I must confess…I don’t have it all figured out. I wish I did. I wish I could provide you with ten simple steps to eat nutritionally and organically on a budget. But no…month by month, it seems like it just doesn’t quite work out as I had hoped. My $300 budget has often resulted in a final bill of $350 (my goal has been to get it to $300, although our budget has a buffer of $50), and that is really with nothing fancy, and includes our groceries and general household products.
With my knowledge of health and nutrition and not being able to buy everything organic has resulted in fear and worry at what the end result might be. The Lord has graciously and gradually brought me to the understanding that He is indeed sovereign! I can fret till I am blue in the face, but God is ultimately in control! I have a strong conviction that we are to eat healthy in order to be fit for the Master’s use, but again, it will not add a day unto my life apart from what has already been destined by the Father!
I have learned a few things lately that have helped me in the process of eating nutritionally on a budget, and I pray they may be of some assistance to some of you.
Make it Stretch – Use Less
The key lesson has been to make things stretch – also known as USE LESS! – especially when it comes to dairy products and meat, as these are the most expensive items and I believe the most important to purchase carefully.
Here are a few examples:
Butter - I love butter! Often times I can greatly over use it as well. It must go on my bread, my toast, my bagel…everything! 
Well, maybe not that extreme, but close enough. I love my Kerrygold grassfed butter, but at $2.49 for 8 oz, it has to stretch. My goal this month was to make it last for 4 weeks. That might not happen, but it has been a good motivation. In an effort to meet my goal, I started using less. Less on my bread, less to butter my potatoes, etc. We are at three weeks and I have 1 oz left! We may just be going a week without butter, but hey, at least the butter we ate was of high quality.
Read more about this wonderful butter on Kimi’s blog.
Homemade butter from raw milk is even more nutritious and frugal! I make my own butter for general cooking and use the kerrygold variety for most of my baking.
Cheese – I buy raw cheddar cheese in 5 lb quantities, grate it all up and freeze it in week size portions. For our family, I try to make it stretch for 5-6 weeks, so I divide the grated cheese into 5-6 bags, and put them in the freezer. I stretch the cheese to last by using week by week portions. It really is not all that noticeable to use less cheese on my sandwiches or as a topping for that baked potato…it works!
Maple Syrup - this is another expensive one! I would rather avoid the sugary syrups at the store, so maple syrup is the best alternative. I have found you can add a little water to each batch for that breakfast meal, and you really can’t tell!
Milk – I have been getting one gallon of raw cow’s milk each week from my local farmer (and at $7.00 per gallon, that’s not too cheap), but we definitely could drink more if we had it…1 quart becomes kefir, 1 quart becomes yogurt, and we are left with 2 quarts for drinking and any various cooking/baking needs. Well, instead of drinking tons of milk, like we could, we are drinking more water!
Remember where bulk buying goes wrong? Mark those jars works for me!
Use Ground Turkey
You can buy quality free range ground turkey at around $2.50 per pound (from Azure Standard), whereas quality grass fed beef can cost you anywhere from $4-6 dollars per pound. Replace ground beef with ground turkey and you won’t notice any difference (except maybe in hamburgers). In combination with any other ingredients ground turkey tastes the same and is still good for you.
Meatless Meals – Lentils
Starting to serve one lentil meal per week has cut back on the need for meat! We have found a few good lentil dishes that we actually really enjoy. (Check out Sloppy Lentils & Spicy Lentil Soup). Lentils are both nutritious and very frugal! I also do a main dish salad every week which helps as well. You can really stretch a little meat this way.
Eliminate Lunchmeat
Quality nitrate-free lunchmeats are expensive! Our Trader Joe’s sell a small pack (10 slices, I believe) for around $3.50. Why not experiment with egg salad or simple peanut butter and jelly! Yum!
