I run a personal finance meetup.com group with women/readers from varying socio-economic backgrounds and I have yet to come across that slant based on my writing. Your perception is based on your experience and certainly, I wont apologize for being able to purchase organic food.

I think the very fact that I purchase organic food is something that you dislike or think is “rich”, it isnt. Others can do it but it takes proper budgeting because as you know it’s not at cheap.

I found this a very interesting blog post, not only did the comments get me thinking about Gingers blog, but about blog layouts in general. I found having to articulate what I thought about a blog very educational.

Also reading everyones comments was a real eye opener, there are a lot of clever people out there.

Any chance of doing something like this again with other sites? Even without the prize I think it would be interesting and fun. Though maybe critiquing other blogs. . would be a blog in itself.

We are not a classless society, and women from the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum face classism regularly in their lives and careers. They will tend to automatically close off when they perceive advice coming from someone with no understanding of their lives. So, while my advice might have been perceived as harsh, I was simply trying to express the views that most of the women in my family and community would express.

I apologize if I expressed myself too harshly. I tend to be a bit too blunt for my own good sometimes.

I think if you believe in organic food – stick with it. I’m no where near rich – a poor student – but I’ve just made up my mind to go organic. I’ve also a planted a big vegie garden to save money. Also I want to start buying fair trade coffee (I saw this documentary on this topic which made me aware of the plight of the coffee growers). I think to myself how may times we buy something without thinking where it comes from.

I think a lot of students waste so much money on alcohol and then say they can’t afford organic food. In fact there are a lot of farmers markets where you can buy organic fruit and veg at reasonable prices.

So good on you for standing up for what you believe in. Maybe you could influence some people to change their eating habits too…

I buy organic selectively, mostly with my daughter in mind. It’s true that food in general is crazy expensive these days, so organic can really make a dent in a food budget. I figure I sort of balance it out by buying very little processed or packaged food and trying to buy what’s in season locally.

Good luck with your blog remodel!

It’s great that you were able to receive such constructive criticism and suggestions for your blog. And that you are willing to take those into account and apply them shows that you truly are interested in making your blog a better place for your readers.

It seems like those of us who blog are constantly tweaking, re-tweaking, designing, re-designing, and constantly changing things on nearly a daily basis to try and make our blogs better. I’m really glad you have found some useful ways to fix your site!

I didn’t get a chance to enter the review contest, but I just wanted to note that I am glad you are changing the color scheme (rose/magenta/pinkish is a tough sell). I also felt your sidebar was overly crowded. I’m not sure if it just needs more spaces between things (and if I’m neurotic about that and it is just a me thing), but I felt rather claustrophobic upon first visiting your website.

The content is good though. I think your blog is really unique, especially considering most blogs of this caliber are geared towards moms or housewives.

Good luck to you!