How it all started

I used to be a couponer. Having just gotten married and living on a graduate student salary, I found it critical that we reduce our grocery budget as much as possible. I would come home with a trunk full of groceries for just dollars. I had a friend who liked to coupon with me but was more particular about what she purchased for her family's health. I said that I just had trouble spending money that I didn't have to. She kindly pointed out that it was my health that I was paying the price for. That got me started thinking but I wasn't ready to take the plunge. I had the curiosity but didn't know how to get started. Once you make one change, there is always something else and I thought it would lead to such a financial burden.

It turned out I was helping my family financially but realized it was not worth the health risk in the long run. My job is to care for my family and so I was going to find a way to provide for my family in a healthy and frugal way. While some things did cost more, I found that if I focused on one thing at a time and determined what was most important it was feasible and didn't break our budget.

So what was the turning point? I kind of stepped into all this without realizing it. I saw a book recommendation on one of my blogs for Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto. The title sounded intriguing but I had no idea what the book was about. The title gives this book away because he is defending food. The thing that I didn't realize was how much of the things that we were consuming were not really food. Once I became aware of what we were really eating I couldn't help but change our ways.

A little disclaimer: I hesitate to recommend this book because the author is an evolutionist. I do not support the views of this author but if you are looking for information this book is well written, research paper style, and provides a lot of good information that makes you think. While he thinks that all of his findings support his evolutionist theory and it's a little tough to read through, it is amazing to see how God gave us everything we needed through the food He provided for us naturally.