Coupons

[Chinese Pistache]

With the economic downturn, I'm hearing about coupons every where I turn. Lots of websites dedicated to it, news shows, even coupon parties, etc. So, I want to know if coupons work for you? You meaning the MDC mamas who buy ingredients to make things from scratch (beans, grains, meats, produce) or organic packaged foods or natural body care products.

Our grocery bill is sometimes quite high because we buy organic and specialty foods (like special flours because we're gf), but at the same time, it can be a lot lower because we don't eat a lot of meat, we eat cheap, healthy foods like beans and rice, and we cook from scratch.

Anyway, I guess I want to know if any of you have found a way to make coupons work for you. I want to jump on this coupon bandwagon without having to buy Rice-A-Roni and Skippy Peanut Butter:

[peaceful_mama]

I'm trying it too and i'm thinking the same thing, that *coupons* are not necessairly all they're cracked up to be when you are looking for *healthy* options.

For example, I don't care if I can buy a pack and get a pack half off of sugary, artificially colored, individually packaged "kid" yogurt. Or "kid" cereal. I don't buy the stuff anyway.

I'm not going to start "saving $" by sacrificing healthy food quality as I define it. (what *I* think of may not be the same as what anyone here thinks of)

Some real $$ savers I think

--local "bread store" They sell a 100% whole wheat bread with no HFCS that we like two loaves for $3.50 plus an extra 10% off if we go on Tues. (the usual price of this bread in any other store is about $3 for one loaf.)

--watching the store ads (and possibly store coupons) for what meats are on sale. This has helped me realize what a "really good" deal is and buy more when it's cheap and stock my freezer. (We seriously cannot afford to go all grass-fed, but a couple grocery stores here do have antibiotic-free chicken that goes on sale.)

--dishes with beans and little or no meat. (this is DH's specialty )

--the kids love pasta so I use that to my advantage, buy whole wheat on sale and make dishes with *some* meat, and veggies.

--breakfast for dinner because breakfast can be 'cheap' and I don't like cooking it in the morning!

--as a 'treat' and not necessarily *healthy*---the local grocery deli has a cheap chicken night but I make our sides at home. Gives us our fried chicken fix without ME having to fry it because i hate frying chicken. And when *I* make the sides, I know what's in them and I can make a lot more for the price of what they charge for sides, and bonus, I have leftovers.

[kjbrown92]

I use a few coupons, but mostly for stuff for DH and DD1 who can eat anything. The stuff the rest of us eat doesn't go "on sale" and no one offers coupons for. Though things like paper towels and cleaning supplies (especially the newer "green" ones) do have coupons. And medicines, if you buy any (children's tylenol or what have you). Otherwise, I comparison shop: amazon.com if you buy in bulk gets you free shipping. Trader Joe's rice pasta is just as good as Tinkyada at half the price, etc. And I stock up when I find something we can eat at a good price.

[mamadelbosque]

I don't use coupons, cause like most here, for me they just aren't practicle. I've never seen a coupon for apples, oranges, carrots, or plain yogurt! Maybe they exist, but I certainly haven't seen them yet!!

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

I don't use coupons, cause like most here, for me they just aren't practicle. I've never seen a coupon for apples, oranges, carrots, or plain yogurt! Maybe they exist, but I certainly haven't seen them yet!!

Actually, I have coupons for Stoneyfield yogurt and I have had coupons for fresh veggies like potatoes and broccoli.

Here is a $1 off bulk apples at Super Target.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/supe...pons_specials#

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Actually, I have coupons for Stoneyfield yogurt and I have had coupons for fresh veggies like potatoes and broccoli.

Here is a $1 off bulk apples at Super Target.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/supe...pons_specials#

That's a good idea! So, maybe to get coupon deals, you have to go to the particular company (brand) or store website??

[Alyantavid]

I do use coupons sometimes. Mostly for things like Ziplocs. I make almost everything from scratch so the stuff I buy doesn't really have coupons.

[Chinese Pistache]

I just found a couple sites that look promising. No time to go through it now, but here's a link: http://affluentpauper.blogspot.com/2...find-them.html

ETA: If you google "organic coupon blog" there are a bunch of interesting ones. I'll take a look later.

[mamadelbosque]

Hmm.. I actually dislike stonyfield yogurt. Just looks/tastes gross, IMO... hate to admit it but I like/buy dannon, just cause its good. And I don't think I've ever even SEEN a super target...

[desertpenguin]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

That's a good idea! So, maybe to get coupon deals, you have to go to the particular company (brand) or store website??

yeah, everything i have read says to do this to get good deals on healthy/natural products. and also if you email the company about how much you like their products, they will sometimes send you some coupons in return. or so i've read.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

yeah, everything i have read says to do this to get good deals on healthy/natural products. and also if you email the company about how much you like their products, they will sometimes send you some coupons in return. or so i've read.

