We’re tired of supporting companies that disregard our health and well-being. The big chain supermarkets are driven by profit, with little regard for the impact they have on our health and wellness.  The more I think about this, the more I don’t want to support these types of people.

Whenever possible, we avoid the big chains as much as we can.  Yes, we still do a weekly shop but our trollies are nowhere near as full as they used to be!  While we recognise the jobs they create, it’s hard to stand by companies that show no real concern for our well-being.  Scroll to the bottom to see what inspired me to write this blog.

We have a few subscriptions and I asked on our Insta Stories if you would like to know what they are?… 99% of you said YES PLEASE – so here you go  😊 👇🏼

Jo’s subscriptions:

👉🏼 Monthly or bi-monthly Part&Parcel for lunchbox fillers, snacks, treats and some pantry supplies when running low.
👉🏼 1/2 yearly Honest to Goodness bulk pantry order.
👉🏼 Monthly meat box from Butcher Crowd.
👉🏼 Fortnightly fruit/veg box from Farmers Pick or Spray Free Farmacy.
👉🏼 12 week toilet paper restock from EcoCheeks.
👉🏼 Monthly (or sometimes twice a month) doTERRA order for cleaning supplies, skincare, body care, laundry powders & liquids, protein powders, collagen (MetaPwr), supplements (turmeric, polyphenols, LifeLong Vitality), electrolytes, sleeping system and essential oils.
👉🏼 Monthly or bi-monthly cacao from Cacao Collective

Tracey’s subscriptions

👉🏼 Monthly or bi-monthly Part&Parcel for snacks, treats, dog treats and some pantry supplies when running low.
👉🏼 1/2 yearly Honest to Goodness bulk pantry order.
👉🏼 Monthly meat box from Butcher Crowd and restock from local co-op (Local Food Network).
👉🏼 Fortnightly fruit/veg box from local co-op (Local Food Network).
👉🏼 12 week toilet paper restock from EcoCheeks.
👉🏼 Monthly (or sometimes twice a month) doTERRA order for cleaning supplies, skincare, body care, laundry powders & liquids, protein powders, collagen (MetaPwr), supplements (turmeric, polyphenols, LifeLong Vitality) sleeping system and essential oils.

PANTRY STAPLES 

👉🏼 Part&Parcel – Monthly Snacks, Quarterly Top Ups and Sunscreen

Chips/crisps
Flour (all the flours for our GF flour blend come from here)
Tinned salmon
Broth
Spreads
Oil
Pasta
Protein Powder/Bars
Crackers
Sunscreen

We shop from Part&Parcel for a lot of our monthly snacks and pantry needs including spreads, sauces, pasta, chips, chocolate, lunchbox snack foods etc.  We have a curated list of the products we love on their website which you can find HERE.  Give them a try as they are competitively priced and stock exceptional quality products for those living additive-free.  If you join their membership program you’ll save even more money.

https://partandparcel.com.au
Discount Code: additive-free-20

Discount Amount: $20 off first orders only

👉🏼 Honest To Goodness – Bulk Shop, 1/2 yearly.  Pantry items

Flour/s
Sugar/s
Salt
Spices
Pasta
Rice
Tinned goods
Passata
Oil
Nuts/Seeds
Superfoods

Maple syrup

For all our bulk pantry needs we shop at Honest to Goodness.  They offer a wholesale membership if you have an ABN, so long as you spend $500 or over in one transaction, there is no minimum monthly spend, it is super easy to order from their website online and they deliver Australia-wide.  I know $500 sounds like a lot, but to make it worth my while, I only order twice a year and stock up on bulk items that will get us through. I make sure to set aside a certain amount each pay day to my bulk buying bank account so that when I need to place a bulk order, the money is already there.

If you don’t think you would ever spend that much, then you can set up a buying group or ask a couple of friends if they’d like anything.  Together we’re sure that you’d reach the $500 quota quickly.

https://www.goodness.com.au

MEAT – (inc. Nitrate-free ham and bacon)

👉🏼 ButcherCrowd – AU wide

Finding good quality meat can be hard and super expensive.  Once we found Butcher Crowd we knew we were onto a winner.  They stock restaurant-quality meat and wild-caught seafood… all of which gets delivered straight to your door!  You can customise your order with ethically and sustainably sourced meats that are also additive-free, all for as little as $4.89 per meal.  Their products are:

Grass-fed and finished beef and lamb

Pasture-raised and free-range chicken and pork

100% wild-caught seafood

Shipping is always FREE. They deliver to your door on your schedule, and you can skip a month or cancel anytime.
https://www.butchercrowd.com.au – $15 off first order

FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIES

👉🏼 Farmers Pick – Victoria, NSW, QLD and ACT

Farmers Pick was established when two friends discovered the disturbing facts about food waste in Australia. They sell at a discounted rate the produce that the supermarket doesn’t want (which would often go to landfill).  There is NOTHING wrong with this produce, it just might be a little out of shape.

You can tick the ‘organic’ option and the subscription can be paused at any time.

https://farmerspick.com.au – $7 discount

👉🏼 Spray Free Farmacy – Gold Coast/Brisbane Only

Spray-Free Farmacy sources fresh, organic or spray-free groceries straight from local farmers and makers to you. Delivered to your door or free pick-up across Brisbane & the Northern GC. Their mission is to deliver a healthy, kind, and fair food system that nourishes and delights their customers while helping farmers and food makers thrive.  We interviewed Kristen from Spray-Free Farmacy on our podcast show (episode 193), so check that out.

