The newest TLC show people love to hate is Extreme Couponing. I am so the opposite of an extreme coupon-er. If I use even one coupon once a month that is a lot for me. I am not proud of this, but that’s just how it is. A large part of our monthly budget feeds our growing family. I wish I knew how to lower our grocery costs, but I never see coupons for the things we buy.
I find all that coupon clipping that some people do fascinating. And exhausting. We get the Sunday paper and coupons with our receipts at most places we shop, but I’m not going to buy brands or products that I don’t like just to save money. Maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong.
If there are coupons for fresh fruit and vegetables and organic products, point me in that direction, please! Most of the coupons I use are on the package of something I bought in the past. I did use a coupon for organic salad the other day, but it was only for $1 off when you buy two. Is it possible to save the big bucks on non-processed non-organic fare?
I also don’t have any extra time to spare. Is there a quick and easy way to save money on healthy food for your family? How do you coupon?
I am also trying so hard to use coupons and savve but not compromise. Mambo sprouts is a great resource as well as brand sites but no, no weekly booklets for the good stuff. I need to focus more on saving on home and bath I guess.
I found a website called Organic Deals that has helped a lot for finding organic coupons and sales at various stores. But I knew exactly what you mean! – the healthiest and most natural foods (fruits and veggies) don’t have coupons! I must admit that I watched that show only twice and both times I felt almost angry. There are so many people who lack basic things like food, toothpaste and TP and here are people w/YEARS worth of stuff they may never get to use! The gluttony of it kind of got to me. I was impressed w/one guy who used his couponing skills to make a HUGE TRAILER donation to his local food pantry!! Awesome! I guess it’s not all bad, but it’s certainly not for me. Good luck finding coupons – some are worth the hunt!
Couponing was one of the things I had to “get into” when we decided to put our kids in private school. I read SouthernSavers.com (but probably won’t apply to you since you live up North!) and MoneySavingMom.com MSM does a weekly roundup of organic deals – http://moneysavingmom.com/tag/natural-organic-deals.
Both SS & MSM have great how-tos for getting started. It will take a little bit of time if you want to learn the couponing thing, but once you have it, it will be routine.
I haven’t seen Extreme Couponing (we don’t have extended cable) but I’m interested if it would come out on Hulu or Netflix instant…?
I agree that fruit and veggie coupons are extremely rare. One thing I have tried is emailing favorite companies to request coupons. Every company I’ve contacted recently-Food for Life, Amy’s, and Sunshine Burger- sent me coupons soon after I requested them.
Steph,
I won’t lie and say that couponing doesn’t require some work, but it sure doesn’t mean you have to spend 70 hours a week doing it either. Unfortunately the “Extreme Couponers” show depicts some of the worst behaviors and habits among us who use coupons.
Let me tell you about my family:
My wife and her mother consistently save 84-90% on everything they buy. Produce, Meat, Cheese, Milk, you name it.
Yes they are very organized, but they only clip the coupons they need and they don’t spend hours and hours doing it.
What makes this all work for us is the “Money Maker” situation. When a coupon you have exceeds the value of an item that is on sale… you get an overage. You can use that overage towards other items in your shopping cart and so you get those items for free as well.
For example. Let’s say I have a $2.00 coupon for Crest Toothpaste and I notice it’s on sale for $1.00. So I gather 20 of these coupons and I buy 20 tubes of toothpaste. Since I “make” a dollar on each of them I now have $20 to use on other items. So I get about $20 dollars worth of produce. I leave the store only paying tax.
Now.. do I need 20 tubes of toothpaste? No, of course not.. so I give most of it away. My family makes regular donations of toiletries, canned goods, feminine products, and other food items that we have an overstock of.
Couponing has helped my wife stay at home full time, to complete Dave Ramsey’s program and reach Debt Freedom, and it will send our children to college in a just a few years.
As a way of life, Couponing has changed everything and now we live in abundance because of it.
Thanks for listening.
David Bibby