If you had to pick one thing to buy organic/natural...

[ShareBear]

I'm on a really tight budget, so I definitely can't afford to go all organic/natural with my food choices, cleaning products, and body care products. When I go to the grocery store, I look through the natural food/body care section kind of wistfully, but a second look at the prices usually scares me away.

But I'm thinking that surely I can switch to a more environmentally friendly version of SOMETHING...it would be a starting point, and later maybe I can do more. But where do I start? Do I start, for instance, by buying environmentally friendly laundry soap? Or organic toothpaste? Or recycled toilet paper? Because I can't afford to do all three, not yet anyway.

So...what would you do if you were in my shoes? What is the organic/natural product that you can't do without, or the first one you switched to, or the one that means the most to you? What do you think would have the biggest environmental impact?

I know, it's an impossible question to really answer...so just tell me the first thing that pops into your head.

I'm already there with the green choices that also happen to be cheaper, like cleaning with vinegar & baking soda, for instance, and using the Mooncup. I'm in the process of switching to cloth diapers for my little ones (slowly building a supply as money permits) and thinking about doing family cloth, at least for myself.

I just don't know where to start with the products that will cost more. Help!

[Erdbeer]

I try to buy organic versions of anything we eat that is higher up on the food chain... meats, if possible, and animal products like milk, cream, yogurt, etc. Non-organic fruits and veggies we usually peel. I make my own cleaning products using vinegar or lemon juice, a little alcohol, and a bit of dish soap.

[dogmom327]

I'm also on a tight budget but with a little effort, I've been able to get us switched over to about 90% organic food, etc. Here's the summary of what I've done:

Food: The key is menu planning, cooking from scratch and buying in bulk. It sounds like a lot of work but if you organize a bit (and I'm not an organized person) it's really not hard. It's also a whole lot healthier than prepared foods. Stay out of the organic food section of the grocery store and don't buy pre-packaged and prepared foods! To give you an example, I can buy one pound of dry organic beans for just over one dollar. A pound of beans makes 6 cups of beans. One can of organic beans is over a dollar and I think it's a little less than 2 cups of beans. So right there, you can reduce your costs to one third. Beans just have to be soaked overnight then cooked for a few hours in a crockpot or on the stove. Make a bunch and freeze leftovers for easy future meals. Oatmeal, rice and other organic grains are also affordable once you buy in bulk.

Try to find a co-op, buying club, etc. This makes a huge difference. I don't know where you live but I go through Azure Standard (www.azurestandard.com) and they deliver to a large portion of the country.

Check out cookbooks that have 'from scratch' recipes for ideas. Nourishing Traditions is one and I've heard good things about Feeding the Whole Family.

Meat and eggs: Buy from a local farmer. Check out www.eatwild.com. Buying 1/4 cow (the butcher cuts it up and packages it for you) and freezing it will save a ton of money. Plus pastured beef and chicken is so much better for you. Also, if you have a local and independently owned health store in the area, they might know of local farmers. Also, just eating less meat (something we're working on) lowers a grocery budget. Beans and eggs are cheaper than meat. Remember you can also make your own stock with veggie scraps (just put leftover peels, stems, etc. in a bag in the freezer until you are ready to make stock) and leftover chicken carcases or beef bones. After I pick a roasted chicken clean of useable meat, I dump it (the skin, bones, everything), the bag of veggie scraps and 2 T. of white vinegar in a pot. I let it sit for an hour then bring it to a boil. Next turn it down to simmer and let it sit for 6-24 hours (longer is better). Ta da! You have the tastiest, thickest, and healthiest organic chicken stock around and it's essentially free since you used scraps. Saves $1.75-$3 a quart for organic chicken broth. I usually get 6-7 quarts of stock from each batch.

Milk: Milk products are tough, but because they are higher up on the food chain (as the PP mentioned), these are worth the splurge IMO. I actually buy raw milk from a local farm and make my own butter and sour cream. This is not nearly as hard as it sounds If you are interested in raw milk, check out www.realmilk.com.

Veggies & fruit: Try farmer's markets or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's). With a CSA you buy a "share" of a farm and get a box of the resulting produce each week during the growing season. CSA's can be found at www.localharvest.com. Also, keep an eye out for farms that are using organic practices but aren't actually "certified" organic. The certification process is very expensive so you can save money by getting to know a farmer and their practices. Also look for U-pick farms this summer and freeze berries and veggies. Canning applesauce and pear sauce this fall when organic fruit is in season also saves money and gets you set up for fruit all winter.

