Many people have been asking for some advice about affording organic foods and natural products while on a tight budget. When it comes to my family, we often ‘skimp’ in some areas so that we can afford to widen our food budget a bit, since I believe that this is the most important key to living a healthy lifestyle. It’s no secret that conventional foods have literally hundreds of chemicals on/in them! The Environmental Working Group has confirmed that pesticides cannot be washed or cooked off, contrary to those selling these foods and others claiming that they have products that can get rid of them! In order to include more organic foods in our budget, we don’t spend a lot of money on clothes, shopping, when needed, during major sales and most often relying on hand me downs and gently used clothing stores. We also only have basic cable and, until recently, basic phone plans. We live in a small house, and don’t put much money into any type of upgrading or fancy appliances; we have what we need!
Always wanting more money saving ideas, I was super excited when Jessica Brandt, of Eco-friendly Baby Products Made in the U.S.A., offered to share her money saving tips. Following is a great post where she shares how she lives a natural and chemical free life on a tight budget.
How I Afford Organic Food & Non-Toxic Products for my Family on a VERY Limited Budget! by Jessica Brandt, of Eco-friendly Baby Products Made in the U.S.A.
I’m very passionate about this topic, mainly because being frugal & “green” or eco-friendly go hand-in-hand. A question I see a lot is “it’s so overwhelming to make all the changes; I want to support a more healthy lifestyle for my family, where should I begin?” We all had to start somewhere. I didn’t make all of these changes overnight; it’s taken years to get where I am today. Being on a limited income means gradual changes. As my budget allows, I buy one reusable product, and eliminate the need to buy that product over & over in the store.
Another question I see often: “Organic food is so expensive, how does everyone afford it?” or “The only place I can afford to shop is Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store, how am I supposed to afford non-toxic products for my family?” I’m here to tell you that it is possible! Here’s a little background on me. I live in rural Wisconsin with my husband & 17 month old son. My hubby is a self-employed computer technician, and I’m putting my career as a Spanish teacher on hold to be a stay-at-home mom for as long as possible. I do work part-time, seasonally, and design websites from home, bringing in a little extra money. We both have bachelor’s degrees (hubby actually has 2), so we do have student loan payments, in addition to a mortgage & the usual utility bills. When the census asks for your income, we’re in the bottom one or two brackets. We’re a very low income family, but also live in an area where living expenses are conducive to this.
So, here are my top 15 tips for saving money & providing your family with safe products:
- 1. Switch to reusable products, a very eco-friendly option:
Some of the reusable products I use: cloth diapers, cloth wipes, batteries, wool dryer balls, & a reusable menstrual cup. I cut up old cotton or flannel t-shirts & make rag bags, which has eliminated my need to purchase paper towels, Kleenex or napkins. Every, single one of these reusable products save a great deal of money over their life cycle!
- 2. Make as many of your own products & foods as possible:
Things I EASILY make at home, in minutes flat: all-purpose cleaner from vinegar & orange peels, air freshener using essential oils (I learned about the dangers of artificial scents thanks to Raising Natural Kids!), hemp milk which saves me over 50% off retail price & avoids the nasty additives found in cartons of all milk, granola- which I started making after the Kashi/GMO story broke, and haven’t bought any cereal (which is quite expensive) in many months as a result. I will soon be adding homemade toothpaste & deodorant to this list, both of which I have recipes for and am just waiting to try out! Basically, I look at what I am buying in the store, and one-by-one start making those products at home whenever possible. I have recipes with complete instructions on all of these topics on my page.
- 3. Be ultra-conservative in your use of products:
I also see the following question often “Which shampoo/body wash should I use for my 6 week/month old- she’s been getting sweaty?” Honestly, newborns, infants, and even toddlers don’t need these products. I’ve never used anything but warm water to clean up my 17 month old. No matter how dirty he is at the end of the day, which is often quite filthy, he cleans up easily with a warm wash cloth. There are several companies making great products in this category, but they are quite expensive & I just don’t believe in using them until absolutely necessary; I have no idea when that’ll be. We use coconut oil for a moisturizer, when needed. The products that we do use as a family, we use very sparingly. By using the minimal amount needed, and not just mindlessly using a handful of shampoo, we increase the lifetime of the product greatly! This saves us quite a bit of money, and is also very eco-friendly!
