5 Frugal Tips for Eating Organic on a Budget

There are many reasons to eat organic: avoiding chemicals and GMO’s, higher levels of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and in many cases even better flavor! But if you are living paycheck to paycheck, eating organic can be a real challenge! In this article, I will be sharing 5 tips for eating organic on a budget!

 

Eating Organic on a Budget

1. Track your grocery spending. Price out the cost of ingredients for different recipes you make. You’ll probably find that some are way more expensive than others, and they might not even be your favorites!
2. Shop by what’s on sale. Stock up when there is a good sale and keep your grocery list flexible.
3. Buy in bulk. A big help for eating organic on a budget is to buy bulk packages of staples your family goes through quickly.
4. Grow your own food. No matter where you live, you can probably grow something. Take a look at what grocery items you spend the most on and figure out if you can grow some of those yourself. This is one of the biggest ways our family saves money and eats organic on a budget!
5. Look for free food. This one is fun! Keep an eye out on community pages for free produce, or try your hand at wild harvesting!

 

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We’ve always lived on a tight budget, but incorporating healthy, organic foods into our diet is something we had to make work! Over time we have learned how to eat organic on a budget. It can be hard at times, but we’ve figured out a lot of tricks to help!

We also have food allergies and cannot have wheat in the house, an additional challenge when it comes to eating on a budget!

Growing more of your own food is a big help, but the average person just isn’t able to grow 100% of their own food in modern times. Grow as much as you are able to cut back on your grocery spending.

 

When it comes to eating organic on a budget, these tips should help you to get more bang for your grocery bucks!

  

Tip #1 Track Your Grocery Spending

If you don’t already know how much you are spending on groceries each month, it’s time to keep track for a couple of months to figure out the actual numbers! You can easily keep track by putting all your grocery receipts for the month in one place.

Once you know how much you are spending overall, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. Take a little time to write down some of the meals you most often cook, and estimate how much the ingredients cost.

I do this every year or two, and the results can be eye-opening. Identifying where you are spending the most money is the first step to eating organic on a budget. Here are a couple examples of meals I have priced out in the past. 

I wrote these out in the winter time during a year when we hadn’t preserved much food for winter, so it was mostly coming from the grocery store. Thankfully we are able to grow more of our own now that we have more kids, or these meal prices would be even higher! 

If you grow some of your own food, you can list those items as free.

 

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Salad

• Ground beef $6
• Onion and spices $1
• Potatoes $1
• Lettuce $1
• Condiments $.50

Total $9.50

Fresh Taco Salad

• Leftover chicken $1.50
• Lettuce $1
• Beans $.50
• Rice $.25
• Tomatoes $1
• Cheese $1
• Salsa and sour cream $.50

Total $5.75

Chicken Vegetable Soup

• Whole Chicken $14
• Carrots $1
• Celery $1
• Frozen green beans $3
• Potatoes $2
• Onions and spices $1.50
• Ingredients for homemade bread $2.50

Total $25 divided by 4 meals = $6.25

If you are able to grow some of your own food, factor that in as you calculate meal prices.

Our family eats our own homegrown potatoes about 8 months out of the year. We typically have frozen, canned, and dehydrated fruits and veggies year-round. We grow most of our own vegetables and spices, and a large percentage of our meat. So depending on the time of year, there are often meals we can make completely for free.

Figuring out which meals you are spending a lot more on will really help you eat organic on a budget!

 

Tip #2 Shop by What’s On Sale

Take advantage of local sales. If you are on a tight budget, go into the grocery store with a list, but be flexible!

When you head to the produce section, take the time to compare prices. Organic bananas are always cheap, so that’s the first thing I will buy. But when I write out my grocery list, I write “fruit”, rather than a specific list of what I want, leaving the type of fruit up to what’s the best deal that week.

Being flexible with your shopping list can be a big help for eating organic on a budget!

Learn to eyeball a package of meat and calculate how many meals it will last.

Don’t be afraid to try new brands or switch it up when there is a good sale!

My whole family loves chips, but we buy different kinds or brands every month depending on what’s the best deal.

*Grocery shopping tip: if you tend to overspend on groceries, it can be helpful to add approximate prices to your shopping list to help you stay on track. This is a huge help to me so I don’t throw extra things in the cart and go way over my budget!

Here is an example of one of my grocery lists:

• Milk $4
• Butter $5
• Vegetables $8
• Fruit $10
• Meat $15
• Cheese $8
• Ketchup $4
• Maple syrup $8
• Vinegar $4
• Dish soap $3
• Paper towels $2

Total $71

 

Tip #3 Buy in Bulk

You can often find organic foods for a fraction of the price by buying in bulk. Pay attention to prices and take the time to shop around a little.