Cleaning Products: I have switched to cleaning only with white vinegar and baking soda. That's it. Extremely cheap and effective. I keep one spray bottle with straight vinegar for the bathroom and one bottle with half vinegar and half water for everything else. Baking soda is a great abrasive so it can be used for bathroom tile or the toilet. For the toilet bowl, pour in some baking soda, swish around, pour in vinegar (it will fizz a bit) and then brush vigorously. So far I haven't found anything that baking soda and vinegar doesn't work for. An added bonus is that I can clean around my baby!

For laundry soap, dish soap and dishwasher powder, I use BioKleen since Azure Standard has a great price on them. I buy a 10lb. box of laundry soap and it lasts around 100 loads (for about $11). The dish soap is lasting forever and I only use 2 teaspoons of dishwasher powder instead of the recommended 1 tablespoon. My dishes come out nice and clean but I also have soft water so if you have hard water, I think you need to use more. I get about 80 loads from one can of dishwasher powder (about $6).

Use cotton cloths to clean instead of paper towels or those disenfecting wipes. Also, cut down on paper towel use and you might be able to afford recycled paper towel and toilet paper products (such as 7th Generation brand). Check out your local co-op or Amazon.com for good prices.

Body Products: Check out this forum. There are lots of good ideas including going "no poo" which basically means not using shampoo any longer. Instead, wash hair with baking soda and use apple cider vinegar as a rinse. It works beautifully! I use coconut oil (the same stuff I cook with and buy by the gallon) to style my hair and prevent frizz. For soap, check out Doctor Bronner's bar soap for the bath and liquid soap mixed with water for pump soap.

It's a lot to think about but try implementing one thing at a time. It's completely worth the effort!

P.S. If you happen to live around the Portland (Oregon) metro area, check out www.sustainablebudget.com. It's a fantastic workshop series on eating organic locally produced food on a small budget.

[pixiepunk]

for me, doing things more naturally has actually saved me a ton of money, not cost me more. i think you can get roped in to fancy products and stuff, but you don't need to do things that way. in fact, i got into doing things more naturally *because* money was tight, and i started questioning my spending choices on just about everything - do we *need* this or that, can we do without it, what would we use instead?

don't know where you live, and that does make a difference as far as availability and price. but, for example, it is generally much cheaper to buy meat in bulk directly from a farm. we buy about a half a cow a year, which keeps us supplied with beef all year long, and it is grass-fed with no hormones and antibiotics for a fraction of what crappy meat at the store would cost. you do have to save up the funds in order to plunk it all down at once, which is a challenge, but then you don't have that expense for months, so after the first time, it's much easier. buying locally grown produce (even if it's not organic) in season, and freezing/canning at the end of the season is a fantastic way to get fresh produce for much less $$, and to have it available all year long. growing your own is even cheaper of course, but not everyone has the space to do that. we also buy organic fresh eggs locally for cheaper than regular eggs at the super market. we switched to raw dairy and are actually saving ourselves over $2/gallon and not dealing with antibiotics, hormones, and pasteurization/homogenization. and we buy in bulk as much as we can from a local Mennonite market - baking supplies especially. all of this saves on money, and also on generated waste, as there is no packaging (or very little) to throw away, compared with buying stuff at the store.

we try to avoid pre-packaged foods as a general rule - they're expensive, especially if they're 'natural' and 'organic.' making food from scratch is waaaay cheaper, not to mention healthier. when we do buy pre-packaged stuff, we try to do it at Costco so that we're spending less on it, and we do so sparingly.

as for cleaning products - i have no idea what commercial laundry stuff costs because i have uber sensitive skin and have never used the stuff, but we just switched to Charlie's soap, and a $11 bag of powder lasts for 3 months. i imagine that's gotta be on par with the commercial stuff in the store, if not cheaper, and with much less waste generated, and no chemicals. i try to clean with vinegar and baking soda when i can, but i also buy the other stuff i need (like dish soap, for example) from a Frontier co-op to save money.

we also buy a gallon at a time of Dr. Bronner's soap - we use it for bathing, washing the kids' hair, and cleaning up around the house sometimes too. we bought a gallon back in July and still have about 1/3 of it left. it was $30. i would've spent that in just a couple months buying kid soap and adult soap and shampoo - even the cheap stuff at the grocery store. and i wash my face with honey, i've been using the same quart jar for about 6 months now and it's not even half way empty.

as for cloth diapers - i always troll the Craigslist and the local freecycle, as well as the FFS areas here and on diaperswappers, and relish hand me downs whenever i can get my hands on them. we are the same way with kids clothes - love the hand me downs, the freecycle, and the consignment sales. it's not possible 100% of the time, but i buy very, very little brand new for my kids, and they still look adorable

all of this adds up to a lot of money saved, a lot less chemicals we're exposed to, a lot less waste generated by our household. it's a journey, and you can't always jump in and do everything right away, so you might have to pick and choose, and starting with the stuff that's going to be immediately cheaper, so you can save up for the stuff that's not.