4. Miscellaneous ideas to save money:
-I volunteer at my local food co-op 8 hrs. /month & receive a 20% discount on everything in the store!! This is a huge savings, and the co-op has counted on volunteers for its 35 years of existence. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a local co-op, as many of them have been bought out by Whole Foods, but if you do have one, see if this is an option! Whenever I’m traveling I seek out a local co-op & have been pleased to see that many of them do offer volunteer opportunities!! I still spend a LOT of money on food. It’s our largest monthly expense, but it’s not negotiable.
-Then, I buy in bulk at that store, which saves both money & unnecessary packaging. I have a huge collection of glass jars of all sizes & when I run out of an item, I go down to the co-op & refill it from the bulk bin. My tiny little food co-op offers 300+ bulk items. Everything from herbs & spices, grains, legumes & coffees to shampoo & conditioner, dish & laundry soap & more. The great thing about shopping there too is that if I want an item they don’t have, they can special order it!
-We drink mainly water. This may not seem like a big deal, but the savings really add up. My husband & I used to drink quite a bit of juice & not think twice about it. Juice is loaded with sugar, and if you’re not buying it organic, it’s loaded with pesticides, even arsenic! We switched to organic juice for a while which is very, very expensive. We occasionally bought soda, at the co-op. But, even Blue Sky soda, which advertises “real” sugar, is not a healthy option, as it’s loaded with that real sugar. By cutting these unnecessary and unhealthy items out of our grocery bill, and sticking with mainly water, iced tea, and homemade hemp milk, the savings are pretty significant! Also, I never leave home without my stainless steel water bottle filled up with water, which prevents me from needing to purchase a beverage while out & about, and saving plastic bottles from the landfill & our oceans!
-In the back room of my food co-op is a community room which houses a free clothes closet. I get the bulk of my clothes there. It seems many people are eager to get rid of perfectly good clothes in order to make room for more, to the benefit of folks such as myself. My babe wears mostly hand-me-downs, and we go to Goodwill for anything else we need. I can’t justify spending $50-$100 on a pair of jeans when I can get an entire wardrobe for that price at Goodwill!
-Shop at rummage sales or 2nd hand stores. In the last year I’ve been eliminating plastics as much as possible by switching my entire kitchen over to glass & stainless steel products. I was eyeing-up a huge stainless steel bowl on Amazon for $20, but just didn’t want to spend the money on it. The next rummage sale I went to I found not one, but 2 of them, on sale for $.25- sure they had some dings in them, but I could care less! Many of my Pyrex baking & storage containers have come from rummage sales. Also, Ebay, Craigslist, etc. can be great resources for gently used products that you want, at great prices. This is also a very eco-friendly option, eliminating the use of virgin raw materials!
-I don’t have cable. We’ve been a TV-free household for 11+ years; I’ve never missed it & know my son never will either. We do have Netflix, the cheapest monthly subscription you can have; I believe its $7.99/month.
-I don’t have a smart phone. I’m shocked at what some people pay for a monthly phone bill. I have a cheap, standard phone that can make calls & text, and am on a family plan with my mom & sisters. We each chip in $25/month.
-We rarely go out to eat, for a variety of reasons. It’s very expensive. Every time we spend $20-$50 on a meal, I think of all the food we could buy in the store to prepare at home, and I just don’t enjoy that meal as much. Also, it’s tough to find restaurants serving organic & local food that we enjoy, and I just don’t enjoy non-organic, GMO-laden food nearly as much, even if someone else is making it. And, going out to eat with a toddler can be a real challenge, as many of you know!
-We have one credit card that we pay off every single month. If we don’t have the money for what we want to purchase, we don’t buy it!
-I grow a huge garden, and fill a deep freeze to the brim on a yearly basis. Hubby hunts deer for our red meat source. Our friends who run an organic apple orchard raise chickens & pork, which we work-off or trade for.
-We heat our house with wood, which we gather ourselves. We don’t have a lot of land, so we get together with friends & have wood-cutting parties & split it up. This saves lots & lots of money, especially here in Wisconsin. In the summer, we open windows at night & close them up in the morning, and put heavy shades over them, keeping the cool air in & saving the A.C for extremely hot days only.
-I drive a car that has 200,000+ miles on it, but has been paid off for many years.