Not to Many Choices
I have found that I really only need two different types of oils for all my cooking and baking needs (olive oil and coconut oil over here), and I really only need two different kinds of natural sweeteners for the most part (honey and rapadura)! I love experimenting with new things, but when it comes down to it, it can really add up. So I simplify.
Make It Yourself
Starting to make the majority of my own dressings and condiments has been very helpful on cutting down the grocery bill, and they last! I haven’t had any of my homemade products go bad on me yet! (Check out homemade dressings & ketchup).
Dirty Dozen Guidelines
I have found this list to be the most helpful in guiding me which products should be more of a priority in buying organically. The Dirty Dozen list is also a good resource for which produce items are more heavly sprayed over others. That being said, I don’t buy organic oranges or avocados, for example.
Those are some simple ways that I am trying to serve the best for my family! I would love to hear of some your creative tips in this area!
Lindsay,
We are only a family of 2 (until the Lord decides otherwise) however we eat LOADS of cheese!
When I saw that you buy 5 pounds of Raw Cheddar my heart began to race with excitement. I would love to know where I could find cheese in this quantity.
Thanks for the wonderful tips, we plan to try lentils next week for the first time!
=)
I buy it from Azure Standard – the whole foods coop online that delivers to most areas of the country. Check it out.
I don’t know if this would be cheaper or not, my kids were used to soft margarine so I came up with this as a ‘ready-made’ substitute. I make the following:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons kefir
Beat together until smooth. Refrigerate.
I use this for cooking also, and it makes wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches.
Hello! I am so excited I came across your blog. I am a SAHM who homeschools 2 little girls, so having a budget is a MUST! We eat about 90% organic, the rest free range. I would say planning is the key. We began eating this way when I read Jordan Rubin’s books and felt God was leading my family in a healthier way. After eating this way for over a year, all my husbands stomach problems are gone and we are a healthier family!
So tell me what is your go to book or books and how do you find out how to make everything? Have you heard of the cook book Nourishing Traditions?
My favorite books on eating nutritionally are Sue Gregg’s cookbooks, especially her breakfast one. This got me started on the path to eating healthy. I also use Nourishing Traditions. I appreciate Sue Gregg because she is a believer and keeps a much more balanced approach in her books. Other than that, most of my recipes and learning to make everything has come from adapting family favorite recipes and making them more healthy or just researching online. I use allrecipes.com alot as well. There is a wealth of information out there!
Hi there! I just wanted to say that your butter problem may be easily solved, make your own. Its really easy buy cream, slight cheaper this way to butter, fill a tightly sealing container add a bit of salt, I’m still experiment with the best ratio, seal and have your toddler roll it on the floor till the butter separates from the whey. Cool the butter in the fridge for a bit then pour out the salty whey. If you have a cheese cloth put the butter in that hanging over a bowl makes thing a little earlier. It tastes superior is cheaper, teaches your child all kinds of stuff and you get butter. My 4 year old’s attention gets lost after a bit but then I will roll it with my foot while I do dishes, I put my butter in a new clean dish for storrage in the fridge and there you have it.
By the way I ran into your site looking for homemaking tips and let me just say its wonderful to see how much Muslims and Christians have in common. While we believe different things about Jesus, Peace and Blessing be upon him, we both worship the Creator, the All Knowing and All Seeing. I totally dig creating an atmosphere of a home and if your an average person you crave have a “home”. Anyway Bye
Hi! I just found a link to this post from “Rocks in my Dryer”. Thanks for the helpful post! Do you get Jersey cow milk? We do, and I have found it is 12% fat. (2 cups cream per gallon) I can usually skim 1 1/2 cups of cream off and make 1/2 cup fresh butter and it still leaves it plenty creamy to drink. Out of one gallon I can get 1/2 cup butter, 48 oz. yogurt, 1 quart piima milk, and 1/2 cup butter milk (remnant from making butter) and still over quart for drinking! Hope that helps!
