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Six Ways To Save Money On Organic Food

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you sign-up for services or make a purchase after clicking on a link below, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Also, I am not a financial advisor. I'm a blogger who LOVES to share how I manage the finances for my household.

March 16, By Kristia 11 Comments

Eating organic food appeals to me on many levels. I don’t like the thought of all of the pesticides, synthetic hormones and antibiotics passing through to my family, especially my two young children. And have you ever eaten an organic, local, ripe strawberry?…heaven on earth. I have found that organic, local produce has such better flavor than non-local produce found regularly at my grocery store.

But sometimes eating organically can wreck havoc on the grocery budget, so I am always looking for ways to eat organic food and not blow our budget.

1. Community Supported Agriculture or CSA.
A CSA is a commitment between local farmer/s and community members who pay the farmer for a seasonal membership. We have been a member of a CSA for 8 years now. During the harvest season, which for us is May- November, we receive a weekly share of produce. Most of the produce that we consume during those months comes from the CSA and we supplement with produce we grow ourselves. I rarely need to buy produce at the grocery store during those months.

This year’s price for a half-share comes to about $13.35 a week in organic produce. This picture is an example of what a weekly share looks like. The photo was taken in August 2009 when the box is full of high summer produce.

2. Consider your grocery store’s private label organic brand.
Give it a try. In some cases, I have gone back to name brand, such as Stonyfield French Vanilla organic yogurt, but that is just my preference. My good friend loves our store’s private label vanilla organic yogurt. I do buy the private label organic milk.

Here is a quick price comparison on a recent grocery trip:

  • Name brand 32 oz. organic yogurt $2.99 vs. store brand 32 oz organic yogurt $2.53.
  • Name brand half gallon of organic milk $4.05 vs. store brand half gallon organic milk $3.49

3. Compare price per unit and if the size makes sense go for the best price per unit.

  • Stonyfield Organic yogurt, 32 oz @ $2.99 = $1.50/lb, 6 oz cups @ .79 cents = $2.11/lb.
  • Horizon Organic Milk – half gallon @ $4.05, gallon @ $5.99

4. Look for organic or natural meat that has been marked down.
Marked down poultry or meat is safe as long as you use it or freeze immediately after you buy it. I wrote about marked down meat a little more in depth a few weeks ago and I regularly find this type of poultry or meat marked down at my store.



5. Local Farms and Farmer’s Markets.
Do a little research to find out what is available to you locally. If organic is important to you, buying it locally could save you money as opposed to the grocery store’s organic selection. I am currently looking for a CSA for poultry and meat.

6. Visit the websites of companies that you enjoy.
Recently I signed up for newsletters for Stonyfield and Horizon Dairy products and I received some coupons for those companies. The site, Organic Deals and Coupons has an extensive list of organic companies.

Is it important for you and your family to eat organically? Do you have any other cost-saving tips on organic food? Please let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

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This post is linked to:

  • Thrifty Tip Tuesday at I Am A Money Magnet
  • Thrifty Thursday at Coupon Teacher
  • Making Dollars Out of Change at Madame Deals
  • Thrifty Thursday at Melissa’s Bargain Blog
  • Frugal Friday at Life As Mom
  • Money saving Monday at Money Help For Christians

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Frugal Friend says

    March 16, at 1:24 pm

    These are great tips. This year, we are going to put organics more into our food budget. It’s scary and overwhelming for me though! I think I’ll start with your tips.

    Reply
  2. Jamie @ I Am A Money Magnet says

    March 16, at 4:22 pm

    I would love to eat more fresh fruits and veggies in general. I think eating organic definitely is the way to go. I’m going to have to see if there is a CSA in my area! Thanks for this information!

    Reply
  3. Random Thoughts of a Jersey Mom says

    March 16, at 6:18 pm

    Thanks for the tips. I’ve been thinking about joining a CSA but the problem is that I won’t know how to cook many of the vegetables they give. My cooking skill is very limited.

    Reply
  4. Family Balance Sheet says

    March 17, at 12:54 am

    @Jersey Mom – When we first joined a CSA, I didn’t know what to do with many of the veggies that we got in our boxes. I had never eaten kale or swiss chard before, but the internet is a vast source for recipes and now those things don’t scare me.

    Thanks for all of the comments.

    Reply
  5. rene says

    March 17, at 3:59 am

    Thank you for stopping by my blog today!!! I’m interested in your organic post. I use to do all organic and got away from it, this encourages me to give it a go again!
    Rene’
    from Bargainhoot 🙂

    Reply
  6. Coupon Teacher says

    March 18, at 8:26 pm

    Great tips. I love organic, unfortunately, hubby doesn’t care or even dislikes eating “organic”.

    Reply
  7. Post Grad says

    March 18, at 6:00 pm

    I’ve been trying to find more affordable ways to eat organically. Thanks for the tips. Can’t wait for our Farmer’s Market to start up again.
    🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Zucchini Cakes or AKA, Vegetarian "Crab" Cakes says:
    July 3, at 8:58 am

    […] Cakes is a great way to use the extra zucchini that you might have. The recipe is from our CSA and was included in our weekly share of organic produce. The sandwich reminds me of a real crab […]

    Reply
  2. Calling All Gardeners ~ Please Help Me Identify This Plant says:
    July 5, at 8:20 am

    […] since the flowers were yellow. I had never grown a zucchini, but we receive tons of them from our CSA and all of the vegetable scraps get […]

    Reply
  3. Roasted Red Plum Tomato Sauce says:
    July 30, at 3:14 pm

    […] weeks ago, at the picnic/potluck that our CSA hosts annually, they offered boxes of organic plum tomatoes for $6. I couldn’t pass it up and […]

    Reply
  4. Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup says:
    November 17, at 8:05 am

    […] was able to purchase another 19 lb box of organic Roma tomatoes for $6 from our CSA. I made more Roasted Roma Tomato Sauce, but I also decided on a very chilly day that soup was going […]

    Reply

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