Cook meals based on sales.
15. Eat leftovers.
    
16. Stock up on good deals and use your freezer.
17. A little discount is worth it. Though “10 cents off” might not like seem like great savings, it will add up over time. Plus, it’s a state of mind. If you start down the path of “it’s only 50 cents more”, that can quickly add up to spending $10 more than you need to in one shopping trip.
18. Buying in bulk is not always cheaper. Due to sales, sometimes two half gallons of milk are actually cheaper than one gallon of milk. Use that price per ounce feature and figure it out.
19. Just because it’s cheap, doesn’t mean it’s good for you. (Ok, so this isn’t price related, but it is one of my personal grocery guidelines.)
20. Know what basics you need and stock up when they are on sale.
21. Use your freezer! (And then remember to pull stuff out of it. I am still learning that lesson. When I moved out of my last apartment, I found stuff in my freezer that was several years old and totally unidentifiable. Gross.)
22. Learn how to scavenge food. (This is much easier as a volunteer.) I’ve been known to ask, “What happens to the leftovers?” on many occasions and it usually means the answer is, “You’re welcome to them!” It also means that sometimes you inherit giant pans of cheese, refried beans and rice. This is where the freezer comes in handy.
23. Learn to use a crock pot! They make very easy work of cheaper but more time consuming food products. Yes, it’s a lot easier to open a can of black beans, but for the same price, you could have bought a whole pound of dry black beans. (One pound of dry beans equals about 3 cans of beans.) By using your crock pot, you can cook an entire pound of beans at one time while you are at work, have what you need ready for supper and freeze the rest. You can also take advantage of cheaper but tougher cuts of meat. Put it in the crock pot with a yummy sauce and, tada! Delicious.
24. Don’t waste food. Use it or lose it. So either make only the exact amount you need or learn to eat leftovers.
25. When living as a community, communicate food hopes, dreams, goals, preferences and availability. One thing we have had to learn as a community is to label all the leftovers that go in the fridge so we don’t have “mystery meats” floating around and to communicate what we actually have around or want around. Food tends to go bad if left in the back and forgotten about. Also, people don’t eat the blackberries if they don’t know we have them!
26. Only open one thing at a time. (Yes, I realize I’ve digressed from grocery shopping, but it sort of applies, right?) Having 2 bags of identical chips open at the same time means that one is likely to go stale. Just don’t do it. Finish what is opened first before opening a new one. Having 5 choices at all times is a first world privilege, not a basic right.
27. Buy off brand. It’s ok, I promise.
28. Buy local and in season when possible. You can find some pretty amazing deals (and delicious deals!) at your local farmers market, if you know what you’re looking for.
29. Research your local grocery stores. Back in Iowa, there was an Amish-run salvage grocery store affectionately known as “Bent & Dent”. I’m not sure how they did it, but they had the non-perishable items for sale that grocery stores could not sell. I could find regular items for 10% of retail price. Cliff bars for $1.29 each? Yeah right! Try 10/$1! We found a place in Denver that operates as a similar business. The prices aren’t quite as great, but they are still better than the regular store.
30. Use coupons. (You’ll note that this is the last one on the list. I’m not really a couponer. I tend to have better luck with sales and off brands. However, if I took more time, I’m sure coupons could save us even more money. Hmm, I’ll have to look into that.)

Yikes. I did NOT mean to create “Johanna’s Top 30 Grocery Tips and Tidbits”. But that’s what I think about EVERYTIME I go grocery shopping. If you are just learning how to shop for yourself, pick one or two tips and get good at those. When they become second nature, add one or two more. You’ll learn quickly and save even faster! Happy Shopping!

Fully Acclimated

Moving to Denver took some adjustment time. For the first week or so, it felt like was carrying around a 50lb. backpack all the time and was continually out of breath. (That did NOT help as we climbed our first 14er only 7 days after arriving at an altitude 10,000 feet above my usual 500 ft.) Even something as simple as climbing up the stairs caused me to pause to catch my breath. I mean, I know I hadn’t been running as regularly as I used to, but still, I wasn’t THAT out of shape, right? Back in Denver, life at 5,280 ft. was not the only adjustment I had to make. The air was much dryer than the notoriously humid Iowan Summers I had just come from. My lips were always chapped, my hands were in constant need of lotion and my nose was an entirely different issue. On the upside, my towels dried quickly, my curly hair stayed under 3 feet wide and I could hang my clothes up to dry in the morning and put them away that night.

