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20 Ways to Afford Organic Foods on a Tight Budget

What I Got Wednesday: Kara Scored $640 Worth of Wallpaper for FREE!

20 Ways to Afford Organic Foods on a Tight Budget

Is it possible to afford organic foods on a tight budget? Yes! Keep reading for 20 ways to save money on organic food — even if you have a tight budget!

Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive!

Many people have a misguided idea that eating healthfully requires a huge budget… but that’s just not the case.

Ok, well, if you live in Alaska or some remote part of the country, this might be true; but in most areas, you can feed your family natural, unprocessed, even organic foods without spending a fortune — especially if you’re willing to get creative and think outside the box!

20 Ways to Afford Organic Foods on a Budget

Here are several ways to afford organic food on a tight budget:

1. Plan your menu based on what’s in season and on sale.

If you want to feed your family on a budget, the first step is to have a plan for what you’ll eat.

You’ll significantly reduce your grocery bill if you intentionally plan your menu around what’s on sale at the natural foods store, what’s in season at the Farmer’s Market, what organic foods are on sale at Aldi or your local grocery store, and/or what you’re reaping in abundance from your garden.

As an added bonus, you’ll reap the benefits of a balanced diet as you’ll constantly be rotating your produce based on what’s in season!

2. Calculate the cost of your meals.

When you’re planning your menu, think about how much each recipe will cost.

It doesn’t have to be a scientific, to-the-penny figure, but just having a good idea that there is a $10 difference between the price of making one meal as opposed to another meal can help you decide whether you can afford to make something or perhaps should save it for a special occasion.

3. Practice the “buy ahead” principle.

If your budget allows, stock up whenever you find an incredible sale on tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, markdown deals at Kroger, reduced-price frozen veggies at the health food store, a super weekend sale at Sprouts, or if Aldi is offering some great deal on organic products.

Buying items you routinely use when they are at their lowest price is a surefire way to save more.

4. Buy in bulk.

It is usually much more cost-effective to purchase meat and staple ingredients in bulk.

Call around to local farmers and see what they would charge you for purchasing half a cow. In many cases, this meat is at least $1 cheaper per pound to purchase in bulk.

Buying grains, beans, as well as many other basic ingredients with long storage lives in large quantities will almost always save you at least 20%, if not more.

Costco, Sam’s, and Azure Standard offer great pricing on bulk items.

5. Focus on the worst offenders.

Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists are a great place to start when trying to focus your organic purchases.

These lists will help you steer clear of the stuff with the most pesticides, and save money buying conventional when it comes to the cleanest fruits and veggies.

6. Plant a garden.

Produce is typically only pennies per item from your own backyard, it’s tremendously fresh and you know exactly what you did or didn’t spray on it. Plus, if you can or freeze your extras, you’ll be able to enjoy “fresh-from-the-garden” produce for much of the year.

Have a brown thumb? Find a friend who loves gardening and trade services (babysitting, bread-baking, car maintenance) in exchange for their garden excess.

Note: When I’ve done the math on how much time you invest to plant and weed and water and harvest food from the garden, for me, it just wasn’t worth the return on my investment of time. However, if organic food is something you want to prioritize and you love gardening, it might be a great option for you!

7. Consider joining a CSA or Co-Op.

If gardening isn’t for you, you might look for a co-op or CSA in your area. They do usually have a fee to join the group, but it still might be a money-saving option for your family.

And if you can’t find an affordable co-op in your area, you could consider starting your own co-op.

8. Serve meat as a condiment.

I shamelessly stole this idea from Family Feasts for $75 Per Week because it’s so brilliant.

Serving meat in soup or on pizza is going to be a lot less expensive than serving roast and sirloin, especially if you’re buying high-quality meat.

9. Make homemade snacks.

Pre-packaged snacks are significantly more expensive than homemade snacks.

As a bonus, homemade snacks are often more nutritious as you can control exactly what ingredients you use.

10. Skip organic “junk food”.

It’s probably a better use of your cash to spend it on organic produce versus organic candy, fruit snacks, or other sweet treats that you don’t technically need to buy anyway!

11. Swap out expensive ingredients.

You probably don’t really need Gruyere cheese… Swiss will do just fine!

And you likely don’t need that fancy (a.k.a. expensive) chocolate when store-brand chocolate chips will work.

If you’re using a recipe that requires a specialty ingredient you don’t already have in the house, do a quick Google search to see what you could substitute instead.

12. Eat your leftovers.

Repurposing leftover meals into lunches is a great way to save money on groceries and time in the kitchen. Plus, it’s a lot easier to avoid those fast food drive-thru lines when you have easy, nutritious lunches ready to go.

13. Use coupons.

Although they are harder to come by, there are organic-based coupons available online. Take time to email your favorite companies too, they might just send you coupons by mail.

14. Use coupons on non-food items.

If you can’t find coupons for the organic food items you purchase, you can still use coupons to save on toilet paper, toothbrushes, and other non-food items — lowering your overall grocery costs.

15. Avoid specialty stores.

Although they have great selections of unique items, you typically pay a lot more.

16. Opt for frozen produce.

Fruit and veggie smoothies are a great way to get your greens all year round. However, buying these ingredients organic 12 months a year isn’t always realistic.

Before abandoning produce all together, take a look in the frozen section and you may be surprised to find organic, frozen alternatives can mean fantastic savings.

And most frozen foods are frozen immediately after harvesting so they are packed with vitamins and nutrients that can sometimes be lost in fruits that sit on store shelves for a week.

17. Find a local Amish community.

They often sell lots of produce, breads, and cheese and reasonable prices — and they are almost always organic and homemade (and delicious!)

18. Buy the store brand.

Most stores have their own brand of organic foods these days — saving you quite a bit on your overall bill without much difference in taste or quality.

19. Don’t forget about Farmers’ Markets.

Your local farmers’ market is a valuable resource! There are SO many local farmers who grow delicious, organic food for much lower prices than you’ll find at any store.

20. Shop at Costco, Aldi, or Trader Joe’s

You can often find great deals on organic items at Costco, Aldi, or Trader Joe’s!

What I Got Wednesday: Kara Scored $640 Worth of Wallpaper for FREE!

We’re excited to roll out a brand new feature called What I Got Wednesday — where we share some of the best savings submitted to us by readers!

This Week’s Savings Spotlight: Kara’s HUGE Savings on Wallpaper!

Check out the deal Kara scored on wallpaper!

“We bought a fixer upper four years ago. It is a very small house and I thought wallpaper would be excellent in the dining nook of the kitchen. The space needed something visually interesting that didn’t take up any space since the bench for the table touches this wall. I am part of a Buy Nothing group in my neighborhood (buynothingproject.org) where we give and receive items for free. One day someone offered five rolls of Serena & Lily wallpaper that they had bought and then decided not to use. She gave it to me and I couldn’t be more thrilled how it turned out. $640 saved!”

Want To Be Featured?

Want to submit your savings for a chance to be featured? Simply go HERE and fill out the form! Each week, we’ll pick a few of the best submissions to be featured.

(And we might even throw in a fun little surprise for you if you’re picked! Free coffee, anyone?!)