going organic/natural on a STRICT budget

[COgirl19]

We generally eat pretty healthy but i want to do better. We have a new baby on the way and I really want to make some changes. Although I limit sugar and processed foods my DD1 still has a taste for hot dogs, sugary items and some processed stuff which I don't like at all. This week my in-laws visited and although i love them dearly they are pretty clueless about healthy eating and health and wellness in general. A lot of things have ended up in my kitchen which I don't normally allow like Coke and Pop-Tarts and of course DD has been on a sugar high all week. So without this getting too long, I am realizing it would be best for everyone if we could eliminate this crap entirely and focus on not just healthy foods but organic whole foods FOR GOOD. I am actually a biochemist so you would think I would know better by now about all the nasty chemicals and preservatives in food. But the problem is - MONEY. Processed junk is simply much much cheaper and stretches farther.

I am the only one working right now on a small post-doctoral salary. DH hasn't been able to find work in 8 months and we both decided it would be best if he stayed at home with our soon to be 2 children (especially the baby) We have cut a LOT of expenses but there is little wiggle room, how do you think we can possibly afford this? I am planting an organic garden this year but to be honest I have a black thumb so who knows how that will turn out. We may also join our local CSA if we can afford it. I would love to shop at our health food store for everything but I just don't know how on such a tight ($100/week or less) budget. Any other suggestions, strategies and tips are much much appreciated.

[Alyantavid]

I personally, wouldn't go to a health food store if I was on a budget. The ones I've shopped at have been incredibly expensive. And it really depends on where you live, but I rarely spend more than $100 a week for our family of 4.

We garden
we raise our own meat, except chicken
we trade produce with other gardening friends
we go to u-pick farms
we preserve everything we can
we shop at the farmer's market
we have lots of farmer/trucker friends who bring us produce or let us pick it
we (ok, mostly me) make almost everything from scratch
I use some coupons, but most of what I buy doesn't have a coupon
I mostly buy stuff that is on sale and buy a lot of it. Then I meal plan from what we have in the house.

Buying meat in bulk is much cheaper if you have the cash and the room for it. Shopping around to find the cheapest items and best sales helps too. I've found the tiny chain grocery store in my small town has great sales and it's cheap enough that it isn't worth it to drive 20 miles to a bigger store.

[JoyMC]

it's said often, but: shop the perimeter. skip the middle aisles of the grocery store and buy from the edges: produce, meat, dairy, and if you have a store (health food or not) with a bulk bin section, that can be a very economical way to fill in your meals. when i was growing up, we never ate rice or pasta that didn't come in a box with a seasoning packet.

if you can join your CSA, do it!!! i found ours to be cheaper than shopping the farmer's market OR buying all organic at the store. if you can't swing all organic, google organic dirty dozen for a list of the most important fruits and veggies to get organic.

figure out what's important to you. for me, i wouldn't touch any dairy, eggs, or meat product that isn't organic/grass-fed (or with those practices, regardless of certification).

some people say it ends up being cheaper when you don't buy the processed stuff. i honestly haven't found that. i think it partly depends on the region. but when we're done paying $10/gallon for raw, organic milk, and ordering our grass-fed, organic meat, and buying all organic produce (even though we garden!) it IS expensive, even though we make yogurt, bread, stock and more all from scratch. which i don't say to discourage but to validate. it can be expensive in the short term. but in the long term, what you will save in health costs? priceless.

(and for hot dogs, Applegate Farms makes a grass-fed, uncured, organic, all-beef hot dog that is awesome. )

[no5no5]

A CSA can be a great option if there's a good one in your area. A food coop is also great, especially if you think you can get away with storing bulk foods.

I shop at the local health food store, and I always spend more there than I should, but I couldn't live without their bulk foods section. Where were dried beans my whole life???

[serenbat]

if you can join your CSA, do it!!! i found ours to be cheaper than shopping the farmer's market OR buying all organic at the store

really check it out- in my area, it's is almost double to use a CSA- compare what you are getting and if you really want or need to take items you don't care for

and DO check out your local health food store- again, in my area, they can be much cheaper- they run specials, have a buyer's club and also they are the only place I can get organic coupons and bulk items (saves $$)

also craigslist is great in my area- lots of local stuff from pastured eggs to veggies and great prices

[blessedwithboys]

localharvest.org and amazon

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by serenbat

really check it out- in my area, it's is almost double to use a CSA- compare what you are getting and if you really want or need to take items you don't care for

Yeah, here it's about half for the CSA than it was for me to be buying at the farmer's market every week, so definitely look into it. I spend $30/wk on a box of organic produce that really is more than DH and I can get through (although we try)... I dehydrate a lot of our fruit for snacks, just to prevent it from going bad, and give away some of it to friends/family who will use it. I did have to give up control over what we got, but that was actually really good for us - it got us eating seasonally and it keeps us from falling into a rut of eating the exact same things every week.

I also shop in bulk - I try to do this twice a year, since it's a special trip to a specific store. I can get 6 mos worth of beans, grains, popcorn, many spices, and a couple months worth of rapadura for under $100.

Which leaves the rest of the weekly budget for me to spend on dairy, eggs and meat, which is how I can afford to buy pastured animal products.

