New to our Juicing on a Budget series? Checking out the first two posts here.
At this point, you might be thinking I would love to add more raw fruits & vegetables to my diet, but it’s too expensive! I get it. Remember? That was one of my biggest objections before I got into this whole juicing thing.
So, first, a little background. Right now my grocery budget for our family of four is around $400/month. I typically shop once a week at New Seasons and a couple times a month at another grocery store or produce market. We are trying to eat as many whole foods and as few processed foods as possible.
I have been able to make around 32 ounces of fresh juice 5-7 times a week without blowing our budget. Here are some ideas to make it work (most of these are also applicable to making smoothies or eating more fresh produce in general).
Top 12 Ideas for Juicing on a Budget:
1. View good food choices as investments vs. expenses. While this doesn’t add money to your grocery budget, I think it’s an important place to start.
If you are just counting the expense, making healthy diet changes will never make financial sense. Processed convenience food will be cheaper every time. To stick with it, you have to make the decision that spending more in this area is worth it to you.
2. Cut back on other areas. I think there is some wiggle room in every budget. For example, my family has cut back on meat, sweets, and eating out. I am trying to only prepare meat when we are craving it, serve dessert as an occasional treat vs. a daily habit, and eat out only for special occasions. So far, these changes have all been positive for our family. The added benefit is that they have opened up some breathing room in our food budget.
What would it be for your family? Packing brown bag lunches? Cutting back on pop or coffee? Making more food from scratch? I bet there’s room in there somewhere.
3. Compare produce prices to other whole foods. For instance, before I started juicing I wouldn’t hesitate to pay $2.45 per pound for organic quinoa or $3.26 per pound for whole almonds. So why does 78¢ per pound for organic celery or 99¢ per pound for organic oranges seem so expensive?
$25 worth of produce might not fill your grocery bags like spending that much on a strategic coupon trip to Safeway, but that’s not really a fair comparison. Weighed against other whole foods on your grocery list, produce prices are competitive, if not cheaper.
4. Buy organic when possible, conventional when not. I love supporting small, organic farms. I am willing to pay more for their produce. However, some weeks I have to make a decision between the $2.49/lb. organic apples and the .69/lb. conventional apples.
Sometimes I have to defer to my budget, and other times I can practice my preferences. I just do the best I can and don’t sweat it either way. Do what works best for you. Keeping a small copy of the Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen in my shopping notebook helps, too.
5. Shop local produce markets, farm stands, or delivery services. You can often find great deals at local produce markets, although they don’t have as many organic options. Some sell bins of conventionally-grown juicing apples or pears for a steal at around .39/lb.
I’ve also heard great things about Organics to You, which even offers a weekly Juicer Bin for $33. Local CSA’s, which I will be talking about more next week, are also a good option.
6. Buy produce in bulk. Carrots and beets, for example, can be purchased in large 25-pound bags. New Seasons sells their 25-lb. bags of organic juicing carrots for $19.99. Produce markets, like Nature’s Country Store in Damascus, Oregon, sells 25-lb. bags of conventionally-grown juicing carrots for $9.99, and Grower’s Outlet in the Portland-area sells them for $8.95.
In cool weather, store these big bags outside. In the summer, they could be kept in a cool basement or garage. If that still seems like too much produce for you, consider splitting a bigger purchase with someone else. Also, talk to your produce manager or local farmer about possible discounts for placing larger orders.
7. Juice random pieces of fruits & vegetables that usually get tossed into the compost bin. Asparagus tips, beet greens, celery ends, broccoli stems, carrot peels, pineapple cores, parsley stems, kale ribs, or cabbage pieces produce a surprising amount of juice. Just toss them in a bag in the refrigerator until you are ready to juice!
Note: My Breville juicer is sturdy enough to grind up tough produce pieces. Check your juicer’s instruction manual to see what it can handle!
8. Pick local produce or grow your own garden. Pick your own fruits & berries when they are in season and freeze them for use through the rest of the year. Blueberries, peaches, apples, pears, and strawberries are all easy to pick and delicious in a juice or smoothie.
Having a garden is a great way to supplement your store-bought produce. Even if you are limited to an apartment patio space, you can still grow a few vegetables! Start with greens like parsley, spinach, kale, lettuce or chard. You can pick the leaves throughout the season, stimulating more growth.
Find out how to build a raised garden bed here.
