How do you stay frugal when buying organic? - Page 2

[nyc55]

Originally Posted by lakeruby

Also, having said that, I recently discovered Vitacost.com where they sell many of the food supplements that my family uses (manuka honey, chia seeds, homeopathic remedies, royal jelly, maca, etc) at really significant discounts. So I'm planning to give that a try.

I definitely agree with the previous posters about making your own cleaning products! As of right now, I don't buy deodorant, cleaning products, laundry detergent or face wash-- I make my own!! It's fun and I feel pretty thrifty too.

I have used VITACOST for the last 4 years, their prices are great, the only place I can get expensive prenatal organic vitamins for half the price or get a lot of stuff for $4 shipping everything..there are also coupons available for them at retailmenot.com for a lot of other webistes.

That being said, I'd love to read your recipes for making your own deodarant, laundry detergent, face wash and others.. I read quite a few books on making your own soap but I can't find the ingridients at the moment, plus soap really dries up my skin so I'm looking into something better. The only things I make at home are face masks and hair masks but I do need to use commercial conditioner.

Please share your recipes, I'd love to try them.


As far as organic food goes, is quite a bummer to read that major organic providers have gone mainstream and aren't much different than non-organic providers in addtion to being expensive. For more info, read the books of Micheal Pollen (http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Pollan..._athr_dp_pel_1) or his articles at NY TIMES. I try to go with local farmers not necessarly organic, and eat as less meat (meat products) as possible, since even that it is not exactly health proof considering how poor the soil is after decades of polluting it.

[HeatherB]

I really appreciate all the comments and tips! We've been crazy-busy getting ready to show our house (first real showing yesterday), so it's been hard to find time to respond.

FWIW, $200 at Frontier isn't all personal care or cleaning products. Though I really do love nice personal care products so am entirely capable of splurging on them. Frontier includes flour, sugar, spices, baking powder/soda, personal care, cleaning products, paper towels, toilet paper, aluminum foil, most of our homeopathic and herbal meds, vitamins, and one-off purchases like dish towels, cooking accessories, bowls/cutting boards/cups, etc. Even hairbrushes, bath pillows, and sleeping masks. We Frontier, but it IS easy to splurge!

I do want to do more vinegar/baking soda cleaning. Thanks for the reminder! I have tried some alternatives (like Dr. Bronner's) for body care, but didn't do well with them. Also super-sensitive to lots of deodorant ingredients, so I stick with the couple of types I've found that I don't react to (can't do baking soda, for one). I am certainly glad to be getting good prices on the things I can use, though!

I have purchased from Vitacost in the past as they definitely had the best prices on Natural Calm. I need to compare their other prices, too. Thanks for the tip!

I'm going to start tracking prices and visiting the farmer's market to see what I can find out. There's one on Tuesday afternoons that we can head to right after my DS's piano lessons, so that should work well for us. It's a good drive, but at least it's at a time when we're already out.

[provocativa]

I started a mini farm to table business to get us fresh local dairy. We are low income, so have different strategies. Learn what time of day and if possible day of the week that the grocery discounts stuff. I have good luck finding clearance organics in poor neighborhoods, and in the ritziest neighborhoods. The in-between neighborhoods people aren't too proud or to broke to snap up the clearance items. I figured out that the guy priced down organic items at Kroger's in mid-afternoon. At the one in a poor neighborhood, you could snap that stuff up- all the organic butter you couldn't afford otherwise. A lot of produce and meat managers do heavy markdowns on Sunday night, and mark down what was on sale the previous week. In rich neighborhoods where folks don't want to be seen with a cart full of manager's special stickers, you can clean up!