Our family tries to eat as much organic as we can and I get asked all the time how to make it more affordable. Here are a few tips that have worked for us:
1. Use coupons. There are a lot more organic and natural coupons coming out these days. It is great to print them and use them for many reasons- obviously to save money on your grocery bill but also the more these items are purchased and the more coupons that are redeemed, the more likely stores will increase selection and manufacturers will release coupons!
You can check the My Frugal Adventures’s coupon database to find coupons or you can check the Organic Coupons & Deals tab on the upper right corner of the blog. That is a new feature I am building to offer additional resources. Keep checking back as it will change all the time.
2. Learn Your Prices. I think creating a little price book or at least trying to get a pretty good handle on prices is a great idea. A lot of organic produce items I buy are the same price or sometimes even cheaper than regular produce. There are many organic items that are significantly more expensive though (like milk and eggs) so I pay close attention to what prices are at different stores. I can often find the best deals in stores you normally wouldn’t think of for organic products. Stores like the Grocery Outlet, $.99 Only and Target often have great deals on organic items.
3. Piggyback on other promotions. One thing that is an annoyance to me is organic milk. We go through a lot of organic milk and it is expensive and there are almost never coupons available. I usually pay about $6/gallon and even if I can’t get a great deal on milk I can still try and piggyback on another promotion. In my area, two of my grocery stores offer great coupons for discounted or even free items when you spend $10-20 at that store. I can purchase my milk for regular price at those stores and I can at least get the added benefit of meeting the minimum to use that extra store coupon.
4. Shop in season. Really we should all do this anyway, but I really focus on what is on sale and in season when it comes to organic produce in particular. If organic celery is on sale that week- guess what the kids are having at snack time all week? If organic berries are discounted, I buy big and freeze whatever we won’t be able to eat fresh. I do try to stock up whenever there are great deals on frozen items too just to vary our diet a little when things are out of season. My girls love corn for example, so when bags of organic frozen corn go on sale I tend to buy 10 bags or so and I freeze them. Some items, like organic broccoli seem to be on sale more frequently in my area so I don’t buy nearly as much.
5. Prioritize purchases. I usually try to make sure I am buying organic on certain fleshy produce or fiberous produce. Examples are apricots, celery, berries, peaches etc… You can see the “Dirty Dozen” items list to see the produce that tends to have the highest levels of pesticide residue. That is where I tend to focus my budget. You can also see the “Clean 15” which are the items with the lowest levels- those items you might not need to spend the extra money for organic.
6. Shop around. Lots of people will tell you the best deals on organics come from Co-Ops, Farmer’s Markets and local farms. That might be a great option for some people. I have not found that to be the situation for me personally, plus I don’t always have the time to make extra trips so convenience is a big issue. I have personally found Target to have great prices on staples like pasta sauce and canned foods. Another grocery chain in my area, Sprouts, has incredible prices on fresh organic produce. Some people have found Costco to be a great resource for organic items. You might just open up the grocery ads in your area each week and skim them and start to determine where the best deals are. If you like to shop at Walmart stores, you can always price match the other grocery store’s advertised prices and get one stop shopping. If you have a Whole Foods store in your area, you might check and see if they offer a Facebook page or dedicated web site for your store. My store runs a special unadvertised sale every Friday and you can often get great deals just by joining the community.
You can have a look for food co-ops in your area here.
Overall, I have found the biggest change for us has simply been flexibility. I don’t stockpile nearly as much as I used to because so much of my budget goes to fresh foods. I have simplified a lot of our menus so I need fewer ingredients each week. When you are buying high quality and fresh products- fewer ingredients are better to showcase the flavors anyway. One last thing that we have done is simply shifted portion sizes. I often see recommendations that people try more vegetarian options if they are trying to stick to a budget. Now I have been a vegetarian for about 20 years so that doesn’t bother me one bit but if I put a plate of beans in front of my husband instead of a steak… well my guess is he would volunteer to walk the dog and I would find McDonald’s wrappers in the trash. So I don’t see any need to cut meat out of the diet, I just find that I serve smaller portions of better quality meats in particular. Surprisingly, my husband has been really happy to have the higher quality foods and hasn’t minded extra servings of the side dishes or salads to compensate.
