December 9, 2008 8:48 AM
Save money: join a food co-op - or form your own
Do you have a food co-op - also known as a grocery buying club - where you live? If you have, please share your experience here.
If so, you can cut your food costs by a third. It is well worth the time and effort to find one and participate - or start one where you live.
In western Loudoun/Clarke County there are four groups that I know of - and probably more. They all use the same warehouse and and share the same products list. Each group places orders once a month and the truck rolls from town to town, dropping pallets of food which is then divided. The delivery cost is divided among the participants.
December's a busy month, I know - but why not put this on your to-do list for January? You can save your family lots of money and be able to afford things like Haagen-Dazs ice cream at lower prices than generic store brands.
Start your research here:
And if someone would like to write a guest blog on how to start a food co-op, I'd be glad to publish it.
Posted in Downsizing, Practical Info | Permalink
Comments
I live in Northern Virginia and for the past year, I have participated in the SHARE Food Network. It is open to anyone, of any income level. For $19 and two hours of community service, you can buy a package of food usually worth about $45. The community service can be just about anything, church, school, political, helping out with SHARE, etc. I just usually help out at the host site on distribution day. You can buy as many packages to suit your needs. (You only need two hours of volunteer service total, no matter how many packages you buy.) They also have monthly specials you can buy such as turkeys at Thanksgiving, hams at Christmas and Easter, etc. This has really saved us money this year and has been a great blessing to our family. My mom also joined and it has been great for her family, as well.
For host sites around the DC/VA/MD area:
http://www.sharedc.org/documents/site%20listings/10_8%20site%20listing.pdf
For the December menu:
http://www.sharedc.org/promotions/Thanks_Christmas/DecemberHoliday.htm
For the main SHARE site for the DC area:
http://www.sharedc.org/
They do have SHARE in other parts of the country. Perhaps if you call the DC SHARE, they could give you information about your area. 301.864.3115
Posted by: Elissa | December 10, 2008 9:07 AM
