Budgeting Tips For The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol – Part III: Join A Buying Club

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bulkgoods

Now that we have covered how growing your own food and buying meat in bulk can save you money, we will move on to the last tip I have for you as well as some concluding thoughts.

Tip 3: Join a buying club or get savvy at buying food online. Nowadays many buying clubs exist to help you bypass the markup charged at the grocery store. The catch is that you have to buy in bulk and it is far less convenient than making a trip to the store when you run out of something, but the benefits are greater than just saving you money. Buying things like oils and other liquids in larger containers saves countless smaller containers that are packaged for the store. 

Azure Standard is a good resource for those who want to buy bulk and happen to be in their delivery area. They sell high quality bulk goods, specializing in organic. If you call them they can give you the name of the drop organizer that is closest to you, and then you can contact that person to see how you can be included in their order. Every few months I will put in an order for things like organic olive oil, shredded coconut, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos, sea salt, baking soda, epsom salts, herbs, essential oils, and other things that my family eats that I don’t (organic nuts and seeds, honey etc). They are the only source I have been able to find of organic, non-irradiated almonds from California, so if you have a nut-eater in your family that could be helpful. They also sell bulk organic produce, and I have had good experience when in season and timed right (I bought a ton of cabbage and carrots once to make a couple of batches of sauerkraut). You can also buy things that store well like onions, sweet potatoes, and squash.

I also use Amazon and Vitacost occasionally to buy food items, usually coconut oil. I don’t know why, but that is the one thing I have not found Azure to have the best price on. Currently I have an auto-ship setting on the coconut oil for amazon and they send me a couple of giant tubs every few months or so. Two companies I have heard of but have never ordered from (I have always been able to get similar products at a lower cost elsewhere) are US Wellness Meats and Tropical Traditions. There is usually some Paleo blogger out there offering a discount or coupon code for one or the other, so if you keep your eye out you may be able to find a deal to make their products more affordable. Lastly, I order my dried herbs to cook with as well as the bulk goods for personal care products from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Conclusion

By writing this series, I hope I have given you some tools to make your task in budgeting for the autoimmune protocol a little easier. Instead of paying full price at the grocery store, there are many things that we can do to bypass the way that we have traditionally obtained our food and become healthier and more empowered in the process. Producing a little (or a lot!) of your own food, buying meat in bulk, and buying in bulk and online are all good ideas to help save money. Like I said in my first article, eating this way is not cheap and I am not trying to create an illusion that I have magically figured out how to make it inexpensive, but these strategies have helped me a great deal in my journey.

Implementing these tips along with a little change in mindset has made all of the difference for me. I have begun to see feeding myself well as an investment in my health and insurance against having to spend money on medical bills in the future. Like I mentioned in the first post in the series, 2011 was a horrible year for me health-wise and I spent thousands of dollars over the course of my illness. The pursuit of continuing to feel the way I do right now is motivation enough to shift some of my family’s spending priorities – we don’t take expensive vacations, we share a vehicle, and we live with roommates to cut down on rent, among other things. If you are currently struggling with how to afford this lifestyle, I hope I have given you some worthwhile tips and encouragement along the way.

How do you deal with the high cost of this lifestyle? Let me know if you have any tips that I have missed!

About Mickey Trescott

Mickey Trescott is a co-founder here at Autoimmune Wellness and a co-teacher of AIP Certified Coach. After recovering from her own struggle with both Celiac and Hashimoto’s disease, adrenal fatigue, and multiple vitamin deficiencies, Mickey started to write about her experience to share with others and help them realize they are not alone in their struggles. She has a Master's degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Nutrition, and is the author of three best-selling books--The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook, and The Nutrient-Dense Kitchen. You can watch her AIP cooking demos by following her on Instagram.

10 comments

  • […] next article in the series will cover how to join a buying club and shop online effectively to save on your food […]

  • Hayley says

    This has been such a helpful series Mickey! I have been struggling so much with money lately- I spend so much on grass fed meat and wild fish…and then when I try to find organic vegetables on top of all that it just becomes too much for me. I felt like I was going to go broke, even while trying to save money in other areas. I went to Costco today with a friend who is a member and I found a bunch of things to buy in bulk- I got wild salmon and organic virgin coconut oil for way less than they would cost at the store. I don’t have the space to buy 1/4 cow or anything like that, but until I can invest in a deep freezer, Costco seems like a good option. It’s harder to find online sources for these things in Canada, but I’ll definitely look into that too. And I can’t wait for summer so I can try to grow some of my own food!

    • Hayley – Happy you have found it helpful! I do shop at Costco occasionally (despite almost having a panic attack every time I go in there…) they sometimes have some big bags of organic veggies, I have bought things like broccoli, spinach and carrots there before. 🙂

  • Erica says

    Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your blog! As a fellow paleo follower with celiac disease among many other inflammatory issues, this has been such a great resource for me. And it’s always great to feel like you’re not alone! Keep doing what you’re doing! xo

  • Thank you for these tips! Buying coconut oil in bulk is an idea of genius…

  • Christy says

    Thank you for these suggestions. I’ve decided a week ago that I was going to give the AIP a try and boy has it been overwhelming. I used to eat mainly vegan/vegetarian which can be expensive, but now that I’ve included meat, my grocery bill has increased exponentially. Utilizing these tips is going to produce fruit in my journey to save and stay within my budget!

    • autoimmunepaleo says

      Yes, I had the same problem when I switched to paleo from vegan. Meat is not cheap, especially grass-fed organic. I hope this gave you some ideas how to make it happen! 🙂

  • […] next article in the series will cover how to join a buying club and shop online effectively to save on your food […]

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