When I mention buying in bulk, you might think of the bulk section of your local grocery store, but there are many more places you can find bulk deals!

Sometimes local farms, or vendors at farmers markets, will offer cases of produce that can be frozen or canned for winter. Just ask!

If you eat a lot of meat, consider purchasing a half or whole animal directly from the farmer. You can find meat for sale on your local Craigslist.

How does it work? A farmer might charge a set price for the animal, or set a price per pound. Most small farmers are happy to deliver your animal to a local butcher, who will cut the meat to your preferences and call you when the meat is packaged and ready for the freezer. You’ll pay the farmer for the meat, and will get a separate bill from the butcher.

If you are able to swing the cost of a whole steer or hog, this can really save a lot of money compared to buying meat from the grocery store. It’s a great way to eat organic on a budget! We sometimes buy a whole lamb this way when we don’t raise our own, because a smaller animal is more affordable for us than buying a 1500lb steer! You can also go in with a friend or family member to buy meat from a farm. That way you both get your meat at the cheaper bulk price, but don’t have to fork out thousands of dollars for an entire steer.

 

Buying in Bulk From Food Co-ops

Our favorite co-op for non-GMO, organic and allergen-free foods is Azure Standard. Azure delivers monthly to most of the US, with wonderful customer service!

On certain foods I often save 50% or more from the price I would pay at my local grocery store.

Some of our favorites from Azure include bulk organic and gluten-free flours, organic coconut oil, cocoa powder, popcorn, dried beans and natural sweeteners. Azure also offers fresh and frozen produce, supplements, spices, organic animal feed, and garden starts and supplies.

I keep track of pricing on basic pantry staples we regularly buy and shop around for the cheapest price. Usually it’s a combination of local farmers for fresh foods, our local grocery store for smaller items, and Azure for bulk stuff. Tracking prices is super important for eating organic on a budget, since some stores will literally charge twice as must as others for the same thing!

Most of the food we don’t grow ourselves comes from Azure. We’ve used Azure for many years, and I very highly recommend the company!

You can find out more about Azure here!

 

Tip #4 Grow Your Own Food

Most of us have at least a little space where we could grow food, even if that means a container garden on a patio, or a grow light in a closet!

Growing your own food doesn’t have to be limited to vegetables, either! Think about what food items cost the most on your grocery budget.

Growing at least some of our own food is the biggest way our family has been able to eat organic on a budget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some ideas:

• Fruit trees (most types of fruit are now available as dwarf trees that can fit in a large pot on a patio!)
• Berries
• Grapes
• Melons and Watermelon
• Nuts
• Potatoes
• Spices and herbs
• Onions and garlic
• Grains and seeds
• Ingredients for salsa, ketchup and other condiments
• Pickles
• Natural sweeteners such as stevia, sorghum and agave
• Popcorn
• Salad greens or microgreens (these can even be grown indoors in an apartment!)
• Mushrooms (another indoor option for apartment dwellers!)
• Honey and beeswax
• Eggs and chicken
• Pork
• Beef
• Lamb
• Milk, butter and cheese

You can find tips on growing food indoors right here: Indoor Gardening.

We also have list of how to grow every kind of food you can think of right here.

 

Tip #5 Take Advantage of Free Food

Especially if you live in a rural area, you can probably find free sources of food nearby if you are willing to do the work of harvesting!

This is really helpful for eating organic on a budget!

Opportunities we sometimes take advantage of in my area include wild foods growing on public land, such as wild blueberries, wild strawberries, elderberries, thimbleberries, rosehips and asparagus.

Every year, by watching local Facebook pages and Craigslist ads, I find free fruit ready for the picking! Usually someone has a fruit tree,  or several, in their backyard and just doesn’t have time to pick it all, so they let others pick for free.

Another resource we take advantage of is gleaning on nearby small farms. At the end of the season, farmers are sometimes left with produce that’s not big enough to sell, or just have extra that they don’t want to go to waste.

One local farm here offers a community potato dig every fall. Anyone who wants to can come and help fill bins of potatoes for the food bank, and all are welcome to take home boxes of potatoes for their own use!

 

Saving Money on Organic Food 

There are so many ways you can save money on organic food. Eating healthier does not have to break the bank!

I hope this article has given you some helpful ideas for eating organic on a budget!