Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

This is an update about how my first week working with my SMART goal went. To remind you, my SMART goal is:

I will buy organic products to equal at least 50% of my total bill when grocery shopping 1 time per week (Sunday) for the next 10 weeks. 

For the first week, I almost exactly met my goal. Out of the $34.91 I spent, $17.54 was spent on organic foods. When calculated, it came out to be 50.24% of my spending.

Successes

Overall, I was pretty successful this week. I did this by making sure I had a lot of time to shop. By doing this, I was able to think about what I wanted to buy organically. I was also able to examine the food I was buying and look into the ingredients. I compared several foods in prices in regards to non-organic and organic. This helped me decide what was more important: my bank account or my health.

Challenges

Sometimes it was really hard to want to buy organic as it is typically considerably more expensive. This wasn't an easy thing to do on a tight budget. To battle this, I cut things out from my list that I didn't necessarily need so that I would be able to spend a little more on food that was better for my body. I put the priority items that are the most nutritious at the top of my list so that when I get to the bottom and can see how full my cart already is and how much money I have already racked up, I am less likely to splurge on junk food.

Feelings

I had different emotions between when I was shopping and when I got home. While I was shopping, I can honestly say that I felt a little frustrated with the prices of organic food. I don't understand we should have to pay more for something that is better for our bodies. To deal with this, I thought positively and thought about how much I am helping the earth all together as well as myself.

What I Learned

This week, I learned that this may be more of a challenge than I had previously thought. I don't have a lot of money to spend on groceries and I try to make a dollar stretch as much as possible. Eating organically isn't exactly the best way to do this. Even though this is true, I still plan to stick to the plan for at least another week because I know it is much healthier for me and everyone else in the long run.

Next Week

I think I am going to try a different grocery store in hopes that some of the prices will be a little lower. I also plan to look in the weekly adds to see if there are any deals.

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