shopping at a co-op on a budget

This is the fifth post in our Co-op on a Budget series, which explores the different ways that we can shop co-op effectively and affordably. Also check out posts on shopping bulk, the Wedge Co-op vs. Cub Foods, Eastside Food Co-op vs.

This is the second post in our Co-op on a Budget series, which explores the different ways that we can shop co-op effectively and affordably. Also check out the first post, on shopping bulk.

About three years ago our young family went through a financial crunch, which I’m sure most Americans shared. My employer was on a two-year wage freeze and hiring-freeze. Rumors of layoffs were the smaller waves of a larger fear that the company might fail altogether. As a relatively new employee, I was confident that layoffs would affect my position. My wife, pregnant with our second child, had recently quit her job to stay home with our 3-year-old daughter and the expected baby, so my income was solely driving our household, and, to be honest, we were scared shitless.

When I discovered the "What-If" Food Challenge on the Wedge Co-op's website, I had to learn more. I love the idea of testing ourselves and learning by doing. By the time I even found it, there was only one more post left so there was plenty of reading to do. I read through each post, which painstakingly documents Elizabeth Archerd's daily discoveries while living on a tight food budget.