Eating healthy doesn’t always need to be expensive and break your budget. Just a little forethought and a bit of planning, you can be eating healthy, organic foods at a a savings!  In this series, I will be giving you the Top 10 Tips to Eating Healthy on a Budget.

Here’s tip #1.

Eating Organic On a Budget

Buy in Bulk and Shop the Bulk Section

Eating organic on a budget with a buying in bulk at warehouse stores like Costco, BJ’s or Sams Club strategy can really support your healthy eating plan. Organic nuts, seeds, grains, dried fruits, beans, lentils, flours and frozen veggies are some of the foods you can get in larger quantities.

If you don’t have a warehouse store near you, you can also find many of these items in the bulk section at many health food stores and even regular grocery chains more often these days. In the bulk section of a store, they come without fancy packaging and attractive labels so they are typically a lot cheaper than the pre-packaged versions on the shelves – and in warehouse stores, in much larger quantities so you need to think about storage.

Bulk Section Shopping

Bagging your own bulk food gives you the ability to choose how much or how little you want to purchase so you are never purchasing amounts that will later be thrown away.

I have bought as little as 2 tablespoons of a spice I don’t use often and don’t need to keep stocked -therefore I am only paying only for what the recipe called for and no more. Plus, many times these bulk foods organic and fresher because they’re replenished more often.

Buying in bulk at a grocery store for other items can sometimes save even another 10% and more making eating organic on a budget easier on the checkbook. 

I am talking about organic canned black beans, tomato paste or sauce, organic chicken broth, and organic frozen frozen berries & veggies those staple items you use a lot of. If you see them on sale and have the budget, opt for a case and you may get it even lower – just ask the store or the manager if they offer case discounts (if they don’t maybe another store will).

Warehouse Store Shopping

We tend to think that shopping warehouse stores is always saving us money, but that may not necessarily be true all the time. Pay attention to the prices at your supermarket, oftentimes a weekly sale on organic foods may give you bigger savings than buying in bulk at a warehouse store. Before you shop, check your supermarket flyer or online website for sales and take them with you to the warehouse store so you can compare. A good example is canned organic beans. On the flip side, organic chia seeds and coconut oil is less at warehouse stores by a big margin.

Warehouse stores are carrying more and more organic foods like coffee, flax, chia seeds, hemp seeds, almond butter, coconut oil, pine nuts, chicken and vegetable stock, chili sauce, milks, as well as organic fresh fruits & veggies, wild caught salmon and organic, grass-fed meats – buying these organic items in large quantities or packaging can save you a lot of green.

Unless you have alot of freezer space and know how to prep the fresh fruit & veggies to freeze and use later, you’ll most likely throw away more than you can use. For the most part, you’re saving money buying frozen fruits veggies when out of season because the bulk size frozen foods are usually cheaper per unit price than the smaller sized packages sold in supermakets. I always have frozen organic blueberries, organic broccoli florets and organic sweet corn in my freezer.

Other Tips

• Don’t buy what you really don’t need just because it’s says organic. Purchasing and eating the organic snacks by the BIG bag will hurt your budget and your waist (ever hear of marketing hype?).
• Shop with family or friends, split the purchases and share the savings. This way you get what you want and don’t need to store as much.
• Store organic canned goods in a cool, dry location for best long term storage. Take note of expiration dates.

Do you have a favorite tip on eating organic on a budget? Please share it in comments, we’d love to know.

Cindy Nunnery
Email: cindy@cindynunnery.com 
Facebook: poweredbynutrition
Instagram: @cindynunnery

Helping You Look Your Best, Feel Your Best, For Good.™ so you can live a life you love, every day.

P.S. Do you want to know what to eat to Look Your Best, Feel Your Best, For Good.™?

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Feel free to share these eating organic on a budget with your friends & family!