[esquala]

Hi everyone, still pretty new to couponing, although getting a little more savvy each week.

My question is: why are so many of the free and deeply discounted coupons for junk food? Right now I see lots of free Dr. Pepper offers, for example, but I dont let my kids drink soda at home. Where are the coupons for fresh foods like fruits/veg, meat, milk and eggs, bread, etc? I mean those offers that don't require you to buy something expensive (where junkfood usually rears it's head again).

Is there such a thing for fresh foods on a regular basis? I saw some dollar off coupons for fresh veggies at Target last month; those were great. But why so few and far between?

What do you all do to save money on these things? Thanks for your input!

[Couponclipper003]

Good Point.... I have been focusing so much of my savings on baby food, diapers, formula, cleaning products...haven't thought about the healthy food. I haven't seen much out there????? Hopefully some experienced couponers can help us out :-)

[z'smom]

I struggles with this also. You are right, it often is "junk" food. But, frozen fruits and veggies companies are also good for giving coupons. It is not as good as fresh, but often as nutritious. I find some of the frozen chicken is pretty good, depending on the company.

I think they figure there is no competition between cucumber A and cucumber B, but their is between pops? That is so just a guess.

[foggy]

There aren't that many coupons out there for the produce, meat, milk and eggs, bread, etc. but they do exist.

You can go to EarthboundFarm.com and request coupons for their organic items. They send coupons good on produce (salad mixes, produce item such as carrots, etc.).

HorizonOrganic - you can request coupons for their items as well.


But when those coupons are used up, I honestly just watch for the sales.

I am not squeamish and will buy produce from the markdown rack. Just last night I bought 4 different bags of items marked to $1.49 - a bag of about 7 good size zucchini that I will use in stirfry, a bag of baking potatoes -- enough for a meal for us for baked potatoes (so 8 in there) I used to buy the 50lb bag of potatoes but some would go bad before we got them all ate up so now I buy in smaller bags (it costs more but I'm not wasting stuff which is a plus in my book), and I bought a bag of yellow onions that weighed almost 4lbs and was the same price that a 2lb bag of onions was going to cost me (they have kept the same price on onions and went from a 3lb to a 2lb bag in many stores now and it's a ripoff!)

I also will buy milk when I find it on sale and put a couple of gallons in the freezer. When thawed, I just shake it up and we use it. We go through a gallon of milk in a day so this doesn't go bad on us. Frozen/Thawed milk will not last as long as milk straight out of the fridge. I use dry milk to cook with most of the time.

Also I will buy milk that is close to it's expiration date that the stores have marked down. It's still good in the majority of cases up to 2 days after expiration date. The stores here put coupons on them and sometimes they can be up to $2 off in store coupons stuck on there making a gallon of milk less than a $1.

Eggs - There have been coupons recently for these but the organic ones are higher after coupon than the others are. We go through about 3 or 4 dozen eggs a week sometimes. We have 9 laying hens but that doesn't supply us in enough eggs especially during winter, etc. because they don't lay as much in winter months unless supplied with a lot of light. So when I do buy eggs I buy the bigger cartons that are 2.5doz or will get the boxes of eggs from Walmart (5 dozen) it's actually cheaper to buy than a single dozen per egg ratio but just make sure you can use all those up in a relatively reasonable time.

[catlover7731]

I hardly ever see coupons for fresh produce. My way of thinking I am saving money on health/beauty/ cleaning so I can use the savings to buy fresh produce. I also try and by produce when it is on sale, from farmer's markets or ethnic places. Tomorrow I am going to a mexican produce stand and will buy 2 boxes of mangos( we love when mangos are in season), each box has about 18 mangos, for $12, They have limes as cheap as 12/$1 at times . Also at Costco we buy some produce because it is cheaper than buying it at our local stores.. We buy a bag of oranges for $8 , at the store this bag would cost around $15, a bunch of bananas for $1.24.Last week we bought a bag of 8 lbs of red onions for $6 . To buy fresh you just need to really shop around. I don't buy candy, but do buy chocolate at times( my weakness) and Ice cream( another weakness) . There is also a website out there that gives healthy coupons for healthy snacks/groceries.. mambo sprouts? or something like that.

[aaronalita]

One of the ways that I have gotten around this problem, is I try to find deals that earn me money that I can then use on the foods that rarely have coupons. For instance, sometimes I use ECBs at CVS to purchase my milk, or I use CATs for money off my next order to purchase my veggies/fruits. It is a bit tricky at times, but I don't shy away from a deal just because it isn't healthy food. I may go ahead and buy those deals if I can work it to help me purchase what I really want and donate what I don't want. HTH!

