So far, I’ve posted a bunch of things with our Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing Series. If you have missed them, you can read them below one at a time and get caught up:
- Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing: Organization is KEY!
- Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing: Time, Time and TIME! Is it Worth My Time??
- Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing: What Do I Do with Expired Coupons?
- Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing: Bring Your Arsenal to the Grocery Store
- Starting Fresh in 2012 with Couponing: How to Be Organized at Checkout.
A question I get asked all of the time is how to still coupon when trying to have your family eat healthy, non-processed foods. It is a valid concern for a lot of people so I wanted to tell you how you can accomplish it!
Fruit and Veggie Coupons
Although a lot of coupons are for processed foods, we get a lot of coupons for healthy foods too. They are just a little more rare. I’ve seen coupons on everything from 7 Multigrain Bread to Salad to Fruit. Obviously these coupons will go super fast if they are offered in a printable form. And we do tend to see more coupons/deals for fresh fruit and veggies once we hit Spring and Summer. So watch for the coupons, they do come.
Another way to save is to only buy in-season fruits and vegetables. When they are in-season they will be at their cheapest price point. So, instead of purchasing Strawberries in the winter for $3.00 or more a lb, opt for other cheaper choices.
Use Rebates to Make Up the Cost
If you didn’t know, rebates are a great way to save money on the healthy stuff. Sometimes we will see just a straight rebate. But most of the time, these types of rebates are found as “Beer Rebates”. There are 14 states that actually do not require a beer purchase: Al, AR, CT, HI, IN, KY, ME, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OK, UT AND WV. Depending on the rebate, you could score amazing rebate deals on everything from meat, fresh produce, seafood, and grill items.
Spring and Summer are HUGE times for Beer Rebates. So you will want to check the beer aisles at the grocery store to see if you can find them. If you never seem to find them at your grocery store, ask customer service. There have been a number of cases where people steal the entire stack of rebates and turn around and sell them on eBay for a profit. So stores have taken them to customer service to be kept safe. Most rebates only allow you to redeem them once per household. So you won’t need more than one copy of it. But as always, check the fine print. If you want to know more about Rebates, you can watch the Beer Rebates video I did below. (If you cannot see the video below in your RSS feed or Email updates, head over here to watch it
instead.)
Use Overage at Walmart to Help out with Fresh Food Costs
As stated in the Walmart Coupon Policy, if you have a coupon for an item that is more than the actual cost, Walmart will either hand you cash back if that is the only thing you are purchasing… or they will take the difference off other things in your cart. Although overage may not be something you see each time you shop, when you do, it is a good time to stock up on those fresher/healthier items and save money on them since you will be paying less out-of-pocket.
Opt to Save Money on Just Non-Food Items
For those of you who have very strict dietary needs, or are uber-healthy, you might just want to do the best you can saving on the Non-Food Items. If you are saving a lot of money on personal hygeine products, toilet paper and toothpaste, that should help make up a little of the cost for those healthier/non-processed foods.
Don’t Forget to Check the Health Food Stores- They Have Coupons too!
Stores like Whole Foods or Earth Fare both have coupons that they put out each week for products in their store. And, you can’t get much healthier than that. So if you are gung-ho about saving money on the healthy foods, you could try shopping there with their coupons and shopping in regular stores for non-food items. This will take more of your time. But for some of you, it will be worth the type of healthy food deals you can get.
Most importantly, don’t give up! Save where you can, when you can. If you only use coupons on the Non-Food items that is ok. The whole goal is to save as much money as you can. So do your best and hopefully some of the ideas above will spark a way that your family can save money and eat healthier foods too!
Debra Needles
Great tips…thanks!
Lynne
The BEST way my family saves money on produce is Bountiful Baskets. You purchase your basket online Monday or Tuesday, then pick up at the location you sign up for on Saturday morning. You never know what you will get until you get there but it is a TON of produce. We have priced it out before after getting home with walmart and what we pay $16.50 for in the basket would have cost $40+ to get at the store. Plus, we are getting a large variety of produce this way, and items that I would normally not purchase myself. Helps to teach my children to eat a variety of items!
Becky
I was about to say the same thing. Bountiful Baskets are wonderful for saving money on produce. They are cheaper and better quality than what you would get at Wal-Mart, and you get to try a lot of new things.
Renee
Thanks for the helpful tips. I have recently cut back on using coupons because it really did seem like it was primarily for processed foods. I’m always looking for other ways to save and still feed my family good food.
Christina
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve found coupons for Whole Foods on the app Dining Deals-they are for a variety of things.
Audrey
I just wanted to add another plug for Bountiful Baskets. I LOVE getting all the fresh food at a good low price, and volunteering for it is even fun! Also, I love how they offer good bread at a good price. usually, I get my basket, and then end up planning meals around what’s in it.
Amanda
I have had MANY problems with WalMart. They will not allow me to have an “overage.” I used the .99 Coke Zero coupon on a .93 Soda, the lady priced over rided the coupon to .93!! I asked to speak to the manager, he said that she could do this. Is this true?
I ask because I am new to couponing.
chrystal
walmart never lets me have overages, they always adjust it to the price of the item!
Denise
Could someone supply me with the website for bountiful baskets?
Thanks!
Jenny
it’s bountifulbaskets.org and I highly recommend them too! Definitely read the new participant info link at the top before you do anything. It will give you all the information you need to decide if it’s right for you.
Also, bountifulbaskets has an ALL ORGANIC option!!! So you’re not stuck with non-organic produce (unless that’s your thing). It costs $10 extra, but again, compared to pricing organic produce in the stores it’s an incredible deal. Each week I get a laundry basket full of produce, if that gives you an idea of the quantity.
There is also https://www.utahcoop.org/ which does a similar thing. I’ve never ordered a basket from there because I’m so happy with bountiful baskets, but utahcoop offers a physical store to shop in as well as weekly baskets. I’m not sure how the store ranks, since I only heard about it yesterday and they’re only open 2 days per week. But it might be worth checking out. The main difference I can see between the 2 is utahcoop offers grains, and bountiful baskets usually does not (they may offer grains or grain products on certain weeks, but it’s an additional charge if you want it).
Trina
they dont have bountiful basket in NC is there something similar to it for North Carolina?