9. Create juices based on what’s in season and on sale. For example, when organic kale is on sale for $1.50/bunch, I buy 4-6 in one trip, and we will drink more green juices that week. Find a good deal on pineapple or spinach or carrots? Let that dictate the types of juices you make instead of using juice recipes to create your grocery lists. Find out how to save money on real food here.
10. Drink fresh juices as meal replacements or supplements. My husband doesn’t like eating breakfast early in the morning so a large juice on the way to work has been the perfect solution for him. It’s a great way to start the day and keeps him going until his morning break. I eat a small lunch with my large juice. Also, fresh juice is my absolute favorite post-workout recovery drink.
Suddenly, juice doesn’t seem like an extra expense. It is a breakfast and sports drink replacement and a lunch supplement in our house. And yes, we still eat lots of “real” food.
11. Find another use for the pulp. We own a centrifugal juicer which grinds up the produce, spins out the juice, and dumps the dry pulp into a container on the side. Currently, we just compost the pulp, but I know several people who use the pulp in things like muffins, meatloaf, or crackers. Or chicken feed!
12. Pick dandelion greens in your backyard. Ok, so I haven’t actually tried this one, but hey nothing says “frugal” like eating weeds out of your lawn! And I wanted to end my list with an even number.
So…
Does juicing add a bunch of new ingredients to your grocery list? Yes. My cart is now piled with bags of fruits & vegetables each week, both for juicing and eating raw. And I love it.
Does juicing add a strain on your food budget? It does cost more, but by putting this list into practice, I can make it work within my normal budget. If your food budget is lower per person, you might have to bump it up a bit.
If you are still feeling overwhelmed, just ease into it with 2-3 juices a week. Once you get into a routine, work your way up to a number that is good for your family and your budget. I am confident you will find that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Find more juicing posts here.
Looking for more juicing inspiration? Check out The Complete Book of Juicing here. Amazon has tons of other juicing books — both real books and Kindle.
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Can you recommend the cheapest organic carrot for juicing? The one I found so far is Costco at $0.60 per pound.
Great advice! I’m starting a 30 day juice feast as we speak!
I now have new health complications that mean juicing is more important than ever, although now I am limited in my choices. Someone asked about peeling, and depith/or de seeding. I do take out the citrus seeds. For those who say eating the whole veggie or fruit is better, I would say it depends on your body. Certain health issues, like I have, cause the body to work harder, if you do include the fiber. The kidneys work harder, when you include certain fibers as well. For most people though, the fiber in the whole fruit or veggie is good for you. It slows down digestion, and that means you feel full longer, which aids in weight management. Also, someone asked about how long you can store the smoothies, as in freezing them. greensmoothiegirl addresses all these questions. I usually make enough for just that day, but usually just that meal. I don’t mind washing out the appliance. Good health is more important than convenience.
I am new to juicing and have been making twice a week trips to Whole Foods. While i love the store, it is getting expensive!! I usually make enough juice for 2 days. Is costco the only answer? I live in MN and we have a very short growing season, so farmer’s markets are sparse until June. Thanks for all the suggestions and tips!
I recalled this series from over a year ago and just went through it again. My best friend’s mom had a Juicer which she never used and asked if I wanted it! Bonus! I have just started down the juicer path this week. Great starter series. I now need to rent the movies which converted your family members. Maybe then I can get my husband on board (although he might jump on anyway, he loved the first glass of orange juice I gave him this morning – he drank it down in one big gulp!).
And one more great resource on how to make produce last longer once you buy it (some really great tips!!)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/27-ways-to-make-your-groceries-last-as-long-as-pos
Super-good article on the budget issue – also gives recommendations on produce (what to buy organic & what you don’t have to).
http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2013/05/14/how-to-eat-healthy-on-a-budget/
Thea- I’m from Upstate NY, too..and really wish we had stores like that around here as well… especially when it’s winter and farmer’s markets aren’t an option yet. I can’t wait until they open soon =) I travel to Syracuse sometimes and try to stop at Green Planet Grocery in Fairmount on the way back home.. I have found a few items there that are cheaper than Wegmans..and also a few that are cheaper AT Wegmans..
Thanks for the tips, I’ll definitely use them! Especially buying what’s on sale to dictate what juices I’ll make.