[lightheart]

1st thing I switched was dish soap and I find myself using less.

for food I try and buy organic/natural for things that the kids eat that me and dad don't or I will buy both regular and organic of the same food and let the kids have the good stuff while me and dad will eat the other.

[Danielle13]

I'm in the same boat as you! To start off for us, we started eating less meat. Now we're starting to make all our own cleaning products and body products. after that we'll switch to cloth toilet paper. So then we'll switch to organic food. But now that I've read the great ideas about food on here I may switch earlier!

[ShareBear]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I'm still having trouble seeing how organic could be cheaper. I already do dry beans from scratch. I get them free through the WIC program, which doesn't cover organic foods (that's another issue, how do I turn down free food? Very hard to do, psychologically, when money is tight). If I didn't get them for free, I could get them for 50 cents a pound. The local co-op sells organic beans for something like $3 a pound. Even in bulk online they're at least $1 a pound, so double what I usually pay (or would if I had to).

I would love to buy locally raised, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, grass-fed meat, but the websites of local farmers show prices of at least $4 a pound even for a quarter or half a cow. Oh, and I would have to invest in another freezer and pay for the electricity to run it. I'm used to paying less than $2 a pound (loss leaders at Kroger), and even at those prices we skimp on meat.

I'll have to do some research to see how the prices compare for things like dishwashing liquid and laundry powder. I would love to find a gallon of Dr. Bronner's for $30. Last place I saw Dr. Bronner's it was $10 for a pint.

I don't do packaged foods (like I said, money is tight) so I can't save there. Basically, I still think organic is going to be more expensive, so I'm going to have to phase it in gradually as money allows.

The local farmer's market is awesome, but once again, the prices are usually substantially higher than the grocery store. The only reason I get to shop at the farmer's market at all is that the WIC program now provides vouchers for the farmer's market! WOO-HOO! And I hear that the food stamp program does too--I'm so excited about this! I'll be applying for food stamps soon. Like I said, money is tight.

Baby is awake--I'll be back.

[jenerationx]

For me, it would be milk.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by jenerationx

For me, it would be milk.

yep, that's mine as well. Generally I buy the "dirty dozen" organic and as much meat and other foods as I can. I make my own laundry soap and cleaner with vinegar, so I wouldn't spend money on organic in that arena. When times get tight for us, I will cut back, but milk is the one thing that I will absolutely NOT buy unless it's organic/hormone free. My kids drink so much milk that it repulses me to think of them ingesting all that crap in non-organic milk.

[honolula]

I also say milk (dairy in general), then poultry and eggs.

I'm still having trouble seeing how organic could be cheaper.

I'm assuming that they mean that the money saved by making your own self-care and household products more than makes up for the additional cost of organic food, but I could be wrong.

I have friends who would buy their 'organic' meat from a local farm in bulk, and store it in a deep freeze. They were extremely thrifty people, and she did the math and told me that they ended up saving quite a bit of money. Of course this will only work if you can save the money for the initial purchase.

[ShareBear]

Milk would be a big budget buster though. I currently get like 10 gallons of milk a month for free through the WIC program. Organic costs what? Three-four bucks a half gallon? Or more? (I really don't know, just guessing.) So that would be sixty or eighty bucks a month for organic milk? Or maybe we could cut back on our milk usage...but still, fifty bucks?

I did think of two things I can do that would be only slightly more expensive. For one, I can cut back on the amount of coffee I drink, from 2-3 cups to 1 cup a day, and with the money saved I can buy free trade/organic coffee. It will still be more expensive, but manageable.

And since our dishwasher leaves soap residue on our dishes, I am going to switch to 7th Generation or something along those lines. I have been overdoing the powder in attempts to compensate for the fact that the dishwasher isn't that great...so I can cut back on the amount I use, and use a more expensive but more natural brand.

Hmmm...maybe I can "trade" milk with my ex...I could give him a gallon of the regular stuff and have him buy me a half gallon of organic/hormone free. I don't know if that would be in violation of the WIC guidelines or not...but I would still be getting milk with the coupons, in a round-about way...