Does anyone else have tips for buying organic on a budget?
Maura says
Grow your own and can! Much easier said than done mind you…
Renae says
I also go to http://www.mambosprouts.com for our organic coupons. They also have fantastic discounts on supplements every now and again and I love the sample you can get for free!
This week, Kroger had Florida Crystals on sale for $4.69 and there was a .55 coupon from SmartSource which doubled at Kroger. I got 4lb of sugar for $3.59! Plus with the organic sugar, it’s really sweet so you don’t need quite as much.
I also try to purchase a lot from our farmer’s market in the summer and fall and freeze it for winter. Tonight I’m making soup from the rest of the corn, green beans, onions and carrots we purchased in October. Soup is the perfect “clean-out-the-freezer” meal!
I’m not sure about your local grocery stores, but our Meijer has organic milk on sale quite a bit for under $4/gal. Of course, you have to buy a certain amount of organic prices to get a break, but if you buy it anyway….it’s worth it. I also hoard coupons for Almond Breeze milk and Coconut Milk. I can get really good deals on those milks. Also, Horizon’s website has coupons about once a quarter that are quite substantial.
Charlene says
Maura, we are starting a tiny garden for the girls this spring. I was thinking today about getting a bunch of strawberries on sale for $1.25/lb to make jam… then it occurred to me that I have to buy all the jars, sugar, pectin and go to all the trouble and then it isn’t organic and I can get good quality jam for about $2 so I scrapped the plan. Do you find it to be worth the savings?
Allison says
Charlene:
Regarding the garden. I feel like even if it is a little more expensive to plant and deal with all that goes into a garden, what a wonderful learning experience for your girls! They can help choose the fruits and veggies you plant, learn about what it takes to actually grow the food, and then help prepare some delicious, healthy recipes with food THEY grew. You can’t put a price on that.
Charlene says
Oh totally. I am a black thumb though so I doubt we will have much of a bountiful harvest but I want them to learn food doesn’t come from a bag ;). So we shall see how it works out.
michelle says
I do a pretty good sized garden each year and I have found freezing the extras instead of caning it is much easier for me. I just cut it up or shred the extra produce. Depending on what it is I freeze it in ice cube tray then transfer to a zip lock or I just put it in a quart size zip lock. I do this with tomatoes, corn, zucchini and all the berries. Last year we had so much spinach and zucchini it was coming out my ears but I have been slipping it into everything I make and it is almost all gone.
Tatyana says
We grow tomatoes in our garden every year. We eat them like apples 😉
Also we are getting box of organic fruit and veggies every week. It seems like you tried it and didn’t like it, but we love it. You never know what is in your box, but you just cook with whatever you got. It’s very important for us to eat seasonally.
Plus we get milk, eggs, frozen berries and cereal from Costco
Natalie says
To those who are looking into a food co-op: You can go to the pick/up spot and check out the food before you sign up! I did it this week and learned a lot about where the food is coming from and I got to see the quality first hand! I highly recommend having a look before you buy!
Kim D says
Charlene:
I live is Sacramento and we planted tomatoes last year and they were the easiest thing ever!!! I got three plants at cosco for $6.00. Maybe they were 10-12 inches. Once they started producing, we couldn’t keep up. We did make some basic spaghetti souce and just put it in Ziplocs in the freezer. My youngest doesn’t like tomatoes, but she asks for the “garden” sauce. I hope to try some other things this year. Good luck!!!
Kim says
We save a lot of money over the summer just by growing our own tomatoes and peppers. Some years I will can them, some years I don’t have the time so I make things that can be frozen.
You can often find canning jars at garage sales and estate sales for cheap and then you only need to buy the lids/rings. Last summer I found a bag of jars at a garage sale and the lady was so excited to find someone who would use them that she just gave them to me. Other times I have paid $1 for a box of 12.
