When we first went started eating organic and non-GMO, it seemed like we took a real hit in our pocket book and that it was no money saving meal plan at all. We took it in stride as we decided that if food is what sustains us daily, we would choose to budget more money there. However, in the long run, we have realized that we save more money  by our change in lifestyle. We save the most money by eating smarter; this means we eat less meat, waste less, and also go to the doctor less.  With each successful year we make adjustments to our money saving meal plan and get better at stocking up when the price is right.
Affiliate links included for convenience.Â
Our Money Saving Meal Plan for Eating Organic & healthy
Buy Local
There is also usually a farmers’ market that is open year round. Find it and check out what they have to offer. Usually it’s less expensive, healthier, and fresher. This is one of our best tools in our money saving meal plan. We can get a bag of organic, heirloom lettuce that lasts 1-2 weeks from the farmers’ market for $2.50 and organic, non-gmo bell peppers for $0.50 each there. From bread to meat and veggies to transplants, I’ve found the farmers’ market to be cheaper than grocery stores and obviously fresher and grown closer to my home. If you don’t have a local F.M. open year round, find farms that have green houses. Most are happy to sell to you directly and again, it’s much cheaper.
For those of us that are meat-eaters, buy local livestock. It might be a little bit of an investment up front, but buying a local cow (or half, quarter, etc) or other animal significantly expands the grocery budget. Plus, seeing the meat you have in your freezer encourages better rationing and less waste. We used approximately a quarter cow this past year and it saved us a lot on groceries! It’s also nice to find friends and family that want to go in a cow together with you if it’s still too much of an upfront cost.
Participate in Community Supported Agriculture and/or Food Co-operatives (CSAs/Co-ops)
This is the best way to buy food if you are just not a gardener. You get a basket of seasonal, local food each week to enjoy and try. It encourages branching out in the food you eat, eating fresh, and supporting local.Depending on where you live, some CSAs may deliver food to your doorstep! Most allow you to pick some of the plants grown each season (hence “community supported”) and all of the food is divided up between participants. Co-ops are run in much of the same way, but sometimes are not necessarily as local.
If you DO have a green thumb or want to try your hand at it, buy some $0.99 sample packets from SeedsNow.com. They are organic and non-gmo and I have had great luck growing them!
Ditch Convenience Food
Not only are convenience foods typically the most unhealthy for us, they also typically are what cost the most. We replaced chips, popcorn, and saltines with wholesome apples, carrots, and other easy, but nutritious snacks. Therefore, we buy lots of fruits and veggies to gnaw on and forget buying a bunch of packaged food. My daughter loves to crunch on some celery or carrot sticks!
This also plays into baby food. We are huge advocates of Baby Led Weaning where baby eats what we eat. That means no/less time or money spent on purees.
Make Your Own Snacks
Along the same lines, make some of your own snacks. In our family, we love to use a dehydrator! We make fruit chips all the time as replacements for conventional potato chips. We also like beef jerky, fruit jerky, sweet potato chips, and more! It usually costs us about $5 for a five pound bag of organic apples vs. spending 5 or more dollars on a small bag of potato chips… plus it’s a healthy snack alternative.
Freeze Meals, Make Batches, Never Waste
We do a LOT of crock pot to freezer meals as well as freezer casseroles & pasta dishes. This means we have “convenience” meals that are still wholesome for busy days. SO instead of splurging and eating something that’s not healthy for us or something that would cost a lot more, we can have something like a beef roast that cost ~$1 per serving.
It’s also easy to make wraps & burritos to freeze in foil. We have done this with bacon, eggs, and cheese breakfast burritos. They’re fully cooked and then individually wrapped in foil to be placed in the oven or toaster oven for 5-10 minutes @ 350 degrees. (Or microwaved with foil removed).
It’s also helpful to make things in batches & with the intention to save. I will make enough to have leftovers and then make the rest in another container to be frozen as a quick single meal later on. We also have made single cup salads early in the week to be consumed through the week.
Any time that anything is about to go bad, I freeze it. I have made blueberry, honey yogurt drops when I needed to use the yogurt before it went bad. And to help plan and not waste, consider using a meal planner. Click the link below to find an awesome option from MamaMiss (where I bought my planner).
80/20 Rule
My favorite of the money saving meal plan that still allows you to eat organic? Drum roll please… aim to eat organic 80% of the time. This means you can eat out a little, eat a favorite snack some, or eat the really cheap food when you have less money. Just aim to do it only 20% of the time.
More on Food & Nutrition
Healthy Snacks for Toddlers
Non-Gmo Toddlers
Pregnancy Nutrition
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 5 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
Jana
80/20 is a great goal! I was just telling a friend the other day that as much as I love eating healthy I still really like the occasional fatty fest and would hate to get the runs because I chose to indulge once in awhile. Not often, but occasionally. The 80/20 seems like a great way to still enjoy that pizza on the weekend without regretting it completely.
