6 Tips on Saving on Organic Food
Let’s face it, organic food can be expensive. But it’s really not as out of reach as one might think, especially when you follow my 6 tips for saving on organic foods below. I’ve been slowly migrating to more and more organic and natural foods over the years because I want to avoid artificial sugars and colors and even non-natural pesticides that are so rampant on grocery store shelves. Safeway makes it easy with their large selection of organic produce and natural and organic chicken and beef products.
Here are a few items that I always buy organic or natural, because the prices are not significantly higher and because it’s worth it to me:
Organic milk, bread, spinach, kale, blueberries, bagged salads, organic fruit snacks, strawberries, apples, popcorn, frozen vegetables, organic corn tortilla chips, cage free eggs and tofu. I also stock up on organic ground beef and chicken from Safeway when the ground beef is on sale for $6.99/lb or less and the chicken is $5.99/lb. I feel with all the savings I get on food, snacks, home care items and personal care items from Safeway, I can splurge on organic foods.
Start small, don’t feel like you need to make the switch to purchase everything 100% organic every time. That is costly if you don’t already shop this way.
6 Tips for Saving on Organic Foods:
Shop the Sales and In-Season Produce
Browse the grocery circulars online, in the store ad or in the Safeway app and get the organic items that are on sale. Often times there are additional produce sales in your local store that are not in the ad, so be sure to stop by the organic produce section to see what’s on in-store special each week. Shopping in-season and locally grown produce is an easy way to save. Organic berries and stone fruits will absolutely be cheaper during the summer months when peaches, plums and strawberries are in season. If you purchase these items in the winter, you will pay more.
Plan Your Meals Around the Deals
Meal planning is key to saving money on groceries, conventional or organic. If you buy something because it’s a great deal and then find you don’t know what to make with it and it goes bad, you are wasting money. If you find a great deal on organic zucchini, then spiralize it and make a zoodles dish. When organic oats are on sale, buy a container and make your own granola or granola bars. It’s SUPER EASY and you will feel better about what you eat and feed your kids when you start to make this transition. I personally have several recipe apps on my phone that I use to search for recipe ideas based on ingredients on sale or what I have on hand. You can also use Pinterest, google and any number of recipe sites for ideas.
Use Digital Coupons and Rebate Apps for Additional Discounts
The Safeway Just for U app frequently has digital coupons available on their O Organics and Open Nature products as well as other organic and natural products like Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, Earthbound Farm and more. Simply search “organic” in the app or on the site and you’ll see all the best organic deals and coupons. The best part – the more organic products you buy at Safeway, the more personalized deals and prices you will get. I always have O Organics broth for under $1.99 on my app, and frequently have personalized prices for organic salads, carrots You can also use Checkout 51 and ibotta which frequently have produce deals available to help you save even more. While it may just be $.25 here and there, it can add up if you submit for produce rebates weekly.
Compare Prices of Organic Foods to Conventional While In Store
You’ll find that some organic produce is really not much more than conventional and in some cases it’s cheaper. Case in point – organic cucumbers are $.99 each, compared to conventional cucumbers at $.79 each, organic kale is $1.29 each bunch compared to $.99 per bunch for conventional kale, organic swiss chard and collard greens are $1.29/lb compared to conventional greens at $.99 each bunch. Organic gala apples are $1.98/lb, compared to conventional apples at $1.79/lb. In each of these instances, you are getting organic food for only 20% more than conventional, but you are getting all the health benefits that comes with eating organic food. While not every organic item will be only 20% more than conventional, if you start incorporating more organic purchases, you will find over time the prices will go down and you will get more personalized deals from the Safeway Just for U app for organic products. Oh – and O Organics Tofu is cheaper than conventional tofu.
Stock up when Prices are low
The same rules apply to organic purchases as conventional. When you see a great deal on organic food, stock up! While fresh produce and dairy will go bad and can’t be stock-piled, packaged and frozen organic foods can be added to a stock-pile easily. When you see organic crackers, popcorn, chips, juice, salsa, for $1.99 or less – don’t just buy one, buy as many packages as you need to get through until the next low sale price in the sales cycle, which will likely be 8-10 weeks.
Shop Store Brands
Safeway makes it easy to save on organic food with their O Organics line . You’ll find over 400 organic products including fresh and frozen produce, free range chicken, grass fed beef, eggs, chips, crackers, cookies, cereal, oats, juice boxes, fruit snacks, hummus and more. If you have a favorite food, there is likely an organic option from O Organics available at Safeway. Safeway also puts out these great digital coupons for their O Organics line frequently, which makes it really easy to stock up on your favorite organic products, or even try something new.
What other ways do you save on organic and natural foods? Let us know in the comments below.
SuperSafeway is a blog devoted to helping you find the best deals at Safeway in the Denver division. Every week we slice and dice the ad and tell you the best deals at Safeway with and without coupons. For more low prices, check out Super Safeway’s weekly ad coupon matchup page. Want to stay updated on the best deals? If so, make sure to like Super Safeway on Facebook, join our Facebook group, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and subscribe to our newsletter.
* Please note – Savings information is based on Colorado pricing and the Safeway Coupon Policy for the Denver Division which includes Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota. Your market may vary. *
