Organic AND/or Frugal

[MRAHoffman]

Because of my personal beliefs (not to mention ALL the recalls, chemicals, etc) I "like" to buy all/most organic/non processed food/HBA. HOW can you buy organic and still be frugal? I'm keeping Harvest Health in business, but boy my pockets are getting lighter.

[vigilant20]

I love the idea of sticking to natural options and eating organic, but in my own life I just can't reconcile it being being frugal and I definitely wouldn't be able to stick to my $25 a week grocery budget.

[gobucks]

Have you checked into buying groups. Like Frankferd or Frontier? Frankferd has grains and such, Frontier has dry food, spices, and all the HBA stuff you would need.

What about a CSA and preserve the extras? I have a freezer full of zucchini, squash, peas, and beans from my summer CSA.

Check with your Health food store for bulk discounts. Also, you can often find organic coupons on ebay and coupon clipping sites. I have rarely paid for canned tomatoes in the last 2 years, because I collect Muir Glen coupons and they always go on sale every couple months and I stock up.

[IntlMom]

Boy oh Boy do I hear ya on this one!
My desire for natural, unprocessed and organic is nearly always at odds with my drive to be frugal..... it';s like the two side of me are always butting heads!

I email compaines like Kashi and ask for coupons (they are great at it!!), use coupons for products like muir glen, cascadian farms, organic valley...... Our grocery store (Kroger brand) puts items on "mgr special" whne they close to exp date...so I buy marked down organic items and use them quickly (I have netted free horizon milk, yogurt, cottage cheese this way).

I agree, it's hard.....I strive for balance.

You can do alot buy doing things like: making mac and cheese instead of buying it, making "from scratch" oatmeal instead buying the little packets..............

[Spikey1341]

Making from scratch is about the best I can do. I know all things aren't organic, but there are less chemicals and such when I make from scratch.

[nandmsmom]

I have a garden and cook from scratch. I also belong to 2 coops, Frontier and Associated Buyers. When I can, I make the trek to Trader Joes as well. It is still more expensive, but much better for us and the environment. It still makes me cringe sometimes though.

[califaschica59]

I have found that sometimes organic can be cheaper. At Kroger, non-organic apples (I get the small ones because I watch the calories) are 6/$4. At Meijer, I can get a bag of organic 5 for $2.50. And sometimes the sales make the organic cheaper.

But I do watch my pennies and try to buy organic when I eat the skin. Of course they say that all organic is the best, but you may want to read an article about what you can skip over as far as organic goes. For instance, I choose not to spend my money on organic bananas or organic kiwis. I wish I made more money so it could be all organic...

[mom2three]

I don't necessarily buy organic, but do what I can. I try t buy drug free meat if I can though. I garden myelf (organically). I pick and choose tyhe othe produce I buy - there are some tha you really hould consider buying organic and one's where it doesn't make so much difference. I choose to eat mostly whole foos - jus because I don't buy a otnneof prcessed foods, I save a lot and am a ot healthier. If you eat this way, you actually tend to be less hungry as well(probably the better vitamins and minerals!) and this saves as well.

[lucky_bamboo]

I definitely recommend that you look at joining a CSA next spring. The ones around here practice either organic or "sustainable" farming. The cost ends up way cheaper than the grocery store, but you do have to pay up front - during the planting season. Also, if you have any grocery stores that sell in bulk containers, that might be a way to get organic grains, beans and other dry goods for cheap.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

Well since I do buy most of our food at Harvest Health, I know what you mean when you say the pockets are getting lighter. They have gone up considerably in price, but just like everyone else. I have a few other places that I like to go to, one being Meijer's for my organic produce during the winter and spring month's, and during the summer since I live in Muskegon then, I shop at Health Hutt alot and they are considerably less in cost than Harvest. I am considering doing more shopping there since I have to go to Muskegon once a week during the winter anyhow to visit my parent's . I also go to farmer's Market and we have a communtiy garden here in Lamont. I also purchase all of my personal care products from www.vitacost.com And some of my organic food items from them as well , and.......all of our quality supplements. Vitacost sells everything at a generous discount. Some of the supplements are even at wholesale cost. And don't forget about those health magazines that they have inside the doors of health food stores. Those do contain coupons. AMY's ORGANICS are good and they often have $1.00 of coupons in those health magazines. Anyhow, if you are interested in ordering anything from this company, here is a promotion code for an extra 8% off your order WZAT22. I don't know how long that it's good for, but it was good for me on Friday. And if your family does eat meat, I live by meerman's farm and it is not certified organic, but it is organic. They were not willing to pay the fee to have the meat certified. But they paid to have their raw milk cheeses certified. I buy the pasture fed organic chickens from them and my cheeses. The prices sure are much cheaper than Harvest Health prices. So if you are willing to plan your trip for a day and travel around a little bit, bring a big cooler with you, you can find the good bargins around here when eating mostly organic. It just takes some planning . I hope this helps.

[peanut]

I would like to buy all organic but feel the pinch too. We've settled for buying organic produce if we eat the skin. If not, then we buy regular. Ideally we'd grow our own organic, and we might be able to do that next year or so. The short term solution for us has been to shop the Farmer's Market for organic produce to freeze this fall. We still pick up our organic free range eggs at a local organic food mart. But when it comes to meat, we simply cut back and use more beans. We can't afford to pay four times the amount for organic meat.

Jean

[madhen]

You might also want to opt for organic if you eat high water-content veggies such as celery and lettuce. They tend to suck up whatever is sprayed on them much more than other veggies.

I do keep a garden going and I try to buy organic if it is available. It is more expensive, but only because it is not funded as well as the huge commercial producers are. And the reason it is not funded as well is because the demand is not as high, so it is a circular thing. The more people buy organic, I believe, the more mainstream it will become and the more the bigger producers will consider doing it.