[She2dancer]

Originally Posted by ShareBear

Hmmm...maybe I can "trade" milk with my ex...I could give him a gallon of the regular stuff and have him buy me a half gallon of organic/hormone free. I don't know if that would be in violation of the WIC guidelines or not...but I would still be getting milk with the coupons, in a round-about way...

I am pretty sure they wouldn't care We don't drink cow's milk (we are vegan) and WIC doesn't offer soy milk (only Lactaid - ugh)....the WIC counselor asked me if I knew of someone else that would use the milk. I am pretty sure they get funding based on how many people are using the program, so they would rather see the coupons used than not. My mom has offered to give me $ in exchange for the cow's milk so we can get soy. Works for us

[mama2jackie]

Do you live near a Trader Joe's? If you do, you can buy their brand of non-organic milk, it is also made without hormones and antibiotics, my major reason for purchasing organic milk in the first place.

I would try making your own laundry soap before buying an organic/natural brand. WAY cheaper and very effective. In fact, I'd start looking into anything and everything that you can make at home rather than buying it, it is almost always cheaper.

Maybe try subbing some whole grain pasta dishes for meat? That definitely cuts our weekly grocery bill- if we aren't buying organic meat, it saves us like $40 a week sometimes.

I am concerned about the environment, but I base my organic purchases on what affects our health first (before the environment). For example, I buy organic strawberries, tomatoes, and grapes because they are commonly heavily treated with pesticides, but I generally always buy conventional bananas, melons, etc- anything with a hardier shell or less treated.

As for environmental concerns, I try to find ways at home to be friendlier AND budget friendly- ie, we don't use paper towels (budget sucker and wasteful), I use jojoba oil to moisturize my whole family (pricey for that first bottle maybe, but our family of 5 has used only half a bottle in 8 months), and I make my own laundry soap and cleaners, which easily saves us $40 a month.

[jee'smom]

what kind of jojoba oil do you use? do you just rub it in like lotion? is it really greasy?

[aprilibarra]

I wouldn't cut back on the meat, even for whole grain anything. Making our own sourdough bread. its really easy. bone broths from soup bones from the butcher can really be a nutritious addition. but the nutrients from meat and milk or cheese are really important. I had to learn this the hard way after thinking 2 of my kids would be fine without those things and soy and grain replacements left their teeth full of caries (really expensive and sad). Even if you have to only get some organic or hormone free, it is worth a try. But the animal products are more important to get organic, for kds anyway. I say this because my grandparents were farmers and very very poor. they fished as much as they could and ate lots of dove and other animals when they could get it. but they always had lots of vegetables and grain and would supplement where they couldn't get meat. Both they and some of their kids have diabetes, two children died from nutrition deficiency diseases, and they themselves died from complications of diabetes at 63 though they made almost everything from scratch and did plenty of exercise.

[maxwill129]

My advice to you is take it slow so you don't get overwhelmed. I remember when I first came here. I wanted to change every aspect of how we lived and I wanted to do it NOW! I had to just pick one area to change, researched the heck out of it, and then slowly changed just that one area. Once I was happy with how we were handling that one area of our lives, I picked a new area! For example, I started out by looking at our home and body products. Researched things like baking soda and vinager, organic oils, toothpastes, shampoos, etc and how to make them or get them cheap. Once that area was done, I moved onto food. Then natural health and healing.

Just take your time. You're doing the best you can do! Even changing from eating no organic to 10% organic is better than nothing!

[Sadystar]

Do you have ANY outdoor space? Growing your own organic is the most economical route - and it doesn´t have to be everything, every little bit helps. Even if you only have a windowsill you can grow something, and I once saw somewhere on the internet a truly amazing garden on a fire escape.

[Ruthla]

My very first change was unrefined salt. Even though it's many times more expensive than refined salt, it's still only a few dollars a month and it's far more nutritious. My next change was organic butter.

[Meiri]

When you go to baking soda for cleaning, find a feedstore (like Agway), and buy it there. I get 50 pounds for about $12, much much cheaper than in any grocery store. It's not as finely ground, but for scrubbing, that's better. It works well in the laundry too.

[ustasmom]

I can't go organic milk, either. We go through a gallon a day in this house so that would add an extra $60 to the milk budget which is already over $100 per month.

Costco has milk that is growth-hormone free. It cost .13 more per gallon than regular milk at the grocery store. So, I have been buying that. I will, however, get organic milk for when my little one is old enough for cow's milk. Her brain is still developing at a fast pace, so I will spend the extra money.