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/foo...ic_Coupons.htm
http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/ar...-food-coupons/

[puffingirl]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

I do use coupons sometimes. Mostly for things like Ziplocs. I make almost everything from scratch so the stuff I buy doesn't really have coupons.

Yep. Same for us. Mostly we use the Costco coupons for things we buy in bulk there: dishwashing soap, garbage bags, etc.

[Chamomile Girl]

Earthbound Farms has an online quiz you can take and get coupons if you pass:

http://www.ebfarm.com/WhyOrganic/OrganicQuiz.aspx

They sent me about 5 $1.00 off any organic EBF product coupons!

I also keep my eye on the mambosprouts.com coupon website.

[Magelet]

mambo sprouts for sure. and do the earthbound quiz. And check the websites.

I don't do LOTS of coupons, but a few. Right now in my stack, I have
several 1 dollar off any earthbound product,
1 dollar off organic valley eggs (I'd rather get pastured, but I have the feeling in the next few months, organic valley will feel like a very good, fancy expensive choice),
1 dollar off any rice from two different brands,
55 cents off any san-j product: (will be used for tamari, aka really good fermented soy sauce),
50 cents off any asain gourmet product (I don't know what they sell, but I'm hoping for fish sauce, or some other ingrediant vs packaged product),
75 cents off any dagoba or scharffen burger chocolate product,
tons of yogurt coupons: stoneyfeild, oikos, liberte. I don't love stoneyfield and have never tried the others, but if the price + coupon comes out cheaper than my fave brands, its worth it
1 dollar off organic valley butter
2 1 dollar off organic valley cheese coupons
50 cents off stoneyfield organic milk: don't know if I will use this or not. never seen stoneyfield milk in the store, nor know if its good

1 dollar off any seventh gen product- for detergent most likely. I only use a couple "cleaning products"


Many of these were from mambo sprouts. A few were from organicvalley.coop (their website), the seventh gen was from their website, the earthbound from doing their quiz, and I'm not quite sure where some of the others are from, somewhere online. some expire in a month or so after getting them, others not for a year after I got them. This is a larger stash of coupons than usualy, because I've been saving them up because I am moving out of my parents house, and so have to stock up on basics such as spices, olive oil, soy sauce, as well as regularly used goods.

The other place I check is the flyer when I walk into the market. Gotten some good deals there, both coupons, and what is cheap. I've seen coupons for flour, and all kinds of basics before. off to go check out the organic coupon blogs.

I think couponing for the make from scratch healthy mama just means less coupons. No way will we have a 2 dollar bill for 50 dollars worth of groceries, because most of our groceries never have coupons. But we can still use coupons to save a little money, which adds up.

[desertpenguin]

so i have a question about printing out coupons...it's expensive for us to buy ink so i always thought that if the coupon was for only a small amount it probably wasn't worth it...how does everyone else feel about that?

[Sol_y_Paz]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

Hmm.. I actually dislike stonyfield yogurt. Just looks/tastes gross, IMO... hate to admit it but I like/buy dannon, just cause its good. And I don't think I've ever even SEEN a super target...

How funny! I hate all yogurts with a passion except ONE flavor of stoneyfield yogurt. And as it turns out, lucky for me - it is rather good for me, as opposed to having all sorts of artificial this and that in it.

[Sol_y_Paz]

Most coupons our family has no use for, but for foods where we buy brands, like olive oil, peanut butter, rice, etc. I go online and see if I can find savings on their site then if not I contact them directly and ask.

[Magelet]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

so i have a question about printing out coupons...it's expensive for us to buy ink so i always thought that if the coupon was for only a small amount it probably wasn't worth it...how does everyone else feel about that?

I don't know. I never gave it much thought. The part that has bothered me most is the paper. They won't let you put more than two coupons on a page usually, which seems like such a waste. I haven't figured out how to put more on yet. I'm sure that printing the coupon (for me at least) is way less than the 50 cents or more it saves.

[Alyantavid]

Earthbound Farms has an online quiz you can take and get coupons if you pass:

http://www.ebfarm.com/WhyOrganic/OrganicQuiz.aspx

They sent me about 5 $1.00 off any organic EBF product coupons!

I get coupons from Earthbound fairly often. And they give out free reusuable bags too.

[mommy68]

I'd love suggestions on how to actually FIND coupons for the items and types of food we actually eat. Sure I can find coupons but if they aren't for the things that we usually buy then I won't use them. I won't buy something just because I have a coupon for it. I see people doing that at the store all the time. IMO that's just another way to waste money, not really saving anything in the long run, if you buy stuff you don't need or want. argh, coupons really frustrate me, can ya tell?

I think I'm better off shopping at Aldi, Sams Club and the cheapest grocery stores in town. In my area it's Food Lion. The higher end grocery stores are Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods. I never shop at Whole Foods anymore. If we want organic most grocery stores have organic now, thank goodness! I buy a lot in bulk too.