[ultrabextr]

If your store takes competitor's q's, Food Lion has IP's sometimes for $1/$5 beef or $1/$5 produce, and that kind of thing. I do alot of baking, so I buy that kind of stuff in bulk at Sam's, but I save so much in HBA and other items (frozen foods, cereals, etc) that I can really go all out on fresh meat and fruit! HTH

[savings queen]

I've noticed it, too. It costs more to eat healthy than not. As for produce, I will compare the prices of my local fruit markets to determine where I shop. I almost always buy seasonal fruits & veggies because they're less expensive.

In the end, I remind myself that it's important to invest in our health.

[windstorm]

Although rarer, I often get frozen Bird's eye steamfresh veggies for $.50 a bag at the most. These are easy and healthy to prepare. I love to use them for winter.

We have gotten close to free eggs from eggslands best, but often get egg beaters type egg whites for $1.00 with coupons/sale. I just stock up.

Shredded cheese, including lower fat (shredded) can be gotten for .5-1.00. Again, I stock up and freeze.

I shop at food lion. There was just a 1/$5 produce coupon.

Once a year it seems, pillsbury has coupons off flour that can be used on their whole wheat flour. There's usually a sale with it. I stock up for what we'll use. (I make our own bread, pizza crust, etc.)

Brown rice I have gotten free along with whole wheat pasta.

All my toiletries (even TP!! lately) has been free. Granted, I've stocked up and don't think I'll be picking up free toothpaste for a few years. This gives us extra money for other foods.

I never buy meat over 1.99/lb. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale here 1.69-1.99 at least every 4 weeks in one of the stores around here. I usually keep 3months in the freezer at a time. I have gotten several of the pouches of salmon for $1.00/less with coupons. Keeps great and is enough to make pasta/tacos/stuffed peppers for our family.

Free fresh express salads a few times a year.

Just got a lot of fat-free ranch dressing, which encourages me to eat healthy because I will eat lots of veggies with a little dressing.

Many cans of free tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (sodium free).

Use CVS overage with coupons to get free milk/juice/etc.

Had Sara Lee free bread a couple of months ago. Have gotten arnold whole wheat bread a few months ago for .25 after coupons...

BTW, didn't do this the first week I started couponing. I have a list of things we eat regularly and as I could, stocked up on them when they were on sale/free. I can go sale to sale on at least half the items now.

[cmbarrytx]

You might also look into CSAs in your area. We split a share 3 ways with two other couples (our portion was $125), and we'll have 10-15lbs of fresh, locally grown, chemical free produce each week from around June 1 until October.

[karenvallone]

You know I have been asking my self the same questions about healthy coupons. I am on weight watchers so I am not buying frosted flakes and such. I have seen q's for the bagged salad mixes and a while back I found some for clementine oranges but as far as produce goes I havent been able to find much out there. I do buy alot of fiber one cereal, f1 muffin mix, f1 pancake mix as these are all very healthy and satisfying. Your kids wont lnow the difference. they also make the f1 bars and pop tarts which are a great alternative to cookies and other sweets. Oh and someone also sent me a coupon for cherry tomatoes in a potluck a few weeks ago. But I too would love to get hooked up with these as well.

[lizzy]

Safeway has fresh strawberry coupons on their website

[srvymaster]

i just watch the sales and stock up when I can. I also belong to a CSA and for under $20 a week I get a box of fresh veggies and fruit. during the summer we shop at the farmers markets and farm stands to get the cheapest price we can and then freeze it to last the whole year.

you have to plan ahead to get fresh healthy food for cheap (almost never free). once you are able to stock up on one or two sales you will see the savings and learn how to get what you want for the lowest possible price.

hth

[esquala]

Just noticed this thread has been revived. Ok, so after about 8 weeks of couponing, this is what I've learned:

1. Saving on HBA stuff is a snap. I'm already stocked up for about the next year at least, on everything but TP and paper towels. In no way would these items cost as much as fresh stuff for a year, even at their full price.
2. Like Windstorm, I have a limit on how much I'll spend per pound on meat.
3. For healthy food, I cut out all the q's, and if there's a match I have them available.
4. You just have to keep a sharper eye out for healthy food!
5. Manager's specials at kroger: older milk, meat, produce. Weekend evenings are great to find these.
6. Walgreen's - great place to find marked down stuff, including food.

Thanks for everyone's input!

P.S. I bought a cherry tomato plant and a basil plant (walmart, three bucks each), and put them in pots on the patio. I have been totally enjoying freshly snipped basil, and just sprouted my first tiny green tomato yesterday!