Besides just a change in physical surroundings, I made some pretty drastic habitat changes as well. I went from living in a small, rural Iowa town in an apartment by myself to a BIG, urban city in Colorado with 4 housemates. I had to learn to take the bus instead of drive, grocery shop and cook for five instead of one and learn how to share my toys all over again. At work, I had to learn a new address and phone number, redefine what I meant when I said “we” and adapt into a whole new work culture. There were times amidst all of this that I never thought I’d adjust.

Fast forward two months to my first trip back to Iowa since moving west. Brad and I went to his parents house for Thanksgiving. (Please note that they live on the west side of Iowa which is not the same as “my Iowa” on the east side. It was great to be in Iowa, but it wasn’t “my Iowa”.) Being back in a place that used to be familiar highlighted how much I really had acclimated to Denver. I noticed it first in the little things (my towel was still wet in the evening after showering that morning and my hair took forever to dry!), but also in some of the bigger things. It seemed weird not to have my four housemates around and I hesitated to take Hawkeye on a walk outside in the dark. It was so bizarre on Thanksgiving morning at the Turkey Trot that everyone knew everyone else. Brad ran into old high school classmates and it seemed like Brad’s mom had a connection to everyone. I was so excited to see Iowa Hawkeye fans and black and gold everywhere, but then I remembered that it wasn’t abnormal for Iowans to cheer for Iowa.

It was so bizarre for me to notice the little things that were once a normal part of my life. And it wasn’t even that long ago that these things were normal to me! I still don’t feel like a Denveran, (Denverite? Denverese?) and I probably won’t until I get my pair of long, brown boots that every woman in Denver seems to own. But I’m not a small town girl anymore either. I feel a bit like a chameleon that is half one color and half the other but doesn’t blend in with anything anymore.

It is for exactly those reasons that I love to travel. No matter how much or how little you pack in your suitcase, and no matter how far and wide you roam, you will always bring with you the very core of who you are. The “extras” will get left behind in the airport security line or forgotten with your toothbrush at the hotel. But at some point, when everything else has changed, you will find the very core of who you are has still traveled with you. I love discovering new cultures, tastes, experiences and memories but the discoveries that I value the most have been at my very core the whole time.

Cars

I used to have a car. He was wonderful. His name was Borris and he was a double yellow, 2002 Volkswagen New Beetle and he was mine. I've always loved Beetles. Always. :) I did not bring Borris to Denver for several reasons:
1. I couldn't afford insurance and gas on my current budget.
2. I couldn't take all of my housemates in my car (it only fit 4 and there are 5 of us)
**and the most traumatic and realistic reason**
3. One week before moving to Denver, my car was caught in a hail storm and suffered 40 different hail dings, 2 cracks in the windshield, a broken headlight and a cracked taillight. It was a very sad day. On the upside, insurance paid for my car and relieved me of the worry of what to do with Borris while I was in Denver.

One thing I still struggle to grasp is the fact that I am no longer a car owner. Though I don't know the specific stats, I imagine a great majority of American's do own a car and I am no longer among that unidentified stat. *sigh*

Instead of driving, I can walk, ride my bike or take the bus. It's a lot cheaper, healthier (in 2 out of 3 options) and better for the environment. I mostly use the bus for transportation around the city. The bus is effective but not efficient. It has a different and more sparse schedule on the weekend than the week day, subject to the weather and not always dependable. If your first bus is late, even by 2 minutes, it can cause you to miss your transfer bus. Then you have to wait for the next one to come and in the end, you may be 15 minutes or more late to your intended goal. Going anywhere in the city requires planning ahead, scheduling and usually about and hour. I'm not going to lie, sometimes on weekends the thought of riding the bus to something (even something super cool) is too much and I choose just not to go. In order to get to work by 8:30, I usually catch the 7:20 bus. In order to make it it to my 6:15 spin class, I have to be sure to be on the 5:12 bus. It takes a while to get anywhere on the bus

Besides just being an inconvenience, depending on the bus can be bad on the work life as well. Two of my housemates have had the misfortune of sleeping past their alarm. Trust me, I am not judging. This could have very well been a story about me. The first one to oversleep fortunately has her own car and was able to drive to work and arrive in time. The other housemate that overslept the day after we received our community vehicle. Because of the good timing of this unfortunate incident, he was able to drive to work and arrive on time. But the question needs to be asked ... "What if we didn't have a vehicle?" Missing the bus in these circumstances could cost a person hourly wages, a bad review or even the job.

