Last Updated on July 14, 2025 by Ashleigh Pinkerton
Over the last few months we focused on eating Organic on a Budget. To tie it all together, here’s a recap of the topics we discussed. I also included a print link, so you can print these tips.
15 Tips for Buying Organic on a Budget
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- Buy in season. This not only ensures you get the biggest bang for your buck, it also means your produce will taste “as it should” – full of flavor and perfectly ripe.
- Stretch some meals with beans.
- Become a member of a CSA or Co-op. Get a box of fresh, all organic produce for a fraction of what you’d pay at the store. Check Local Harvest for a CSA near you.
- Utilize pantry staples. Pantry staples reduce the need or urge to order out by ensuring you can whip up a meal with only a few fresh ingredients from the store.
- Order organic, unprocessed sweeteners from Amazon. They have a program called “Subscribe and Save” that enables you to buy products at a discount and get free shipping.
- Make your own alcoholic beverages at home.
- Make your own junk food. We all like to cut loose at times, but “junk” food can cost a pretty penny and usually isn’t very healthy.
- Grow your own herbs.
- Buy in bulk. Check out Azure Standard – it’s a virtual “whole foods” at incredible prices. You can find anything from grain to meat to sunscreen. Azure has drop-off locations through out the US. Place your order online (they also have a catalog) and once a month, meet at a specific spot. A large truck pulls up and the driver hands you your goods.
- Buy your organic meats straight from the farm and save hundreds each year. Check Eat Wild to find an organic farm near you.
- Make your own breads, hamburger buns, pizza crust, and granola bars.
- Buy whole foods instead of packaged foods. Why pay for cardboard and plastic when you could use that money to buy food?
- Plan your meals. Meal planning saves money. It limits the spontaneous desire to go out to eat and you also only buy the ingredients you truly need.
- Be Discerning. If you can’t afford to buy entirely organic, choose wisely which items to pay more for. A good rule of thumb is to buy organic fruits and vegetables that have thin skins (like apples and berries). These foods tend to absorb the most pesticides and herbicides. Here’s the list of the “dirty dozen” from the Environmental Working Group.
- Find coupons on the internet. A few of my favorites are: Stonyfield and Organic Food Coupons.
could. not. agree. more.
beautiful post!
Wonderful tips, thanks for sharing!
Great Tips Carrie! Thank you for helping me help my family eat healthier.
Great tips, thanks for sharing. Eating healthy is so important and doesn’t have to break the bank!
These are all really helpful!
Great tips, Carrie. I agree with you that it’s about being discerning when you shop and making it by hand when you can!
These are awesome tips. Thanks so much for going through the trouble. I know I needed to read this!
love #12 about paying for plastic and cardboard!
I loved reading all of these tips. Thank you!
good tips! I need all the budgeting tips I can get 🙂
I agree with everything you are saying. I make our own junk food all the time but didn’t realize it until I was packing the beach bag the other day. I don’t have any packaged anything in my house. Cut up cucumbers, grapes, almonds, and peanut butter on whole grain crackers were the snacks du jour! P.S. I love the direction and focus of your message, Carrie. It’s all so intelligent, practical and needed.
Thanks, Susan. 🙂
These are great tips, Carrie. I dont always buy organic but I do always try to save money on my groceries and am really conscious of doing what I can from making my own salad dressing to planning ahead to not going thru the “hot bar” take out section of grocery stores to making my own coffee and not buying it when out. All the little things add up!
These are fabulous tips!
Thanks for the great tips.I’m always trying to find ways to be healthy on a budget & these tips r really useful. Planning & prepping ahead always helps.
Thanks so much for this post, great tips. I will definitely be sharing on my Fb page!
Very helpful tips, Carrie! I definitely live by stretching food with beans and grains, and buying food without packaging. Good suggestions!
Great list! I do many, if not most of these. However, I am not sure you’ve considered just how impoverished your reading audience may be. Many of these are impractical for someone like me living in a 300 sq ft home- I have NO storage space to buy things in bulk. Shopping in bulk seems like what people do with large homes in the ‘burbs. Also, I would LOVE to join a CSA, but the costs upfront are high and they don’t accept EBT cards (food stamps). I have learned though that many farmers markets DO, which is fantastic! Some even have offers to double your EBT dollars to encourage fresh, organic produce consumption among the poorest of us. Find coupons on the internet? Hmm…this would assume one has not only a working printer, but can afford the ink to print them.
Great for those “on a budget”, but some of us are struggling even more than that.
Jenn, I hear what you are saying! One thing I do in a similar situation about the bulk stuff is I stash the main container and use smaller containers in my cupboards. I label the small containers (only use square or rectangle-round is a waste of space! You can even repurpose containers, we call it Redneck Tupperware) with the name of the item (ie: whole wheat flour) and where to find the restock, you’d be amazed at the places you can store dry goods like flour and beans-under your bed, the top of your linen closet-shelves above the washer and drier, in the bottom or top of your coat closet, what about the trunk of your car? plus you’ll have traction in the winter! 🙂
Thank you for the Organic coupon sites! Buying mostly organic items these days I don’t have many coupons! 🙂
Loving the advice! Bookmarking this – your tips are all 100% spot on!!
Love these tips. Thank you very much! One more place to search for organic coupons and such as Renaissance Mama – http://www.renaissancemama.com/.
These are very helpful tips! I think buying produce from a local farmer’s market is one of the best ways to buy organic foods on a budget. The prices are generally lower than store prices, and you can ask the farmers what methods and/or products they use when growing their foods. This way you know exactly what you are buying and eventually consuming. Many local farmers use natural pesticides, so this way you can buy the organic food you love without having to strain your budget!
Carrie-thank you for posting this information. I am trying more and more to purchase organic foods for my home but my husband just feels its way out of line to buy EVERYTHING from Whole Foods. I’m glad I happened upon this post and will try to do what I can to still keep buying organic but save some $ here and there. I’m excited for Spring of 2014 now cause I’m going to plant me one HECK of a garden 🙂
I’m so glad you found this post helpful!
Thanks so much for this! I absolutely cannot go another day with feeding my kids and my husband (and myself) any more crap. But we’re not made of money. I really appreciate all of this information!
You’re welcome! Let me know if you ever have any questions!
Fantastic tips! Thanks for the info! I also coupon stack at Whole Foods occasionally (stack a WF coupon with a manufacturer coupon). I save a lot that way-but still Inonlu but what I need. For example, WF has a coupon for $1.50 off 2 Enjoy Life products (Love the mini chocolate chips-Gluten Free and Dairy Free)! They are pretty expensive, but I can stack the WF coupon with 2 MF coupons of $1 off…that means I can buy 2 Enjoy Life products for $3.50 off! Huge savings!
If you live in a sunshine state (I live in California), DO NOT FORGET to check your local farmers market. Many farmers in the farmers markets have organic produce which is much, much cheaper than the name brand stores.
I would love to join a CSA or the like but we spend enough time traveling in the summer that it is not practical. I also checked out Azure Standard, which might actually work for me, but will need more information on how it works, because of traveling, once again. It was not clear whether one has to get a delivery absolutely every month. Wish this were simpler. I’d shop at a health store more often if there were one closer to us (we hear tell that we should be getting a Sprouts on our side of town next August, but I’ll believe that when I see it).
Yes, exactly! Buying organic foods doesn’t have to be hard on anyone’s pockets. Thank you for sharing these tips to save on organic food!