Ok time to get serious about food budget

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Need tips for finding deals on organic meats and produce.

After seeing that I average about $350/month eating out I am on a mission. It's not that I can afford to as I've been doing it for over a year lol but I think I could use some of that for other stuff!!

I'm not willing to change my basic diet as I love the primal/paleo lifestyle!.

I just a went to Costco and spend a gazillion dollars on a bunch of meat and veg and a foodsaver.

Where do you find the best deals on organic stuff?

 

[biminibigblue]

The best organic deals in my area are Wegmans store brand organics. I've had a lot of luck lately with Target's Simply Balanced line as well. Sign up for the Mambo Sprouts newsletter and get lots of coupons for organic products.

 

[crisi]

Are you in a region with co-ops. Around here, co-ops are far and away the best place to buy organic vegetables.

Meat...not so much. Co-op shoppers lean towards vegetarian, so meat tends to be expensive. For cheap organic meat, the Farmers market is good -or find a farmer who will sell you a side of beef, a lamb and a side of pork.

 

[DawnM]

Honestly, if you cut out that $350/mo eating out, you won't have to be so concerned about the food you buy to prepare at home.

Costco's prices are good if you can eat all of that. For our family of 5, buying in bulk is great, but if you are single, it may not be as cost effective.

Dawn

Need tips for finding deals on organic meats and produce.

After seeing that I average about $350/month eating out I am on a mission. It's not that I can afford to as I've been doing it for over a year lol but I think I could use some of that for other stuff!!

I'm not willing to change my basic diet as I love the primal/paleo lifestyle!.

I just a went to Costco and spend a gazillion dollars on a bunch of meat and veg and a foodsaver.

Where do you find the best deals on organic stuff?

 

[Happyjen27]

I'm a Wegmans girl too, so much cheaper than the health food store. I also buy CSA shares, which is Community Supported Agriculture. Pay $525 up front, and get tons and tons of organic product for 20 weeks over the growing season.

If you have a farmer's market, take a walk around. I've found organic eggs, and talked to the people raising the cows and pigs, chickens and goats. They aren't always certified organic, but it's clear they take the mission of raising their livestock without injections very seriously, as well as feeding them whole, non GMO foods. Going to the market is a bit more work, but to meet the growers/raisers it does make you feel closer to farm to table.

I was in your shoes 3 years ago when I saw my out to eat bills were ringing in around 500-600 per month. YIKES!! So, I set a target amount, starting with $250 on the white board. As we enjoyed restaurant food, I would reduce that figure. When we got down to zero, we didn't go out to eat anymore for the month. I weaned us down to $125 per month, and now we don't even have to write it on the white board, we're more used to eating in. I know I couldn't have gone cold turkey on eating out, but setting a goal I was more comfortable with, and making it visible to everyone in the family helped make the decision to hit the pantry instead of hop in the car.

Good luck!!

 

[robinb]

Costco is probably the cheapest. I saw a small organics section in my local Aldi's and their produce is on par or slightly cheaper than the local grocery's organics.

If you are just moving over to organics you may want to concentrate on the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15": http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php .

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I will definitely sign up for the sprouts site for coupons.

Sadly, I don't have Wegmans here we have publix, Winn-Dixie (which I think are filthy), whole foods, and fresh market.

We do have a few farmers markets around and I try to go when I can however I don't make it as much as I'd like to as Saturday at 7am is probably my last times of choice to grocery shop lol.

I do buy citrus locally even if it's non-organic (since I don't eat the peel). There is something truly messed up about our food system when I live in florida and the citrus in the supermarkets has either sat on a truck from ca or Mexico!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We found that a lot of the local farms near us are not "certified organic" but their growing practices are very much in line with organic. You may find the same in smaller local places near you. Sometimes buying organic meat in larger amounts is much cheaper. Maybe find a friend to split a large order with?

 

[robinb]

I do buy citrus locally even if it's non-organic (since I don't eat the peel). There is something truly messed up about our food system when I live in florida and the citrus in the supermarkets has either sat on a truck from ca or Mexico!!

Tell me about it. I live in the freaking DAIRY state and it's very difficult for me to find dairy products from Wisconsin. They are all from Minnesota and Illinois. I end up paying a LOT more for dairy products from smaller local dairies. I would probably do that anyway, but it's frustrating to stand in the middle of a ginormous dairy aisle with 5 different brands of sour cream and only one of them is from Wisconsin (and twice the price as the others).

 

[crisi]

We found that a lot of the local farms near us are not "certified organic" but their growing practices are very much in line with organic. You may find the same in smaller local places near you. Sometimes buying organic meat in larger amounts is much cheaper. Maybe find a friend to split a large order with?

This is very true - becoming "certified organic" is an expensive process for a small farmer - so there are a lot of organic farmers that can't label themselves that way. Or they are "semi organic" - it takes years to turn over a field after the use of pesticides to get certified - for several years there was a dairy in Minnesota that was in the process of turning things over, but since their cows grazed on formerly pesticided fields, it was a few years of turnover.

Our "organic grass fed" side of beef can't be sold that way - but we've known the guy whose cow it was twenty years and know how the cow was raised. But since he has a few cows and some chickens on what is essentially a hobby farm, he doesn't certify - he just sells beef and chicken and eggs to friends.

 

[mum2simon]

I would look for a local CSA (community supported agriculture) for in-season produce. We pay $650 a year for a weekly pick-up of organic local veggies (we pick up at the farm). Pick up is approximately May-Oct (works out to about $27/wk). Feeds our family of 5 with little bought in produce at the store.

We also belong to a UNFI (United Natural Foods) buyers club. We order food once a month that includes bulk grains, nuts, beans as well as frozen, refrigerated and shelf stable stuff. UNFI is one of the suppliers for Whole Foods.

Lastly, (we are vegan), but many of our friends buy their meat by the animal from local farms. Some families go in and split a cow or pig a couple of times a year.

Eating more organic and local often means learning to cook with ingredients that grow prolifically in your area or using cuts of meat that you aren't used to....but it can be done on a budget!

 

[danygirl]

hip2save dot com has a lot of info on paleo and where to buy food