If you eat whole foods and coupon

[jillian]

So we are pretty much a whole foods family. We rarely eat pasta/prepared box meals (like Mac n Cheese), we rarely shop the middle aisles of the stores except for things like ketchup/mustard/sauces. Where do you find coupons for your products? We like to shop the perimeter of the store whenever possible (financially it's not always possible but we try our best). So where do you get your coupons? Also do you have a coupon/menu binder? How does this look for you and your family. FWIW it's only 3 of us, ocassionally family comes to visit and eat with us.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We are like this, too, and there never seem to be coupons for things I want to buy. Sometimes I find a coupon on Whole Foods actual website for a particular item, but even that is rare.

[jillian]

Yeah I'll see sometimes things for milk/cheese but it's always smallest packages and for sometime like .25 off 3 or something ridiculous. I try and watch to coincide it with a sale but a lot of times coupons I want to use (for milk, butter, ocassionally save $5 off $20 in meat) don't coincide with the sales. I do not shop Walmart, for personal reasons. I've got a Publix, Bi-Lo and a Whole Foods near me.

[regentrude]

Aside from an occasional coupon for Cuties clementine oranges and some kinds of yoghurt, I have not been able to find any coupons for the foods we eat.

[jillian]

Dang, I was hoping y'all had a good secret spot to find coupons.

[Lady Marmalade]

I always want to coupon. We get the daily paper and always have coupons on hand, but the reality is that most of them aren't for whole foods items. However, every once in a while, they do come along. Cheese and yogurt come to mind, but I've also used coupons for frozen fruits and veggies. I just keep an eye on the veggie ones, because often times those are for seasoned blends, where I just want plain old frozen vegetables. I'll use coupons for pasta sauces and pastas because I like having those on hand.

 

Organic Valley has an e-mail list with monthly coupons that you can sign up for.

 

I also use coupons for coffee (we're not brand loyal) and paper products like TP when I come across them.

 

Where I really get good use out of coupons though is when I'm shopping to stock a food pantry or looking for donations for a food drive. If I shop smartly, I can buy a week's worth of canned goods for very little money by matching up the coupons to sale prices.

 

I don't use a binder at all. Instead I keep the coupon inserts whole. I remove the pages that have the mail-order stuff, but for the most part, a whole insert expires around the same time, making it possible to keep them fairly organized. I get pretty good at remembering if I've seen a coupon for something while I'm perusing the weekly ads.

 

It is difficult to acheive big savings as a couponer when you eat a whole foods type of diet, but it is at least possible to save some. My coupon savings per month (including store specific coupons) almost pays for our monthly newspaper subscription. That's not bad, considering that we'd subscribe regardless.

[scrapbookbuzz]

First of all, keep in mind that the money you save by eating mostly whole foods is not going to be immediately evident. Having been a super coupon

shopper and now transitioning to mostly whole foods, I will tell you there aren't that many coupons for the whole food market. However, you can still save

a great deal on paper goods (napkins, cups, toilet paper, etc) and your food storage items (Ziploc bags and plastic containers). When I was the super coupon

shopper, I would easily save a tantalizing 50% of 3/4 of my grocery shopping, but a lot of it was processed. What you save by eating whole foods is future medical

problems amongst other things.Another way to save in the way of whole foods is to only buy fruits and vegetables that are in season. It's so easy these days to buy

pretty much any veggie or fruit but those that are in season, and not grown in a hothouse, will be much less expensive. HTH!

[jillian]

Thank you. I do browse couponmom or something similar for some coupons and am signed up with organic valley for their stuff. I hate that healthy eating costs so much and is so much more expensive than eating cr*p. we try to reduce carbs mainly because of my fibromyalgia and dd's systemic juvenile arthritis--reducing carbs helps our inflammation a ton!!!!

[Mango]

We've started buying direct from organic farmers for our staples. It's a bit surprising at first to pay for bulk but it is cheaper.

 

Beef, chicken fish, flour, veggies, oatmeal, rice, and honey are some our main bulk direct-buys.

[Jane in NC]

As a member of a food co-op, I receive a bi-monthly coupon booklet but I must say that many of those coupons are still for processed food. The current booklet has coupons for Cascadian Farm frozen fruit and Muir Glen tomatoes, but most of the coupons are for cereal, chips, frozen pizza (Amy's), etc. Most of the stuff that I buy at the co-op is a basic ingredient, often out of the bulk bins.

 

I am one of those people who is mystified by all of the boxes in grocery stores. Who actually buys these things?

[jillian]

I'm beginning to get low on our stockpile of toothpaste and soaps lol. I'm not opposed to frozen veggies at all. I need to check out local and see if we can use some of our tax return to stock up. We are going to be even stricter of our carbs because of dd's recent inflammation issues. I know we have a few local farmers/meat dealers that we can get large amounts for cheaper than going store. I want to get a quarter/half cow. I can't do pork much because it upsets my tummy so we use other meat options.

[Carrie12345]

I stalk The Coupon Master (dot com).

 

Most of my coupons wind up being for non-foods, freeing up food money. And I stock up on sale items. We go through a lot of block cheddar. When it's $.88, I buy the limit on every variety so I don't have to pay $2.50 next time. When meat is on sale, I buy extra and freeze it. Etc.

 

 

[briansmama]

Whole Foods has a coupon booklet that we use in the store while shopping. They also give 10% off automatically when you buy an entire box of something (we've done this with eggs, coconut milk yogurt, Larabars).

 

 

[mhaddon]

We don't have a Whole foods near us so that isn't an option. We shop at Kroger and I keep an eye out for sales. I stock up with things are low. I don't do many middle isles either and if we do bread I make it myself.

 

My biggest money saving tip for meats is to find someone local and buy a pig, cow, sheep, chickens from a farmer. It may seem like a lot up front, but in the long run saves money. Also if you can do a garden that keeps cost down in the spring/summer/fall and I can a lot of food so I don't have to buy a lot later on.

[jillian]

I have been wanting to do meat from a farmer, we have a few options near us and I have to talk to dh about it. I"ll have to check whole foods coupon booklet. my whole foods is 30 minutes away but i go out of county for the library which is down by it as is my church and where i work so it all works out.

[fairfarmhand]

I use coupons mostly for cleaning products, Paper products and soap, shampoo, etc. They don't make coupons for apples, flour, lettuce, meat, etc.

[Lisa in SC]

You could check out www.mangosprouts.com. I don't know if you use any of the products, but it might be worth a look.

[gingersmom]

I "liked" del monte on Facebook and received 5 pineapple coupons.

 

I use coupons on shampoo, conditioner, soap, dish detergent, laundry detergent, deodorant, feminine products, sugar, flour, salt, spices, milk, paper products and have saved a ton!!! Same product, cheaper price!

 

Coupons does not have to equal junk food.