Chicken Broth At Costco

Julia over at The Frugal Find ran up a nice comparison of the Costco prices for Organic Chicken Broth versus making your own Organic Chicken Broth using Better Than Bullion.

Read her results HERE



Thank you to The Frugal Find for your great article and the use of this photo!

Where to buy organic.

When people think about purchasing organic foods and products they tend to think of Trader Joe's and Whole Foods first. And it's true, you can find organics there, but it's not necessarily the best place to spend your dollar.

Most grocery stores have organic sections now.
And you will even find organic in the most unexpected places.

I typically shop at 4 different stores.

Safeway
Nob Hill / Raley's
Costco
The Grocery Outlet

I do go to Trader Joe's for organic apples, soy-free sandwich bread, and organic salad mixes. The apples and salad prices can't be beat. And it's the only place I can find a soy-free bread that my kids will eat. Truth be told-- I need to learn to make my own bread. But that's for another day.

I will also shop at Whole Foods if they are having a sale on something I need to stock up on. I probably go to Whole Foods 3-4 times a year. The last time I got 30 lbs of ground beef for my extra freezer. Organic and grass fed for $5.99 a lb. Whole Foods is by far the most expensive place to shop if you are converting to organic-- I don't recommend them for weekly shopping. They do have some magnificent sales though and organic products you can not find anywhere else.

Safeway carries organic lines and also has several lines of their own. Eating Right, Open Nature and O Organics. ) Organics is the only one certified organic, but sometimes you can find nice alternatives in the other 2. They have promotions often which offset the prices.With a little bit of homework looking for the sales and coupons, I can get my total price to be nearly identical to the non-organic food items.

Raley's / Nob Hill used to have 2 beautiful aisles of organics and naturals. They just recently removed them from my store. Did the same thing happen to you? They decided to incorporate the organics in with the rest of the food. So now organic cereal is in the cereal aisle. Organic flour is in the baking aisle. I get it- but I don't like it. Now I have to go through the entire store to get what I need. I hope they don't think they are going to trick me into putting extra stuff in my cart. They also have a pretty nice organic fresh produce section. I like it better than Safeway's. They have reasonable prices and they food looks crisp.

Costco. Every time I go to Costco I see them expanding their organic product lines. This makes me happy because Costco carries what people buy. They give the people what they want. I love that people want organic. I get my 10 lb bag or organic carrots for only $4.49. One my last trip I got organic chicken burgers with cheese and bacon mixed in them. Nitrite Nitrate FREE! Score! I haven't eaten them yet though--- so the jury is still out. My Costco carried Organic Valley milk, heavy cream, half & half. Organic Valley is a family owned California company so I am not sure if they carry that one all over.  I can get a gallon of organic milk for $5-- which is the cheapest I've seen without a sale or coupon. Their inventory is always growing and the prices tend to be far below Whole Foods. I hit Costco once a month.

The Grocery Outlet is a little gem in our community. It's an overstock store so the inventory is always changing. If you see something amazing, grab as much as you can afford (paying special attention to expiration dates). It may never show up there again! I have found some amazing deals there. Imacculate cresent rolls, normally $4.79 for just $1.49. Organic sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar. Random organic snacks to try out on the kids like chips, crackers, fruit snacks. Organic shampoo/conditioner, body wash, and cosmetics, all for 50-75% off retail. When I got shopping, I go here first. Since I never know what they will carry I spend about 15 minutes going through the aisles, finding the treasures. Then I go do the rest of my shopping at Safeway or Nob Hill to get the missing items from my list.

The rest of my shopping is done online. I save a little bit of my grocery money each week so I can snatch up that unbelievable daily deal. I have purchased coconut oil, spices, organic teeth whitening, all sorts of odds and ends.

I live in one of the most expensive places to live. The Bay Area of California. I have a family of 5. My grocery budget is $600 a month. I typically spend $100 at Costco. $100 for online purchases. And $100 a week for groceries. I buy about 80% organic. It is possible for all of us!

