What's my bottom line?

Copyright 401(k) 2012 Creative Commons

As part of my new effort to be much thriftier I went through our weekly shop to look for cheaper products and alternatives to expensive items.

But this got me thinking.

Could I in all conscience always put price first or did I have a bottom line on some items that made other concerns more important?

Could I buy milk at a price that doesn't cover the farmer's production costs?  Could I buy coffee at a price that doesn't give the growers enough money to care for and educate their children? Could I buy nappies - however much cheaper - that clog up and pollute landfill sites? Could I buy cheap beef that might possibly be horse meat?


And my bottom line is I can't.  I will have to save money elsewhere as the following - I've decided - are non-negotiable in our weekly shopping basket ...

1. Meat from local family butchers
2. Fair trade bananas
3. Fair trade chocolate
4. Fair trade coffee and tea
5. Fair trade sugar
6. Bio-degradable nappies - I love these from Nature Care
7. Recycled loo paper
8. Milk, yoghurt and cheese that pays the farmers more than production price - in the UK Yeo Valley is one of the most reliable fair price distributors
9. Free range eggs
10. Non-chlorine bleach or bleach alternative - try Ecos or Ecover
11. Organic or local known growers of fruit and veg where you eat the skin e.g. apples, celery, pepper, peaches, strawberries, nectarines, grapes, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries, green beans

What about you? What's your bottom line? Do come and tell me on Twitter or Facebook.

You can get more information on fair trade from Fair Trade USA and the Fair Trade Foundation in the UK.  If you're looking for more thrift ideas check out my thrift board on Pinterest ...



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