Do Good; Eat Well

The Pandemic has me trying all sorts of things I never thought I would try.

I'm doing some online shopping, although I have been steering clear of the big A conglomerate website portal-of-all-things-want-inspired, and I go directly to the manufacturer. 

I found some great syrups to go with our Soda Stream from a company in Michigan.  While they aren't "local", they are definitely a better choice (in my opinion) than supporting the Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola Corporations, and I can order my syrups with cane sugar rather than HFCS.  So, there's a bonus.  We don't drink a lot of sugary soft drinks, but using the syrups and our own carbonated water has saved us a lot of cash over purchasing from one of the cola companies.  Plus, we can reduce the amount of syrup, which means we use less syrup (which saves money), and we use less syrup (which means we consume less sugar).  Win/win!

I also just bought soap from Dr. Bonner's.  Ordinarily, I would just buy it at the grocery store, but my local grocery store hasn't had the almond scented bars in a very long time.  The cost was pretty much what I would have paid at the grocery store.  There was no savings ... except that we will have all of that soap in the scent that we want.  Dr. Bonner's bar soap is an all-in-one, which means that Deus Ex Machina and I use it both on our bodies and for our hair.  So, while I spend $4.79 for one bar of soap, I am only buying ONE BAR OF SOAP, and not soap AND shampoo.  So ... savings, right?

I know my above online shopping adventures don't sound like I'm saving any money, but here's the deal, as every prepper knows, that having a store of supplies on hand, IS cost savings, not necessarily, because we got some smoking hot deal when we bought it, but because every visit to the store costs more money than one intended.  No matter how disciplined one is and how well one plans and how careful one is to adhere to one's list, there will always be an impulse buy.  There is also the time spent driving to and fro, and the cost of the gasoline to get to the store.  If I don't go to the store, I don't spend that extra cash.  It's that simple.  

All that aside, the current reality, for me, is that I simply don't want to go to the grocery store any more often than I absolutely have to, and while I do love a bargain, what's more important to me, right now, is not having to mask-up and endure the palpable tension and angst that has become too much a part of today's shopping experience.  The anxiety and fear hang in the air like a fog ... and I swear I can see it.  

Or, it may just be my glasses fogging up, because of the mask.  

Either way, I don't enjoy going to store.

A trusted friend recommended Misfits Market, which is a service that delivers "rescued" organic produce for a per-box fee.  Basically, they find produce items that are not going to be sold in the store for whatever reason.  Sometimes it's too small or too big, or just misshapen, i.e. "ugly."  Sometimes it's at that age when the store wouldn't be able to sell it.  It's still edible, but not as "fresh" as Hannaford is going to require, given that it might spend a week on Hannaford's shelf.  

I have the option of how often I receive a box, how much produce (by weight) is in my box, and what day of the week my produce is delivered.  I am now also able to customize my box and choose produce that I know my family is more likely to use. 

The big question, for Deus Ex Machina, was, does it save us money.  After my last delivery, I made a list of everything that I had received.  When I went to the grocery store, I compared prices.  

We did not save money.   That is, the cost of my box was not less-than what I would have paid, if I had just purchased those items at the grocery store.   But we didn't spend more money either.  The prices were actually comparable.   

Breaking even is not better than saving money, but when one considers all of it, I think we actually did make out ahead of the game.  The convenience of having it delivered to my door, the unintended savings from not shopping as frequently, the savings in gas and time from not going to the grocery store, all mean that there is some passive savings aspect to the experience.

And, we're eating food that might have been thrown away - organic food.  So, that part feels kind great, too.

If  you're looking for some smoking hot savings, and you're accustomed to buying the cheapest whatever it is at the grocery store, Misfits Market is not for you.  

But if you ordinarily buy: local, in season, and organic - in that order - then, you will enjoy what they are offering.  

I started getting boxes in June of this year.  I canceled my subscription after a month, because we wanted to put our cash toward local produce.  I started back up last month.  I think we'll keep it for a while.  

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If you'd like to try it out, you can use this code to get a discount on your first box:  COOKWME-KP2HUH.  

In the interest of full disclosure, if you use the code, I will get a discount on my next box.