Discount Code: ADDITIVEFREE
Discount Amount: 10% off
https://sprayfreefarmacy.com/

👉🏼 Open Food Network – Tasmania

The Tasmanian Produce Collective is a collaboration between small, family farmers and makers in Tasmania.
This co-op actually ranges from fruit/veg to meat, eggs, pantry supplies and more.

https://openfoodnetwork.org.au

TOILET PAPER, TISSUES AND PAPER TOWEL

👉🏼 Eco Cheeks

An Australian-owned company producing unbleached and 100% bamboo toilet paper, tissues and paper towel. There is nothing, yes nothing, in the loo paper or paper towel that can damage your immune system or interfere with your endocrine system! Other ‘safe’ brands whiten their loo paper with a method called ECF (elemental chlorine free) but the pulp is still bleached with chlorine dioxide (a derivative of chlorine). This is not something we want to be wiping on our private parts in the case of the toilet paper, or wiping on our benches with the paper towel.

We cannot tell you how much easier it is knowing that our toilet paper, tissues and paper towels are going to be delivered via a subscription without us having to think about it.  It means we never run out!

https://ecocheeks.com.au  – 10% off first order only
Code – AFL10
Free shipping on orders over $55

CEREMONIAL CACAO

👉🏼 Cacao Collective

(Jo) I am not a hot drink lover (can’t stand coffee or tea)… EXCEPT for ceremonial cacao.  It is something that I have loved having each day for years now.  Ceremonial cacao is a delicious coffee alternative that is naturally packed with essential minerals (magnesium, zinc and iron), antioxidants, and mood-boosting compounds to provide sustained energy and focus throughout the day.

Cacao is the perfect drink to kick-start your day with or use as an afternoon pick-me-up, without the jitters or crash that can come from consuming coffee. It’s super easy to make and tastes delicious.

https://www.cacaocollective.com.au – you will get a pop up with a code when you click the link.

LOW-TOX CLEANING PRODUCTS

Multipurpose spray
Glass cleaner
Bathroom cleaner
Floor cleaner
Toilet cleaner
Laundry powder
Laundry liquid
Laundry soaker

All from doTERRA.
We both use the ‘clean’ range and the ‘On Guard range’.  The On Guard multipurpose concentrate is amazing.

Don’t have a wholesale account? – Get the starter pack here – 25% off retail.
Do have a wholesale account?– log in here and purchase your low-tox goodies.  Doing this under your loyalty rewards program is the best way, then they’ll get delivered on subscription that you can cancel and change any time.

SKINCARE

We highly recommend (and both use) the doTERRA Verage Skin Care System.  And this isn’t because we sell it, because we don’t promote everything from doTERRA!  We promote it because we love it!!

The HD Clear range is good for tweens.

The Anti-Aging Moisturiser is beautiful for mature skin.

All from doTERRA.
Don’t have a wholesale account? – Get the starter pack here – 25% off retail.
Do have a wholesale account?– log in here and purchase your low-tox goodies.  Doing this under your loyalty rewards program is the best way, then they’ll get delivered on subscription that you can cancel and change any time.

DIY SUPPLIES

Vitalia

DIY’ing your own products means you will need to be set up with some raw ingredients such as fractionated coconut oil, castile soap, empty bottles and the like.  We have used Vitalia, another Aussie owned business, for years.  They have a wide range of products to get you started.

https://www.vitalia.com.au – up to 10% off.
Code – SISTERS

Natural Good Life

They have similar products to Vitalia for the home DIY’er and are also an Aussie small business.

https://naturalgoodlife.com.au – 10% off
Code – ADDITIVEFREE10

____

HOW DO WE AFFORD THIS?

➛ We don’t waste money at the supermarket.
➛ We cook more from scratch and rely less on packaged/premade food.
➛ We have a separate bank account for subscriptions.  We have worked out how much these cost a year, divided by 26 (we get paid fortnightly) and that’s how much money goes into that bank account.  That way when we need a 1/2 yearly $500 Honest to Goodness order the money is in there.
➛ We DIY.  If the cleaning products are too much, DIY!
➛ We make our health a priority.  So rather than spend $80 on a drive-through meal, we’ll cook from home (even if that’s eggs on toast for a quick meal) and spend the $80 on something else.  It all comes down to priorities.

Jo & Tracey x

Here’s what inspired me to write this blog…

As I was walking through Coles the other day to get some milk, I saw this stand 👇🏻

You may have noticed over recent years that the size of a Pringles tube has gotten smaller.  They have now brought out a larger “family-size” version, as shown in the image above.

Here’s where their clever marketing comes in because, after a bit of research, I found out that years ago a Pringles tube was 200 grams. In 2016 they dropped their tube size down to 134 grams but were still charging the same price.

This new  “family-size” tube is 170 grams.  STILL SMALLER THAN BACK IN THE ‘DAY’ and costs $6.20 for a product that is heavily laden with additives, including multiple versions of MSG/glutamates.  If you recall, their original slogan was “once you pop you can’t stop”, and there’s a good reason for that.  It is packed with synthetic MSG! MSG is an excitoxin to the brain meaning that it blocks your brain receptors telling you when you’re full.  That’s why it can be so easy to eat a whole tube in one go!

And it got me thinking….

So often we hear “I can’t afford to live additive-free” but then we see people grabbing a $6.20 tub of Pringles.

Sorry, but if you can afford these, then you can afford to shop elsewhere and spend $5:50 on a packet of additive-free crisps from Part&Parcel.