In conclusion:
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY! Recently the story about high levels of mercury in Crayola Crayons was in the headlines. I had an extra $10 in my budget so spent it on truly non-toxic crayons for my babe. Many would say “$10 for 6 crayons- that’s way too expensive!” It’s my opinion that children, especially young children such as my babe, don’t need 40 colors of crayons. What they need is safe, non-toxic products that still allow them to experiment & have fun. I can’t think of a better way to spend $10! Instead of a huge toy box overflowing with cheap, plastic toys made in China, how about a smaller toy box, full of more expensive but truly safe, ethically produced toys? I’d much rather have ½ the toys, but twice the quality. Also, well-made products hold up over time, and you can even possibly re-sell them when your family is through with them!
I’m aware that some of the ideas presented may not be possible for you. If you live in an apartment in New York City, of course you’re not going to go collect & burn wood to save money on your heating bill. But, maybe 2 or 3 of these ideas had never occurred to you. I REALLY hope this helps some of you get ideas on ways to cut down on your monthly budget in order to provide your family with safe products. As a result, you’ll have a healthier family and hopefully no medical bills as a trade-off! For recipes, links & tips on all the topics covered, please come visit my page: Eco-friendly Baby Products Made in the U.S.A.
Where is your local Co-op in Wisconsin?:)
Another tip: use a clothesline as much as possible! Even in winter, the clothes will dry, although it does take longer. If it’s zero, I use the dryer, because it’s just to cold to be messing with wet things outdoors. Anything above about 25, I’ll hang wash, unless a lot of snow is expected that day. Saves money on energy, is better for your clothes, and they smell lovely!
Great post, i am in Australia and although i want to go organic for fruit and veg it just isn’t possible, america has it easy, your normal to organic fruit and veg is not all that different in price but over here they make a mockery of themselves, for example carrots are normally $1.99 a kilo but organic carrots are $28.99 a kilo …..almost $30 for 5 carrots, its just ridiculous, as for other organic veg i have seen organic pumpkin for $40 a kilo and to think pumpkins are normally between 2 to 4 kilos that can make just ONE pumpkin costing up to $160 ……..where as normal pumpkins in winter cost $0.98c a kilo and $2.99 a kilo in summer. I honestly think Australia needs to re-evaluate their organic produce prices, there just shouldn’t be such a jump…..so when you hear an aussie complain about not “affording ” organic, know that it really is the truth, a normal working home cannot afford a $600 a week food bill just to eat organic, my budget is $200 a fortnight (2 weeks), i would happily pay the extra for organic if i lived in america 🙂 ….as for other things, like pasta sauces and such i do like to make my own, and go as simple as i can on alot of things, just wish i could also go organic on produce 🙁
you can use pay as you go phones and not pay 25 a month on phone service . . . pay 20 every other month instead . . . 🙂
Victoria, all you need to garden are a few leftover containers (halfed 2 liter bottles are fine for small stuff, just poke drain holes in the bottom) and some seeds. Grab some type of leaf lettuce pack for $1 or less, fill a container with dirt, drop in the seeds and water well until you see green. Then water often enough that no wilting occurs. When the lettuce shoots, let it go to seed, and then save that seed. This should grow in your windowsill year round if you have a southern facing window. Change the dirt between batches, or fertilize using composting methods. The trick to gardening is starting … You might kill 90% of what you try, but the next time you will only kill 80% and the next … you get the point. I still kill 40% of what I try to grow, in my 6th year of gardening in addition to living on a farm for the first 10 years of my life, but I believe the only failure is to never try.
Reblogged this on and commented:
yes, exactly! 🙂
I’m from rural Wisconsin too! Rhinelander, specifically! Where are you located?
I’m in SW WI, south of La Crosse, west of Madison!
I grew up in Sheboygan County, went to college in Stevens Point, but we live in western Montana now.