I should be sleeping right now, but I find this site so inspiring. I live in the heart of suburban Northern California and often times feel very alone with regards to fighting mainstream living. I will be visiting with you ladies much more often, so thank you!
Of course I crave for awakening to this fantastic life and each and every gift I have been blessed to receive — including every neighbor rushing to drop off their kids at day care to get working to pay for those fancy crome wheels and upgrade kitchen coutertop.
What I really like about your statements is that you adjust slowing–I started buying smart ground and more turkey and other alternatives — while I got a few funny faces from my hubby I learned to keep my info to myself until he tasted how delicious the alternatives can be. Tonight he agreed that he cannot taste the difference and I was pleased to have made a solid step into transitioning our diet. We aren’t overweight to speak of and have two lean boys but I REALLY want my boys to live healthful lives and know what is going into their systems as they become men.
Thank you for all the information–this is a wonderful place to visit. While I don’t buy raw milk and I don’t know what Kefir is I will still continue to visit, learn, comment, and adjust my families lifestyle to please Him and to live clean, simple lives as much as we can
Thank you! Organic milk is $7.49 per gallon and we have been going thru 3 gallons per week–apparently that is much more than you recommend for frugality. I am going to have to look into our milk usage … I often wish for a cow — I am sure I could get some Desperate Housewives to borrow some now and again!
Hi Lindsay,
I stumbled upon your blog through a link to your breadbaking post. I am going through the same thing with our food budget. It seems to be climbing. Thanks for the article. I hope you don’t mind if I put a link to your blog onto mine.
Holli
http://settledinmyhome.blogspot.com/
My budget is also $300/month, but frequently seems to creep up to around $350. It’s so frustrating! Especially when I feel like I’m doing well a particular month and then still find myself over. Ugh! So glad to hear this doesn’t only happen to me!
These are some good tips. I wish I could use the peanut butter or egg salad trick with my husbands lunches. He’s not into either of those choices (HATES egg salad especially). I have been buying the pricier nitrate free lunchmeat for him, but I try to stock up if it’s on sale. Sometimes I do hummus and pita instead a sandwich for him, but he usually doesn’t have access to a microwave, so there aren’t many options of what I can send. It’s worth the little bit extra for the good lunchmeat though. It’s cheaper than him eating out. And usually if he doesn’t take a lunch with him, he just doesn’t eat during the day, which is not healthy!! So it’s worth that extra money to me to know he’s taken care of.
I love your thoughts…
Food prices are really coming up!
P.S. Have you made chese?
No, I have not yet explored the cheesemaking world. Not quite there yet. Would love to hear if others have made cheese.
Lindsay,
During my nutritional quest this year I too have experienced a fretful stress over feeding my family properly. I also had to realize that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. But, I thoroughly agree that we need to take care of the physical bodies God has given us so we can be used better by Him.
I live in Canada and it is quite difficult to source organic food etc. in bulk here, especially raw milk. I recently found a farmer close by who was offering shares in a cow share program. I was so excited to find a source of raw milk but I had to make the very difficult decision not to purchase a share as it is illegal in Ontario to sell raw milk, even through cow shares. (The only other farmer in Ontario that sold raw milk is now on trial.) I felt as a christian it would not be right. (I would welcome any opinions on this as I have christian friends who tell me to go ahead and purchase it in this way) I was heartsick after the decision I made as organic milk is $9.99/4 litres. Well, I’ve discovered that the grocery store where I buy it typically cuts the price by half (usually on Friday) when the milk is near its’ expiry date. I buy it and either freeze it or make it into kefir if I can’t drink it right away. I find the milk lasts a fair bit beyond the expiry date anyway. So I guess that’s my savings tip for those that don’t have access to raw milk!
Elaine,
I can understand the difficulty of your milk situation. My recommendation would be to start using coconut milk. It is so good for you and probably a lot better than organic milk (considering organic is still pasteurized and homogenized). If I were in your shoes, I would buy only a small quantity of organic milk for cereal, etc. and then use coconut milk for all the rest (baking, kefir, yogurt, or whatever else). It is a wonderful alternative to cow’s milk! That would be my recommendation.
