This week on Stuff Mom Never Told You, Cristen and I explored whether organic foods are healthier than non-organic foods. We hear so much about the benefits of organic foods, which include fruits and vegetables grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides and animals that aren’t pumped full of antibiotics or growth hormones. That makes organic foods an Earth-friendly choice, and there’s certainly a health benefit to not filling our bodies with toxins. But there’s no way to get around the fact that organic foods cost more, and in these tough times, some of us might not have the extra dough.

That’s why Cristen and I focused most of the podcast on the organic foods that are worth the splurge. Generally, fruits and vegetables with thin, edible skins should be on your organic shopping list. For that reason, apples, grapes, peaches, potatoes and spinach are worthy of those extra pennies, while bananas, kiwis and avocados are not, since you’ll just be discarding their outsides. Processed foods, like chips or cookies, are generally not made all that much healthier by their organic label, but if it’s a food that you eat all the time, you might want to make it a priority. Other good candidates include baby food and meat.

Setting priorities for what you’ll buy organic is a good way to stick to your grocery budget, but there are a few other ways to make organic shopping a little less expensive. For one thing, shop around. Some grocery stores (think Whole Foods) are synonymous with an organic lifestyle, but they also may have the most expensive prices in town. Keep an eye on supermarket circulars to find the best deals, and look for generic labels — many grocery stores now have one specifically for organic foods.

But to get the best deals, you may need to forgo the chains entirely and head to a local farmer’s market. Another option is to join a community sponsored agriculture program, or a CSA. By paying a few hundred bucks up front, you can get fresh produce delivered weekly. Not only are you helping out local farmers, you’re also getting your goods for much lower prices than you would in-store. You can find local markets and CSAs at http://www.localharvest.org.

Another way to keep spending down, according to Smart Money, is to lower your standards ever so slightly. Can’t afford to go whole-hog for organic? There might be a cheaper option that meets some of the organic standards, such as antibiotic-free milk or hormone-free meat.

A few last tips: as with any kind of produce, prices will be cheaper when you buy in-season, so try not to indulge your taste for organic cherries year-round. Buying in bulk may also be a good option, particularly when it comes to grains and pastas. But if you just can’t afford that organic produce, know that you’re still doing your body a favor by eating any fruits or veggies.

More from HowStuffWorks:
10 Foods You Should Buy Organic
Is it better to buy local or organic food?
How Organic Certification Works
How Organic Farming Works