1. Fruits and Vegetables

The health food store near my house stocks a huge selection of fruits and vegetables at prices that are a fraction of what you can find at the traditional supermarket. I always go there and stock up before I head to the regular grocery store to buy the rest of my groceries. The fruits and vegetables here are top quality and won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

2. Oats

You know how healthy oats are for your body, what with all their fiber, B vitamins and iron. As you probably know, most grocery stores don’t have bulk bins, but the health food stores sure do. If you want to eat oats, but don’t need an entire canister of them, you can buy just what you need so you can save money and avoid wasting food at the same time.

3. Grains

Speaking of bulk bins, they are also a wonderful place to buy cornmeal, wheat berries, quinoa, amaranth and any number of other grains you want to cook with. You can buy just the quantity you need while also cutting back on the amount of packaging you have to take home and either toss or recycle.

4. Greek Yogurt

I know it sounds strange, but I’ve found that Greek yogurt at the health food store is sometimes half what it costs at my regular grocery store. I like to buy the large container of plain Greek yogurt so I can sweeten it up with chopped fresh fruits and honey. It’s just that much sweeter when I didn’t have to spend a ton of cash on it.

5. Gluten-Free Mixes

One of my kids must eat gluten-free, so I go to the health food store often to buy his snacks and bread. The prices here are still more than the regular version of these foods, but you can sometimes save when compared to the gluten-free items sold at the traditional grocery store. Look for pizza dough, pancake and waffle mix and even cake and brownie mixes.

6. Heirloom Foods

Whether you’re looking for heirloom seeds or the finished product, the health food store is the place to go. You can find many heirloom items that you can grow or enjoy at home. It’s an especially great place to look for heirloom tomato varieties at decent prices.

7. Honey

Sure, you can buy honey at any grocery store, but if you’re looking for local honey or a raw type of honey, you probably need to hit the local health food store. You can find bulk honey so you can buy it in the quantities you want or you can purchase honey sticks or jars of honey.

What do you buy at the health food store? I go at least once a week for most of the items on this list. What else would you add?