The Cheap Way To Get Your Daily Dose

I am still in an ongoing debate with myself about the better route: shop at Stop & Shop or buy subs and other fast food for every meal. Clearly, the first option is healthier, but when I spend near $100 every week I wonder whether or not I am actually saving money. I may have figured out one way to keep eating healthy while exploring Boston and saving money all at the same time.

Farmer's Market (pictures a few entries back) has just about every fruit and vegetable at prices that are almost never even one-third of the price of the same item at a grocery store. I took a few pictures of my winnings when I got home from the market a few Sunday's back. The results were astounding. I got the following items for the grand total of $20.50: a triangle of Brie Francais ($3, typically $5-7), another round of a cheese ($3, typically $5 plus), two boxes of strawberries ($1 each), two boxes of blueberries ($1.50 each), a box of blackberries ($1.50), two mangos ($.50 each), three bins of tomatoes (three for $5), one watermelon ($1), one bag of purple grapes ($1). That is 14 fruit and vegetable items for $20.50. This same collection of food would likely run you near $50 in a grocery store.

If you are lucky, certain vendors are even kind enough to run out back to get you the most ripe or most fresh items they have. This was the case with the watermelon. I do have one warning for those happy to take advantage of the prices, like myself. One dollar items quickly add up and before you know, you have over ten bags of fruits and vegetables that you may only have a week or less to consume. It's a daunting task, one I was not successful with, and there aren't all that many feelings worse than throwing out food, nonetheless fruits and vegetables so rare in college student's diet. Still, the market is undoubtedly the best one (or near one) dollar store in or around Boston.

A bonus for this entry. In my first appearence in the food blog, I hoist up the $1 melon below.