Blessings!
Hi Elaine,
I too am from Ontario and understand your predicament. Have you thought about the possibility of buying a cow and milking it yourself? There is nothing in Ontario law that states you can’t be self sufficient and you wouldn’t be buying anything except feed for your cow. This would be, of course, for your own consumption and you can have as much organic, raw milk as you want. Just something to think about.
I have a suggestion that helped me in years gone by when I was trying to make healthy meals on a limited budget.
If you’re monthly groceries are budgeted for $300 that would mean that on an average you are budgeting $10 a day for meals. Take each of your meals and figure out how much each costs. If the cost of you’re meals for the day are going to come to more than the budgeted $10, then try changing some of the items you’re preparing.
Start by creating a spreadsheet (or you can do it longhand and with a calculator like I originally did) that lists the price of each and every ingredient that you purchase at the grocery store. (Ex.: 1 (16 oz.) can garbanzos cost 69 cents). Then take each recipe you have and figure out how much each ingredient in the recipe cost (using the spreadsheet for calculations). Add this up and you have the cost for that recipe. Then divided that number by the number of servings for that recipe. Now you know how much each serving is and can figure out how much your meal will cost. Do it for all items served in your meal, even the butter you use on your bread. (Of course, it’s possible that every time you spread a teaspoon of butter on your bread you might think “that cost me 5 cents.” — $2.49 for 8 oz. would be $2.49 divided by 16 Tablespoons per 8 oz. divided by 3 teaspoons per Tablespoon equals about 5 cents per teaspoon.)
Now when you plan your menus you’ll know ahead of time what your grocery bill will be. I use to allow 5% to 10% for price changes so that I would always be under. If you allowed this it would change your expected estimated monthly groceries to be $270 to $285.
It can be a challenge at first, but after a while it becomes really easy to stay within your budget and still serve healthy meals. You just have to be creative. And after even longer you develop a real feel for estimating how much a meal costs.
Lindsay, I love all your information, thanks for sharing, have you ever made a homemade blue cheese dressing?
No, I have not tried a blue cheese dressing. I am not too found of it, nor is the price very attractive.
I am sure you can find a recipe online though!
Thanks for the comprehensive list of tips! These are great. One question, why is your milk $7.00 a gallon? What kind of milk is that?
I purchase raw cow’s milk from a local farmer. Check out the reasons why here. I clarified that above.
I am not sure if Kerrygold butter is ever on sale but if it does do you know that butter freezes well?
Yes, I definitely divide it in half and freeze a portion with each batch I buy. Works great!
Lindsay,
My mom used to combine maple syrup with honey (which is a lot cheaper, usually, if not raw). This helped us adjust to real maple syrup, because it made it sweeter, and also made it a bit more affordable.
I am so glad that you like the Kerrygold butter, by the way.
I am having to build up my teeth strength right now, and butter oil and cod liver oil do the trick, so for once I don’t have to worry about making it stretch, and have as much as I want! LOL. I do usually have to try to make it stretch. But that has meant using one half pound a week for our family (it has played a mainstay in our diet!). 
I would love to know how to get started with buying local dairy from my own state. Any suggestions?
Check out the Eat Wild listing and Real Milk listing. You can search both of these sites for your state and find local listings of raw milk sources. Hope that helps!
Great post! We do a lot of these, a bit at a time, but I like your suggestion of portioning out items like cheese . . . the biggest cheese eater in our house, though, is our little guy so we’re doing alright. Maybe when he gets a bit older though!
I’m slowly working on cleaning out our pantry of processed (pasta, etc. which we NEVER eat anyway – I should just donate it, it’s been in my pantry forever) foods and have tossed the canola oil and shortening in favor of coconut oil and olive oil and butter (and sesame oil occasionally if I’m cooking Asian). Thanks for the continued inspiration!