Jane says
We have a really good gardening program on our public radio station. It’s Wisconsin Public Radio Garden Talk. I’ve learned so much about gardening from them. I’m not sure if you have these services available in your state, but in Wisconsin, there are state programs to test your soil to see what you need to add to it to make it grow fruits and vegetables.
Dee says
Most state have services that will test your soil for free. Google your state’s “extension” program.
I agree that growing your own veges can be one of the most cost-effective ways to have organic vegetables. Gardening can be a very expensive hobby, too.
I’ve been a frugal, organic gardener for many years. (I’m old.) A couple frugal gardening tips:
1. Use newspaper and/or paper from your shredder for mulch to block weeds. It composts to fertilize the soil, too.
2. Compost- I use a couple of old leaky garbage cans tucked behind some shrubs on the side of the house no one can see (or smell). Anything vegetable-based can be composted: kitchen scraps, dryer lint, toilet paper rolls. There are loads of web sites with instructions. It is free fertilizer.
3. Shred your leaves in the fall and use them to mulch/fertilize your garden beds. I use a mulching mower. Quick, easy and less raking.
JJ says
We can’t afford organic food and we dont have room for even a tomatoes plant on the back yard. 🙁
Charlene says
JJ- don’t you have $.99 only stores? I have heard they have incredible deals on fresh produce. Maybe Sprouts will come your way soon. The deals at Sprouts are just unbelievable. It is cheaper to buy fresh stuff than the junkier stuff with coupons and they give out tons of store coupons on top of that.
JJ says
We live in San Mateo, 15 minutes down from San Francisco, so, no too many options here .99 stores doesn’t have produce here, I’ve found a .99 store in Oakland with produce the other day, but, just to cross the San Mateo bridge is $6 and drive like 15 miles doesn’t this is a good idea, we have Foodsco(Kroger affiliate)with cheap produce but the quality is horrible some times and the lines are a mile long, think because is the cheaper option here. Hope one Sprouts come here soon. 😉
Kim says
JJ – Trader Joe’s has organic products for reasonable prices. Also, you might want to check out Grocery Outlet. I think there is one in Redwood City (my MIL lives near San Mateo). Their product mix changes so you never know what you’ll find, but I have found some good deals on organic products there in the past. Another option is to check out farmer’s markets. Some farmers follow organic practices but can’t afford the certification and others are in transition to organic so their prices are more along the lines of conventional produce.
JJ says
Thanks Kim, I’ll check Grocery Outlet, never been there and I saw a farmers market at a Wells Fargo Parking lot on sunday very close home the other day, def. will try. 😉
JB says
I´m from Toronto and there are big differences in the prices of organic food. I personally prefer to see organic stuff before I buy it, so I choose grocery stores – like for example Front Door Organics Inc. (Organic Living in Toronto). Anyway I agree it is not necessary to buy everything organic, especially when your family budget is not that big (and thanks for “dirty dozen” list).
Endcapps says
Fresh&Easy Market opened in my neighborhood. They have great deals on organic produce, esp. if you’re lucky enough to catch a “today’s special”. Today I found Organic Spring Mix, 1 lb. for $3 and Organic Mandarins 2 lbs. $1.60. It’s easy b/they don’t take mfc coupons here. Just every day fair prices. I look forward to MFA’s Organic Deals feature in the future. Great idea!
Charlene says
EC- they release coupons all the time too. You should sign up for the newsletter. I think they are planning to expand into Sacramento soon too.
-Charlene
Endcapps says
Charlene, yes you’re right about Fresh&Easy store coupons. I signed-up for their Friends of F&E program (free to join). The 2 benefits are (1) emailed printable coupons such as $5/$25 … (2) an easy-to-do rewards program — every dollar spent = 1 point. Once I have 500 points, I get a $5 credit to spend on anything in F&E … (3) load-to-card Bonus Coupons for your favorite items. Love F&E. Not at all time-consuming to save $ there. The scale of the store is manageable so I’m not overwhelmed. Their bakery has awesome Il Fornaio breads — my favorite loaf is $.98 every day price! When your F&E opens, you must try it!