By PETER S. FERRARA
Columnist
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As a writer I am fascinated by words. The invention of language was perhaps man's greatest achievement. Think of what life would be like without it. Can you even imagine a world without words? We've gone from a primitive past before language to a present with more words in the English language than you can shake a stick (or a spear) at. Shakespeare's love of the language was ironically displayed in "Hamlet." "What do you read, my lord?" Polonius asks. Hamlet's reply? "Words, words, words."
Speaking of words, what's the difference between "thrifty," "frugal," "stingy," and "cheap" (never mind about "parsimonious")? Thrifty seems to be about thriving by careful use of resources. A word in the dictionary's definition is "prosperous," so "thrifty" isn't just about pinching pennies but also acquiring quite a few of them.
Frugal is used to describe someone who is sparing in their use of resources. I remember an early cooking show on PBS called "The Frugal Gourmet." The chef-- a Methodist chaplain named Jeff Smith-- made evidently delicious meals out of simple and inexpensive ingredients. The man was very mellow and radiated kindness and I watched whenever I could. His syndicated show ran from 1983 to 1997. He died in 2004. He had a wonderful attitude and ended every show with the sublime sign-off phrase: "I bid you peace."
Stingy implies a marked lack of generosity. Ebenezer Scrooge was the epitome of stingy. Jack Benny parodied the idea of stinginess to great comedic effect.
Cheap may mean inexpensive or low in cost. But it also can apply to people who won't spend the money for what they need or who behave in a low, crude, or immoral way. I have a book full of pictures of supporting actors and actresses called "Who Is That?" One section of it is full of women who played hookers, jezebels, or floozies in movies and on TV. That section is called: "Isn't She Cheap" and contains information on some of my favorite old-time actresses like Iris Adrian, Madeline Carroll, and Glenda Farrell.
Now in case you're wondering what all this verbiage about words has to do with shopping at the supermarket, I want to make clear that choosing food wisely and with an eye towards price isn't being cheap; frugal, or stingy-- it's being smart. So whenever I go to Kroger's or Save-A-Lot I have a simple plan. I take a short list of necessities-- eggs, milk, butter, and the like-- and let the supermarket decide the rest for me.
If I had been thinking of cooking one thing but find another which could substitute for it at a lower price, then that's what I buy. I check on the "Oops, We Baked Too Much" rack before buying bread at full retail. I look for a "Sale" or "Manager's Special" tag on items I intend to cook right away. Don't be afraid to buy something near its "sell thru" date-- the date by which the store has to sell it or throw it out. Those items will have been drastically reduced in price. Just make sure to cook and eat them right away.
Compare store brand products to national brands. They often taste the same but are cheaper because less has been spent to advertise and promote them than their higher-priced national brand counterparts.
Use coupons and store discount club tags wherever you can. They really will save you a lot of money over the long haul. But don't buy something just because you have a coupon for it unless it's a product you would have bought anyway.
Bring your own bags to the market and keep re-using them. Some stores will actually take a bit off your total bill if you do, and you'll be doing the environment a favor at the same time. Besides, if you travel to foreign countries don't be surprised if the checkout person asks you where you bags are, because many places won't supply them.
Don't buy bottled water. It's a mega-ripoff and our landfills are teeming with empty plastic bottles that won't decompose. Why purified tap water should cost more than gasoline is a testament to how little we sometimes think about what we're paying for. Use a Britta filter instead.
Above all, avoid all pre-made, pre-packaged "meals." They tend to be very costly, have little nutritional value, and frankly just don't taste near as good as what you can make from scratch. I see folks on food stamps with carriages full of frozen pizza, hamburgers, entrees, and appetizers that are anything but appetizing. Food shouldn't just be "fuel." It should reflect something about the person who prepared it. If we are what we eat and all we eat is junk-- what are we? Junkies? So slow down and take the time to prepare a meal from natural ingredients. Get out your grandma's file of recipes and use it. She knew what she was doing.
Pay special attention to what's in the food you buy. Read the nutrition labels and lists of ingredients. Watch out for high sodium (salt) contents, especially in prepared soups, gravies, and assorted canned and frozen goods. Salt makes your body retain water, and that in turn will raise your blood pressure.
Sugar is another thing to watch out for, Sometimes it is disguised as "high fructose corn syrup," which is a particularly nasty thing to be putting into your body. If you are over ten years old, stop eating like a little kid. "Fruit Loops," "Frosty-O's," "Cap'n Crunch" and the like are just candy disguised as breakfast cereal. Avoiding all that junk will also help you avoid getting diabetes. Ditto on passing up on fried foods as much as you can. Biscuits and gravy, too.
Our grandparents didn't have access to all the junk we have. That's why they were basically healthier, stronger, and slimmer than we are today. I've said it before but it bears repeating: we can change what tastes good to us by eating smarter, drinking more (unbottled) water, exercising, and preparing our meals from scratch.
If we only have this one life to live, doesn't it make sense to live it as healthfully as we can? Eating more sensibly with the family around a dinner table and taking the time to talk to each other as we eat will make us all feel better. It's good for family values, too. So let the supermarket help you decide what to eat, and as Jeff Smith so eloquently put it at the end of "The Frugal Gourmet": I bid you peace. Or as Julia Child might add: "Bon appetit!"