Having a car is a luxury in very basic ways. It allows us to go to two different grocery stores to find cheaper prices and better selection. It allows us to drive to the mountains for the day to "get out of town". It allows us to travel at our own time, on our own schedule and our with our own agenda. I do not miss paying for gas or insurance, but I do miss the independence and freedom.

We're not poor

As a community, we receive $425 per month for food. That means $85 per person per month or about $2.80 per day. We have combined our resources and shop together, cook together and eat together. The standard for food stamps is about $134 per person per month, or $4.50 per day. We get 62% of what we would if we were on food stamps. Our $85 per month has to cover food, basic house needs (cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc).

But we are not poor.

We each get a $100 stipend per month. (It's $94.35 after "they" take out "stuff".) That is all the spending money we receive. That has to cover any social expenses, personal hygiene and any personal bills.

But we are not poor.

Only one of us has a vehicle. We must rely on the bus, our bikes or our feet for transportation about the city. We do get a bus pass every month, but sometimes a trip that should take 45 minutes on the bus takes almost 2 hours. And there's nothing you can do about it.

But we are not poor.

We have $180 extra in our food account after 2 months. I have enough money in my personal account to enjoy spin and yoga classes at a local gym. Financially speaking, most of all, we don't have to pay bills. The $100 we get each month is ALL fun money. Our rent, utilities, cable AND internet is all covered for us. Any maintenance issues that come up in our duplex are passed on to other people to fix and pay for. We have health insurance and steady jobs. We are pretty well protected from emergencies and unexpected financial burdens. We are not poor.

Financial obligations aside, we have each other. There are 5 other people available to help with just a phone call. We not only have food to eat, but we have people to eat with. Beyond our own little Wolff Den, we each have family and friends that support us and worry about us "living in the big city". We have church families here in Denver and back home. We have a puppy to snuggle with. We are not poor. We rich with blessings and an abundance of love.

A Day at DenUM

As previously posted, I am the Volunteer Manager at DenUM. However, the last time I reported, I still didn't know what that meant. For the time being, I have more things figured out. (Don't mistake that for "knowing what's going on".) I spend about half of my time in my office working in my office, on volunteer "stuff" or with volunteers. The other half of my time is spent in Outreach. At DenUM, Outreach refers to the first floor where our clients come for food bags. There are three positions that make up Outreach and ALL, (I mean all) the staff at DenUM share these positions. If you are on Back Up, it means you are the first one called if things get too busy in Outreach. Intake is the person that takes each client to the intake station, asks a bunch of questions in order to update our records and answer any questions the client may have. The other position, MOD, or Manager Of the Day, sits at the front desk, greets all clients and screens for eligibility. My personal favorite position is MOD. I can't quite place it, but I enjoy being the one to greet people, being the front line and sitting at the desk! I don't enjoy saying no and turning clients away because they have either come too early (you have to wait 30 days between each food bag) or because they don't have the correct piece of mail (it must have name, address and a date less than 45 days old. It's harder than you might think!). I also don't enjoy the occasional "cursing out" that comes with telling clients 'no'. After my first, err, 'experience', I told my supervisor and she said, "Welcome to DenUM". It really is a part of life at DenUM and all staff have to learn not to take it personally because we are working with people that are carrying some heavy burdens. Most likely, if they need to come to a food bank, there are some things in their life that aren't going well. It's no surprise that some clients start with a predisposition towards frustration and anger. Anyway, I digress.

The "flow" of DenUM is irregular and unpredictable at best. We can predict our "busy-factor"based on some things, but none are reliable. Usually, when the weather is bad, we have fewer clients. Today we got 6+ inches of snow and had a whopping 11 clients all morning. After the bad weather has passed, we usually have a spike in the number of clients. Last week we were averaging almost 100 a day. There is a small ebb and flow based on food stamps and whether or not clients are receiving them or have already run out for the month. Apparently it is always slow when Tammy, the executive director, is the MOD. However, I'm almost convinced that it is extra busy when I am on intake.

Life is rarely the same from one day to the next at DenUM and it is impossible to predict what any given day will look like. But I like it. :)