Oh! I almost forgot – next week I’m hosting my first series on my blog with a recipe daily for lacto-fermented foods. Come by!!
Best,
Sarah
Great post, Lindsay!
I totally agree. I love the “Dirty Dozen” list too.
By the way, have you had Shelton’s meat from Azure? They have a nitrate-free “lunchmeat” that my DH really likes. I don’t buy it often, but when it does go on sale, I buy the case, and keep it in the freezer. It’s cheaper than Trader Joe’s. (The regular price equates to about $2.92 for 12 oz; but obviously less when it’s on sale.) We do a lot of the “substitutes” you mentioned, though, like egg salad or peanut butter!
Blessings,
Michele
http://www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
Thanks Michele for the tip. I do purchase the Shelton brand of frozen ground turkey from Azure, but have not tried the lunchmeat. Great idea!
I agree with you 100 percent! The problem is making the switch especially when my husband is a huge meat eater! That is one thing I really would like to cut back on!
Just try once a week to start! You just start sneaking them in.
Lindsay,
How and when did you decide you wanted to go organic in your eatting and cooking? Was this something you were raised with or did you and your husband decide this was what God most wanted for you and your bodies?
My family started out on a healthier/organic diet after my younger brother was diagnosed with diabetes. I was in my teens at the time. We didn’t eat all organic, but were definitely trying to balance our eating more and to keep his numbers in line, but as I have read a lot more health books over the years (specifically Sue Gregg resources, Nourishing Traditions, & the Maker’s Diet), I have personally come to the conclusion and conviction that trying to eat nutritionally and healthy is what God would have for our family, to keep us fit for His use and to be good stewards of the creation and resources He has entrusted to our care.
I stumbled upon your blog and have added it to my blog bookmarks! Thank you for sharing your heart. It has been a blessing to me.
On to this particular post. Have you heard of Stevia? We use it as a sweetener as well. I have heard that the liquid is fairly bitter, but the powder is delicious!
Yes, I have used powdered stevia, but not consistently. I enjoy its use to sweeten homemade ice cream and whipped cream, for example. I am also using it in exploring the realm of homemade toothpaste. It has such a poignant flavor, so I have a hard time really liking the flavor.
GREAT post!! I too struggled at first with feeling like I had to eat and feed my family perfectly, in fear of what would happen if I didn’t. I’ve stopped being so afraid of making a mistake, knowing, like you said, God will take care of us and we’re just doing our best.
Good post. In my slow quest to eating healthier, I am also realizing that even if it costs more eating healthier is worth it in the long run.
Great list! Some I’ve thought of and others I haven’t. Thanks!
I’m with you Lindsay- my budget is creeping up, and I’m not buying anything extra at all! But, it is so good to trust that God is not surprised by any of this- He already knew the budget crunches we’d face, and He promises to care for our needs (not necessarily our wants), in the midst of it all. And your thoughts on God knowing your days anyways sounds so much like the thoughts I posted this morning!
I’m amazed you can keep your butter use so low! But I use mine in some cooking and baking, not just on prepared food, so I’m sure that makes it add up faster.
I agree about keeping it simple. I use the same basic oils and sweeteners as you do, and don’t feel the need to expand it at all. Having to keep less different types of ingredients stocked up let’s me buy in bigger amounts for a better deal, and it’s just so much easier, isn’t it?
I should clarify that I did forget to mention that I do purchase unsalted butter for the freezer to use for any baking, but it usually is just the simple rBST free version from Trader Joes ($2.49 for 1 lb).
I usually combine half and half with coconut oil in my baking to get the good quality fat from the oil. That has been a delicious addition to my baking! So that being said, I probably do use 1 lb of unsalted butter in a 4-5 weeks time for baking.
Also, I do have a husband that can live without butter, so that makes it easier!