Kara Carrero
Definitely eat that pizza and feel no shame! 😉 I will be the first to admit that I love Coca-Cola and I could probably down a bowl of ice cream faster than anyone around, haha. It’s not feasible to live at 100%, so why should we expect it from everything we do?! Thanks for your comment!
Jennifer Fischer
I love these tips! We are members of a CSA/Farmshare and I love it. It truly allows me to feed my family mostly organic on a very limited budget! I loved having Jessica from Conveying Awareness share her tips for eating well on a budget on my blog during Hunger Action Month. She took the SNAP challenge and still managed to feed her family healthy, mostly organic food. http://jennifischer.blogspot.com/2013/09/eating-well-on-budget-why-supporting.html
Kara Carrero
It’s nice to hear others who have awesome experiences with local food and eat organic without spending an arm and a leg! Thanks for sharing the link Jennifer! That is awesome that she was able to sustain such a low budget with such healthy food. There is definitely a lesson in that for everyone!
Tasha Jackson
I love the 80/20 rule. That is such a sensible goal, and I think it is attainable for the average family. The all-or-nothing technique is usually a recipe for failure. We have just joined a local co-op for dairy, eggs, and meat, and we are still looking for a good option for veggies (the co-op we tried gave us too-ripe produce and our local farmers market is more like a fair with only one veggie seller and he is limited and a bit expensive). Thanks for encouraging me to get back on the search!!
Kara Carrero
Thanks! I thought so too. It’s also a REALLY great compromise for kids and a significant other when not everyone is completely on-board with the idea.
Tiffany
freezing food is definitely a lifesaver for me! buying and cooking in bulk saves time and money, and works when you’re cooking for one. great ideas!
Kara Carrero
I can imagine! I wish I ate this way when I was single 😉 I definitely would have made normal meal sizes and frozen a lot more.
Catherine Shaw
I make it a point to look for organic foods and to shop at farmer’s markets. Organic just makes sense!
Kara Carrero
I am glad it does to you too! I just don’t see how chemicals could ever be good for the body.
Carolyn
I’m really hoping to eat more organic this year but my husband isn’t on board because he thinks it will cost too much. Thanks for the tips and tricks! I’m going to try to figure out where I could find a local farmers market. Is there a recipe for the blueberry honey yogurt drops? They sound amazing!
Kara Carrero
Best of luck to you, it’s possible and I am so glad that I could help in your journey! Definitely don’t give up because it takes time to find great deals sometimes. And don’t forget to capitalize on great finds when they come around. Sometimes if I can get bags and bags of veggies for a few bucks (like if they’re going to go bad soon) I will buy them and freeze or dehydrate them. I do a 1:1:1 ratio of honey, fruit, and greek yogurt and put it in a piping bag or cut a corner off of a ziplock bag and make “drops” and freeze them on a cookie sheet. You can do less honey, but I think Greek Yogurt is bitter so I like more sweetness.
Leslie
I have thought about joining a CSA but I thought it would be too expensive. What CSA in the Edmond/OKC area do you recommend?
Kara Carrero
I know that a lot of people love W Bar M in that area. I will also say that Bountiful Baskets in NW OKC is an awesome option.
Stephanie Kay
I plan to visit our local Farmer’s Markets when spring comes! Thanks for sharing via Family Fun Friday.
Sarah Mueller
Those farmers market prices are amazing! We do cook most of our food from scratch and it is a huge savings. Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday!
Sarah Mueller
PS – I’m featuring you this week at Family Fun Friday – please do come back and post again soon!
Kara Carrero
Ohhh! Thanks for letting 🙂 me know.
Trish F
Great healthy eating tips. I have gone totally clean a couple of years ago because of candida. It is just not that easy to get my husband and grown son to switch over. I just showed them an article on how bad their convenience instant oatmeal is, full of GMOs, and the pictures of the rats with all of the GMO tumors. We’ll see if this has an impact. I’ve found some good deals of healthy food at Costcos. Organic virgin olive oil, organic coconut oil, organic chicken stock, organic spring mix lettuce and organic frozen mixed berries.
Amy C.
Healthy eating on a budget is my goal… always trying to save money… thank you for these great ideas! 🙂
Kara Carrero
Absolutely! It’s always a better motivator to eat as best as possible when it’s not crazy expensive. 🙂
Judith Martinez
We don’t feel the need to avoid GMO and organic but we’re working on changing our diets in other ways and sometimes it is expensive. Avoiding the convenience foods is the fastest way (even if it isn’t easy) to cut the budget for sure!
Kara Carrero
So true! That’s one of the first things we cut when we first got married and then we slowly moved towards other changes as well.