UGH! I live in upstate NY and none of these stores are in my area. In fact, the best place I can think of to buy produce is the Farmer’s Market which will hopefully open soon. Feel blessed to have those wonderful places to shop!
I have a juicer and an Omniblend 5. My friend turned me on to green smoothies and greensmoothiegirl on youtube, who has lots of info.I entered this world of juicing dragging my feet, but my friend kept bringing me a small jar of her green smoothies and I found myself hoping she would do it again! I finally had to get a blender of my own. I have multiple auto immune diseases. Green smoothies and juices fight the inflammation that leads to pain. When I am doing it regularly, I feel better. My husband who will not eat vegetables, says he likes the smoothies, and is surprised at how good they taste, and he starts to crave them. My “go-to” recipe is 2 cups filtered water, a big handful of spinach, a big handful of another lettuce, like chard, celery, carrots, pineapple, lemon, ginger root, apple, berries, banana, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and whatever else I have in the fridge that sounds good, and will not add a weird flavor. I do grind the seeds, in a little coffee grinder, that I bought just for this purpose. I intend to add hemp protein powder, as I need the protein. You can freeze produce when it is in season, and then just throw it in. I grow my own, for the most part, but will buy in bulk, and freeze when I need to. You can also put baggies in the freezer for the next week or so, when you are really busy, that have most of the stuff prepared ahead of what you need. This will cut back on the fridge becoming an overwhelming pile of bagged produce. Try it. You’ll like it! 🙂
If you live in the Arlington, Wa area you can get produce, organic or conventional, at a super great price thru the Arlington Produce Co-Op. It’s a volunteer run organization you can participate at will, and for example this week you can order a 25 pound bag of carrots for $13, or a 36 pound box of organic fuji apples for $45. They have alot of offerings. Anyone can join. Check them out at: http://arlingtonproducecoop.weebly.com/index.html
I seem to recall at some points in the fall at least you can get boxes of apples, pears & citrus from the general grocer (e.g. Freddies, TJs, New Seasons,discountsguide.com) for discounted rates tho I didn’t have a need for that this year.
If you are in the Vancouver,WA area Chuck’s Produce would definately be worth a trip. If you buy their produce the is on sale Oranges $.30lb; Apples $.50lb; cucumbers $.25 each, asparagus $.88lb. Check it out ladies (I’m just a huge fan) it has definately helped our budget go a lot further and we have a lot more fresh produce in the house. http://www.chucksproduce.com
i recently just started juicing, i go to cash and carry and i have a good spray for washing my veggies, make sure when you do things like spinach to use a juicer piece in your machine, roll up your spinach to put thru and then follow with another piece of fruit or juice that makes more juice to follow your dryer veggies, you will get more juice from your spinach….thanks for your tips
We bought a juicer and it sat in the basement for two years unused. Didn’t even open the box–my husband purchased it not realizing that I don’t have time (or desire!) to clean up the machine after every use. I do love fresh juice and agree about the vitamins and anti-oxidants, but the mess isn’t worth it for me. I also believe that eating the raw fruit is much better than juice simply because you don’t get the benefits of fiber when you juice.
I’ll stick to drinking fresh juice when I’m out and let someone else deal with the mess!
Great tips!! Thanks Emily. As far as the budget is concerned, it is actually saving us some money here. I am super, super picky about my lunch meat and I started buying Boar’s head. It is not cheap at all. Since I have started making smoothies again I have stopped buying the lunch meat. The smoothies are actually a cheaper lunch option.
I also let the fruit and veggies that are in season dictate what kind of smoothie I will be making. If it’s really cheap I buy lots of it, and if it doesn’t get it used in time I just put it in the freezer. I like using frozen fruit in my vitamix instead of ice cubes. Like you said, there are lots of ways to make this affordable.
This series has been really great. I love all these tips. I recently bought a juicer (off Craigslist, of course) and have slowly experimenting with different fruits and veggies.
I live near an awesome produce stand that generally has great prices. While they don’t always have organic, I agree that sometimes the budget wins over the desire to go organic. But I have found some great gems. Last week, they had huge bags of organic kale for $1.99.
I’m also looking into Bountiful Baskets. My aunt buys from them and said it is great for juicing because you get a wide variety of produce. Plus, I noticed this week they were selling 25lbs bags of juicing carrots in addition to the variety baskets.
