Saving Money on Organic Groceries, Part 1

Hello friendies! 

Welcome to How to Save Money on Groceries While Saving the World aka Saving Money on Organic Groceries.

I think the first and MOST essential step to spending your grocery $$$ wisely is to cut back on processed foods. 

We purchase very few processed foods on a regular basis. Most of them are minimally processed, such as canned tomatoes (though I'm hoping to can a lot myself this summer!), canned coconut milk, whole wheat pasta, and Ezekiel bread. We also buy processed dairy, i.e. sour cream and yogurt, but as we started getting raw milk for $5 a gallon, I may start trying my hand at making some of those products from scratch.

When I worked the cash register at Earth Fare, the folks whose bills added up to the hundreds (seriously, one family bought $600 of food) are usually the ones buying boxes upon boxes of crackers, cookies, kid snacks, and other packaged goods. Just because something is organic doesn't mean it's healthy! Either for your body or for your wallet.

If there are processed foods your family absolutely can't give up, save a little by buying in bulk. Earth Fare and Whole Foods (and probably other stores - ask your local grocer) offer 10% discounts if you buy a case of any one item - this is usually between 6 and 12 items. The discount even applies to wine (at Earth Fare, at least)- you can buy any combination of 6 kinds of wine and receive 10% off the whole bunch!

Another bulk option is via Amazon. They offer a surprising variety of organic grocery products at great discounts. Use their "Subscribe and save" option to get a few more dollars knocked off -- you can immediately (and easily) unsubscribe if you don't want a repeat automatic delivery.

Here are a few grocery items I buy on a regular basis that are nicely discounted via Amazon:

What are some processed foods you'd like to start cutting out of your grocery bill? 


The first processed item we cut out of our pantry was box cereals. Even though Josh was buying the bargain basement price Malt O Meal knock off bags of "Fruity O's" and "Lucky Flarms," we were paying good money for empty calories and highly processed food that we'd completely destroy in no time at all. For breakfast now, I make baked oatmeal and local meat sausage patties or we eat Greek yogurt and fruit - healthier and way cheaper.




[*The Amazon list links to my Amazon affiliate account. Thank you & goodnight.]