Organic Turkey on your menu this month? Costco is the price to beat.

Costco will be offering Organic Free Range Turkeys for the Thanksgiving Season.
Their price is $2.69 per pound.

After watching Food Inc to remind myself why I do what I do, I am all the more determined to buy free range organic meats.

Costco is currently the best price I have seen and I've looked into about 10 different places.
If you see a better deal please alert me!

Also-- if you don't have a Costco card, did you know you can go in with a friend and use their card? Members are allowed to bring a nonmember guest on each visit.
There is also a promo right now that if you do go in with a friend and sign up for your own card, both of you will get a $10 gift card.


I couldn't find a free stock image of a turkey, so here are some free range cows for you.
Don't they look happy?

freeimages.co.uk

Costco: Emergency Garden Seeds

We are currently working on our Emergency Preparedness and I came across this offer today from Costco. I have wondered about storing seeds long term with our regular food storage. These seeds will last up to 5 years! Plus they are non-hybrid and non-GMO, score!

Some of the seeds included are:

Peas

Corn

Beets

Radish

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Carrot

Broccoli

Cucumber

Tomato

Zucchini

And more!

This offer is valid until March 18, 2012. The price is $42.99 shipped. I am not sure if they are carrying this in the store or only online. It's free shipping so it doesn't much matter. This would be a great addition to your emergency stash or just to use for this year's (and next year's) garden! Click here to check it out!

Organic at Costco

Here are some organic finds from Costco this past week. I am not declaring that these are the best deals you can find out there but they seemed worth it to me!

Organic Sun-Maid raisins $7.49 for 4 pounds

Lundberg organic short grain brown rice (non-GMO, yippee!) $11.99 for 12 pounds!

Late July* organic sea salt multigrain (gluten free) chips $5.79 for 24 oz.bag

Blue Agave organic nectar $9.69 for 2-36 oz. bottles

Garofalo organic whole wheat spaghetti, $9.49 for 8 pounds

Bob's Red Mill organic steel cut oats $4.79 for 4 1/2 pounds (crazy good price in my book!)

In particular I love the rice, pasta and oats because they are perfect for getting started on my short-term food storage!

*I love Late July products but they are hard to find in our area. When I left a comment telling them how much I loved them they sent me a lot of coupons (in a hand-addressed envelope), unfortunately I didn't have anywhere to use them before they expired! 

Amazon: Charmin Toilet Paper Deal

Charmin Ultra Strong

Right now if you sign up for 'Subscribe and Save'* on Amazon for a 24-pack of MEGA rolls of Charmin toilet paper you will pay $22.05 to have it delivered to your door in about 2 days! That is $0.92 per Mega sized roll.

There is also a $0.25 coupon toward your order on this page you can click and 'clip', just scroll down to Special Offers and Product Promotions.

If you go through toilet paper as fast as my family does and you enjoy the fancy Charmin brand then this is a great deal. This also beats the Costco Charmin price, in case you were wondering.

*'Subscribe and Save' is a great way to get the cheapest price on different products through Amazon. You can change the frequency of how often you would like things delivered or you can just cancel after you sign up to take advantage of a deal. Sometimes the prices fluctuate so it is wise to check on their current price before receiving your next order to make sure it's still a good deal!

Organic from Costco

I have been impressed lately with the amount of organic food items I can buy at Costco now, and at a fair price. Here is what I bought yesterday:

Baby Spinach-$3.59/1 lb.

Fuji Apples, 5.5 lbs.-$6.99 ($1.27/lb.)

Whole Carrots, 10 lbs.-$4.49 (I thought they were less before but still only $.45/lb.!)

Brown Eggs (not pastured but I'll take what I can get until I get my own chickens)-$6.29/2 dozen ($3.15/dozen)

Tortilla Chips (not pictured)-$4.29/2.5 lbs.

I will continue to post my organic finds at Costco with each trip. Stay tuned!