Non-grocery items are also consolidated into a single trip whenever possible - to Target. I try to minimize this to twice or three times a year as well. But since I use BS and vinegar for most cleaning purposes (including my hair), and family cloth, it's a light trip if I can avoid impulse buys.

[JoyMC]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Non-grocery items are also consolidated into a single trip whenever possible - to Target. I try to minimize this to twice or three times a year as well. But since I use BS and vinegar for most cleaning purposes (including my hair), and family cloth, it's a light trip if I can avoid impulse buys.

that's a good point, too. as you get further down the crunchy road, you will probably find savings on non-grocery items as well. baking soda and vinegar (bought in giant quantities at Costco) take the place of pretty much all household cleansers. we no longer buy paper towels, ziploc bags, or disposable feminine hygiene products. we buy much less toilet paper (still keep it on hand), etc. so a lot of those things which will run up a regular grocery bill have more economical AND environmentally responsible choices, and free up space for good quality food in your grocery budget.

[ameliabedelia]

With a very tight budget (we have one too) I would go natural, but not organic.

Eggs (even regular eggs) are still way preferable to pop tarts, yk.

Stick to whole foods and make EVERYTHING from scratch. Eating beans and rice and home-made whole-grain bread and homemade muffins, and whole chickens (and then making your own stock), (even if the stuff is conventional and not organic) is still way,way healthier than eating ramen noodles, and kraft mac n cheese, frozen french fries and fast food.
Eating conventional popcorn (that you pop yourself) is still better than buying chips or microwave popcorn. Conventional corn on the cob is way preferable to corn pops. Increase your fruit and vegetable intake, even if you can't buy organic.

A CSA is great too or gardening yourself!

[COgirl19]

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone! This is all very helpful.

I think DD and DH will make a trip to the CSA tomorrow and check it out as one of our avenues. My boss is actually a member and loves it so I hope it is affordable. I think the suggestion for going "natural" vs. organic is helpful too. I know we can't afford everything organic but natural is defnitely do-able. I am still going to try organic wherever we can though, I will google the "dirty dozen" too to get some guidance. One thing our health food store does have is sales and lots of bulk bins so that will help a lot if I can plan ahead. I will keep you updated and any more suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Garden get's planted this week, here is what we are doing:

Early season:
Carrots
Cauliflour
Collard Greens
Herbs (basil, rosemary, cilantro, lavender)
Spinach

Mid-season:
Tomatoes
Summer Squash
Green Beans
Okra

Late season: undecided....

[redvlagrl]

We have a similar budget. I would recommend going to non certified organic produce from a local farmer/farmer's market. We get most of our produce and eggs from him. This means eating in season, which has been a bit boring lately (I am a bit sick of root veggies!).

We get our meat from a different farmer's market, also uncertified organic.

Use cheaper cuts of meat and try and bulk out your meal with more veg, less meat. Also buy things like whole chickens, roast them, eat them over 3 meals or so, then use the carcass to make a stock which is another couple of meals (say, soup and risotto).

Good luck!

[hildare]

I'd add that usually when crops start coming in, you might do well to find roadside stands, or gardening friends who don't mind parting with excess veggies. If you're prepared to can or freeze, you can get a whole lot stored away!

[Koalamom]

We have a budget of about $100 a week for a family of four and we eat alot of organic. To do that we eat alot of beans and soups and that stretches things.

[COgirl19]

Well, we made a budget and with a trip to Whole Foods today we managed to buy a weeks worth of groceries and snacks for the week within that budget. Even had some room for some extras we weren't planning on. I have found that the bulk bins are my best friend.
Also planted our spring garden today so hopefully my black thumb won't spoil everything. Thanks for all the tips and we will keep you posted!

[inky leeuhhh]

what did you end up buying cogirl?

[mamaX6]

Love all the suggestions.

Our "journey" to a healthy household has taken a few years, but I think we recently crossed over completely. With that in mind, I thought I would add another suggestion that I did not see. We recently joined a buying club. A few years ago, this would have been very confusing, but now that we know what we like to eat (and why) the buying club is a HUGE $$$ saver! We have six kiddos and our budget is between $100.00 and $200.00 a week. We do buy our meat in bulk....grass-fed organic for $1.70 per pound with an $80.00 butcher fee....delicious and WAY cheaper then anything we would find in the store. I have not shopped at Whole Foods in at least a year! I can get almost everything from except our meat and fresh veggies from the buying club. We have a garden, but are joining a CSA this year to meet that need.

The best thing we did...which was also fairly difficult...was to remove anything in the house we did not want in our diet. Now when anyone is looking for something to eat they can have whatever they find. I am amazed at how much they love the food that is available to them. They are better eaters now and I feel strangely proud of what we have accomplished in terms of what we make available to them/us.

As a side note, try not to get discouraged if you hit some bumps. When you start taking this seriously you will most likely run into things that you think are good and after a little investigation end up not being as healthy as you thought....stick with it. We LOVE the book Nourishing Traditions. I have found very few things in that book that I would disagree with and most of my friends use it, as well. It is a great resource!

Very interested in seeing your updates!

[Megan73]

I second the "dirty dozen" vs "consistently clean" suggestion.
I don't buy all organic produce but I've read you can reduce your pesticide exposure by avoiding the fruits and veggies that are most likely to contain pesticides (or buy those organic).
Here's a link:
www.foodnews.org/methodology.php