Binary Blonde

So what!? For some reason, I feel like we are judged because we shop at Whole Foods. At least two couples I know of gives a little “heh heh”-type chuckle when the subject comes up. I have to admit, it makes me feel defensive.

I have no idea how much other people spend on their weekly groceries, or what other peoples budget is for food, but our food budget is one of the largest portions of what we spend money on.

Why? Because Kevin and I hardly spend on anything else. We don’t pay for cable. We don’t have Netflix (or any other monthly services except cell phone service). We rarely eat out (and when we do, we more than likely use a coupon). Kevin and I, on average, go out to see a movie every other month (separately still, until we are comfortable leaving Binary Boy with a sitter). We don’t buy fancy clothing or shoes – we both shop at Old Navy and Kohl’s (sales and coupons, of course), and occasionally I’ll find something at Costco. Hell, I’ve been wearing the same pair of Converse for over 4 years now and I still love them.

Sure, we’ve been buying some new furniture to furnish our used-to-be-bare home. Guess what, though? Mostly ALL of it has been on deep discount at World Market and probably bought in conjunction with a coupon! We patiently wait for sales… weeks, months even… and then grab what we want when it’s in our budget. We aren’t people who need to feel that instant gratification, clearly.

So, what do we spend a large chunk of our weekly budget on? Good, wholesome, healthy, safe food. Organic fruits and veggies. Sustainable meat and seafood. I have a wheat sensitivity, so I need to buy some of the gluten free items that can only be found at Whole Foods (and sadly, I think Binary Boy has inherited some of my food sensitivities, so we’ve been shopping for some of the gluten-free kids food, too).

Also, we shop their sales. When something is on sale, we buy it in bulk. We buy certain often-used items with their case discount (12 items = 10% off). We use the coupons they offer in store every month – yup, they put out their own coupon book! We buy their store brand, 365 Everyday Value, A LOT.

We don’t exclusively shop at Whole Foods, either. I know it’s not the be-all, end-all for grocery stores (but, we really, really love it there). We buy certain items at Costco and some things at H.E.B. (a local grocery store).

So, really? What is the deal with people judging us on where we shop? What’s with the judgment in general? What does that help or offer a friendship? I’ll tell you. Absolutely nothing.

Note: Not sure if I need to mention this, but just to cover my ass: Absolutely none of this post was sponsored by anyone and I got absolutely nothing to post any brand names. I added links because I felt like it, and as you can see, some brands I got lazy with and didn’t link.