Soften with NaCl and Skip the Ketchup
Use standard salt for softening and omit 1 Tbsp of ketchup from your french fries, or skip the fries altogether and avoid 3 times the sodium you will get in your drinking water.
About 8 milligrams/liter of sodium is added to the water for each grain/gallon of hardness removed by the softener.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/AN00317
If you have water at 20 grains per gallon of hardness, it will add about 160 mg/liter of sodium to the water. The maximum recommended allowance of sodium is about 2400 mg/day, or 15 times as much as in a liter of water.
I just checked some stuff in the fridge and pantry and found the following "sodium per serving" off the label:
ketchup: 190 mg
salad dressings: 120 to 200 mg
Campbell's soups: 700 to 800 mg (depends on flavor)
Microwave popcorn, 1/2 bag: 570 mg
If you want to cut down sodium in your diet and save money in this economy:
1. Use standard salt (sodium chloride) in your water softener.
2. Avoid factory-prepared foods and typical fast-foods which almost always contain a lot of sodium.
3. Use Lite-Salt (50% NaCl and 50% KCl) or No-Salt which is 100% KCl for seasoning.
4. Read the labels and avoid stuff that has high sodium content.
5. Minimize added salt in cooking and at the table; you will get used to it and won't miss it.