When I started using reusable’s and making my own cleaning and beauty products it was out of sheer necessity! As a disabled single-mom applying for Social Security Benefits, we spent several years living quite homeless most of the time- for a very long time the only “income” I had was food stamps, so I had to figure out how to clean my house and my hair, teeth & body using only what I could buy with food stamps, baking soda, vinegar, old rags – I learned to go no-poo because I just couldn’t buy any (shampoo)! Today we are on a very tight budget, a “fixed income” they call it- basically the only part of my budget I can play with is my food budget and since food prices have jumped to double and more without any increase in food stamps – well we are still where we were then. Only I can’t seem to develop a green thumb, or come up with the initial outlay to properly lay in a garden. Even if I didn’t need to do it in containers- I still don’t think I could afford it. That is where I could really benefit if only there were someone who could take me under their wing and really teach me how to garden.
I am thankful that I was forced down this road, I would not go back even if I had the cash! But I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to be rich to be green, I am living proof 🙂
Great ideas! I’ve been making my own toothpaste, granola, cleaning products, and deodorant and love it. I also tried to do the baking soda and ACV in my hair, but couldn’t get it to work correctly. I had a weird film in my hair. was actually just thinking about using a woodstove, but is it safe to breathe in that smoke? That’s my only concern.
The smoke goes up through a long chimney & comes out far above the house. Plus, in the middle of winter, in WI, we don’t spend a ton of time outdoors. Most people in this rural area burn wood, but it’s never enough to cause any issues.
Try baking soda and white vinegar in your hair, the ACV left my hair feeling too heavy. Also make sure you rinse all of the baking soda out, it needs a good rinse. I love not using shampoo. Good luck! I also just use a lime for deodorant, works really well!
We love Raising Natural Kids. What other groups do you get advice from? Here are a list of ours http://eco18.com/grassroots-groups-for-natural-parents/
I’m always eager to look at lists like this to see if there are more options for us to utilize. We do everything on this list that we can (no place to burn wood, hubby doesn’t hunt, no local co-ops). We don’t have cable, only my husband has a smart phone (for work), buy at resale shops and get hand-me-downs, make everythign we can from scratch. We still can not afford to buy organic produce. I have 4 kids of my own and take care of one more (for extra $) whom I feed. We go through a LOT of produce here every week and I am already at my spending limit with groceries without buying organic. I am spending a bit more on quality pastured meats froma local farm and limiting the meat to about twice a week so we can afford the good stuff.
Do you raise a huge garden & put it up Sonia?
Not huge. We are technically not allowed to have them per our home owner’s association but they only do something if someone complains. But my husband doesn’t want to risk it and have to take it out. We don’t have room for anything too big. We have a raised bed that we over-planted this year so not everything did well. I feel like any time we try to store things away we just go through it so fast.
I’ve never, ever heard of someone not being allowed to garden, and it’s incredibly sad & disheartening. You could be saving tons, and tons of money by growing a huge garden & freezing, drying, canning- on top of it it’s an amazing lesson for your kids on where food comes from! I probably save a couple thousand dollars/year for my family of 3 this way.
Nice blog post, thank you. My wife and I are living on my IT salary with her as a stay-at-home-mom so we can understand your situation. I tend the garden and we’ve been doing a beef-share with our local farmers to buy grass-fed beef at $5/lb. The same cuts we get are in whole foods for $17/lb…crazy!
An idea for your TV watching, you can cancel the netflix and go with free internet sites that host every show you could possibly watch. Ensure you have an adblocker on Firefox as there are popups and embedded ads.
We are thinking of ways we can eliminate the need for working to live and with my previous education as an investment analyst and advisor, a plan to live for free based off our expenses is in the works. Some posts are on my WP site, if you care to check it out. It’ll take some time to get there, but it will be a great way to help in retirement.
Thanks for the ditching Netflix tip!
To clarify, we watch primarily documentaries on Netflix- no shows. Are those available elsewhere for free?
Have you checked Hulu? I can’t say I have looked there for documentaries and I haven’t been on in a while but it may be worth it. Though your Netflix cost seems very reasonable.
At the moment, we have both amazon prime and netflix (netflix will get put on hold or cancelled in spring–we are building a homestead and probably won’t turn the TV on for 6 months once the snow melts). We’ve had netflix for years, but this is is the first time we have tried amazon prime. We are finding that it has a lot more documentaries than netflix does. Amazon prime is $70/year and comes with free amazon shipping and the ability to borrow kindle books.
I love this. I really, really love this. These are great tips and, you’re right, even if someone can’t make use of all of these tips, they should be able to find a few that would be very helpful for their family. Thank you for writing this, Jessica.