Ideas about How to Find and Buy Organic Grocery on a Budget

Guest Contributor
Dec 26, 2010

Food expense is probably one of the top expenses in a household budget. And it is an expense that you cannot get rid of because we all need food to survive. Now if you are trying to eat healthy and not careful, the cost will start to add up even more quickly. This article provides some tips to minimize your grocery bill without sacrificing the health quality of the food supply you buy.

• Compare prices of organic fruits and vegetables at various stores. Generally if you buy in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club, you can get a good discount. However, you will have to be careful because you won’t save money if most of the bulk food you buy goes to waste.
• Go to a farmer’s market in you area. Ask the farmer whether the food is grown organically or not. The farmer will give you a good discount because you will eliminate the price increase by the middle man or a grocery chain.
• Buy a store’s own organic brand. A store brand is usually much cheaper than a well-known brand.
• One of our favorites is to join an organic co-op group and buy directly from them. Their prices can be half of what is charged in organic stores.
• Don’t shop when you are hungry. If you do, you will probably end up buying more than what you need. When you are hungry, the brain sends signals to stock up as much as you can to prevent starvation.
• You do not always have to buy the ones that are labeled organic Some inorganic fruits and vegetables contain pesticides, and it makes sense to choose the organic version. For instance, apples, peaches, sweet bell pepper, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes (also called the dirty dozen) contain pesticides if they are not grown organically. So it is preferable to buy the organic version. It is also good to buy organic poultry (so that it is antibiotic and hormone free), organic milk (hormone free), and red meat. On the other hand, you will not get extra benefit if you buy only organic for several other fruits such as orange, mango and pineapple because they have minimal pesticide risk. So you can save money by choosing the cheaper option if the organic version is not much better than the inorganic one.

If you are smart about grocery shopping, you can easily save cash and be healthy at the same time. Healthy eating does not have to be expensive and out of reach.

(The information in this article reflects the opinion of the writer and not the opinion of healthonabudget.com. This article is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical or nutritional advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider or nutritionist to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation.)