#3 has occurred to me in general recently also. If I wouldn’t hesitate to spend $2.00 on a piece of cake (not a bad price I think & not a whole cake) why not spend it on fruit which may be a little higher per pound than I would usually spend-but a MUCH healthier item!
I’ve loved this whole series – thanks! Just today I said in passing, “I’m ready for the Farmer’s Markets to open.” My daughter excitedly responded, “Just think of all the juice we can make!”
I hadn’t thought about using dandelions, but I’d surely hate to grow them just for that purpose. As we move into summer, you can also forage. There are websites dedicated to foraging locations where people have found local fruit trees on empty lots or folks who have fruit trees in their yard who only ask that you are respectful in your foraging and you can get all this for free.
Have you ever considered freezing the juice? I’m just thinking that it makes a lot of sense to juice produce that is currently in season, but if I can overjuice and freeze some of it and then thaw it in the fridge overnight, maybe it’s a good way to have a variety of juice year-round instead of being stuck with zucchini juice day after day this summer.
Amy, I sort of worry about the pasteurization aspect in juicing and waiting too long to drink it. There has to be a reason why it’s done, so I would imagine getting sick would be a potential side effect. I would be curious if anyone else has done research on this detail?
I use the lemon to keep bacteria down.
I have been experimenting with juicing for a while now. It is only myself and my boyfriend who I make it for and currently only once a day, but it is fabulous. We also find that we do not eat out as regularly when we are juicing, we also have gone away from eating meat, (which increased our food budget quite a bit), and we tend to crave healthier food in the evenings. Organic food is expensive, but most grocery stores are getting on the wagon and it seems to be getting a little better. Safeway is starting to have a larger variety as is Albertsons. I am thinking that I might have to get a Costco card…. Is that really worth it for 2 people? We do eat a lot of produce and could use it for other things, but I am unsure if I should bite the bullet or not.
I think that you would find the cost of a Costco membership worth it in the long run, but I have read on other blogs that there are ways to get around buying a membership, yet still can shop at the store. I hope it is ok that I’m linking back to another blog, but please just delete my post if that isn’t ok.
http://thefrugalfind.com/you-can-shop-at-costco-without-a-membership/
There is an awesome food co-op called bountiful baskets.com local and organic fruits and veggies at great prices.
Brandy, Do you use allergy medication? If so, then a Costco membership could pay for itself with the purchase of one bottle of allergy pills. You can get nearly a year’s supply of generic Claritin or Zyrtec for about $20.
JUST in produce Costco pays for itself in less then 2 months. The produce lasts 4x longer is CHEAPER and most IS organic! I am the ONLY one in my family who drinks the juices on a regular basis and the card has SAVED me! I can get a bag of romaine twice the size for cheaper and it lasts so much longer! So I am able to do a bulk trip and it lasts me longer then 3-5 days before goes bad! The area we have to be careful is meat section, and processed foods. they have ALOT of good deals but also a Variety of things that since are in huge portions could throw budget off if let it.
So curious on a couple of prep points: For those using the VitaMix – do you peel your items first? And generally – for citrus do you peel & depith?
I seem to recall at some points in the fall at least you can get boxes of apples, pears & citrus from the general grocer (e.g. Freddies, TJs, New Seasons) for discounted rates tho I didn’t have a need for that this year.
Laura, for the first I think it is preference. While you can technically eat banana peel or mango peel, I wouldn’t prefer those in my smoothie. But apple/pear peel doesn’t bother me. I usually roughly peel citrus but only because I’ve heard that the pith makes the juice bitter tasting. Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, though, there will be some pith here and there and it hasn’t ruined my drink.
I have loved this juicing series. I recently started juicing daily, and have changed my whole family’s eating habits. In order to buy only organic foods (including produce) we now only eat meat a couple of times a week, instead of on a daily basis like we used to. We have also majorly cut down on processed foods. My hubby and I don’t eat any processed foods anymore, and my kids are fine on organic crackers from Trader Joes. I have found that by cutting back in these areas, we are able to buy tons of organic produce. It is a change for the better!
Costco has great prices for organic produce to juice. Tubs of spinach are $3.99, a huge bag of kale is $5.99, 10lbs of carrots are I think $6.99. I usually buy my greens there, and then buy my other produce at Fred Meyers.
My hubby and I are both RNs, and care for people dying of heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and more. I think you are totally right that one should view this lifestyle change as an investment for good future health!