[grace.maddie]

I have been at this coupon thing a very long time, but it seems we are always eating alot of processed foods and snack foods b/c thats what i can get for free or cheap. now i am dieting (22.5 lbs lost so far woo hoo!) and need to find some deals on things like fresh veggies and such. any ideas? so far i have been haveing dh just stop and pick up what ever is marked down on his way home from work and using it up that day. but it would be nice to have some fresher stuff. this is seriously taking a huge bite outta our grocery $$. i had it down to about $10 a week for a family of five, but now with the fresh produce i am at about $29 a week

[rebekah]

I am having the same problem! Produce is so expensive in the winter time. I've been emailing my favorite companies for coupons. So far I've emailed Deans Milk, Flat-Out Bread, and Carl Budding lunch meat. I also buy produce that is in season. So right now we're eating the heck out of oranges (.25 cents at Walmart right now). HTH And when all else fails, remember you are saving valuable money in the future by keeping your family healthy. Good luck to you on your diet and congrats on your weight loss!

[grace.maddie]

i know losing the weight will save in the long run its just so frustrating to have to spend so much.


btw rebekah, i noticed in your signature our maddies are only 10 days apart mie was born 12-15-15! i thought i saw you say you were from ft wayne in one of your posts, wouldn't that be funny if they were in the hospital being born at the same time (my maddie spent a couple extra weeks in the nicu)

[Valentinemommy]

I'm sure that you probably already use the Target printables (the one that expired yesterday for vegetables?) I agree that it is much harder to shop cheap for healthy stuff! I typically try to use winetags for produce...have you tried looking for those on Ebay? Good luck!

[rebekah]

Yes, I am from the Ft. Wayne area...actually North Webster, which is really close to Columbia City. We lived in Cleveland for about 3 years and Maddie was actually born in Cleveland. How do you celebrate your Maddie's birthday? I think we're going to do the half birthday in June. It's sooo hectic around the holidays. Does Maddie stand for Madison? My Maddie is a Madelynn. I also see that you have a 5 month old? My infant is 5 months old too! Very ironic!

[grace.maddie]

wow that is strange! out maddie is madeline. we are really thinking about the summer half b day, because its so close to cmas and her older sisters b-day is on the 22 of december, so its not very special. i think we are going to go way overboard on our babies first b-day since it will be out first summer bday so we can do a lot more.

[grace.maddie]

[quote=Valentinemommy;307523]I'm sure that you probably already use the Target printables (the one that expired yesterday for vegetables?) I agree that it is much harder to shop cheap for healthy stuff! I typically try to use winetags for produce...have you tried looking for those on Ebay? Good luck![/QUOT
no super target yet so no free veggies for me there is a new one being built and i am so hoping it is a super, i am hearing conflicting rumors though.
i am still a little leary of the wine tags being from indiana, i am afraid if i buy them on ebay they may not be valid for me here, but i will check ebay out, i never thought of byuing those on there, i bet there is some big business going on there!

[rebekah]

What is a wine tag? BTW-your Madeline's middle name isn't Noel, is it?

[grace.maddie]

from what i can tell they are coupons that hang on winbe bottles that may or may not require the purchase of the wine. i believe the hot ones are for very nonspacific items and don't require a purchase, don't get too excited we don't have them in indiana.

no maddies middle name is jane, but our first grace almost had the middle name noel. when she was born she was soooo tine 5 lb that they brought her to me in a stocking. so cute.

[Valentinemommy]

You should be able to use them anywhere unless it says a state restriction on the back. I don't have any current produce ones right now but will keep my eyes open. I can use expired coupons and wt here so I always have a supply that I can use but sometimes forget what is currently out there.

[Carina]

Don't you have a produce store in your area? I have a few. One particular store has a cart of reduced produce. I can get 3 eggplants for .99 cents. I always look at the cart (they have 3 some days) before I walk around and buy anything else. Most of the time its just over stock that they want to get rid of and I rarely get a bad batch of anything that I purchase.

[andriamay]

One tip I have for you is a Fruits and Veggies Co-Op we go to one called Bountiful Baskets and I can get $50 worth of produce for $15. I would search up fruits and veggies co-op. I'm in the Az area

[cthulhugrrl]

Glad to see this thread here. This is where I am trying to find more coupons, too.

I finally got myself in gear and went back to the co-op yesterday and ordered a box of all organic local produce for next week and did some shopping while I was there. I got organic lemons and bananas, local honey, local and organic beets, kale, cilantro, all for an additional $10 in addition to my box order. I was quite happy with that. For local and organic it's a bit more $$, but I really do think it makes a big difference in my family's health and supporting local farmers is something I really believe in.

Right now I am spending a lot on my groceries because I buy next to no processed foods, mostly fresh stuff. But I am starting my foray into couponing to save on things like toiletries at the least and will hopefully find more deals out there on the items I do buy.


Will post in this forum on anything good I do find!

[mpayne]

"i had it down to about $10 a week for a family of five, but now with the fresh produce i am at about $29 a week"

HOLY COW! Please start a thread and tell us how you feed 5 for $10, OR $29! We're still spending about $70/week for 4 - and I do a lot of couponing!

Good idea on the co-op. I need to look for one in our area since Spring is right around the corner! Here's a good site to find local farmers/coops: Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food

We've been buying way too much processed stuff since I started couponing, too.

[2vette2camaro]

One way I have found to save is to buy frozen- broccoli, cauliflower, etc. It lasts a whole lot longer and is only about a $1.00 a bag if you don't buy name brand. We used to buy a lot of fresh fruit and veggies and alot of it would go bad before we ate them, so we were wasting money. As far as nutrition content, frozen has just about the same as fresh.

We try not to eat alot of the processed box foods too and it does cost more. But what you are saving on your other HBA stuff, etc. you can put towards eating better. Also if your store gives overage, use that towards better food. We eat a lot of yogurt and especially the Live Active cheese that have coupons right now. When there are new products introduced into the market, there is usually going to be coupons, so you should stock up on those.

Also you could grow a garden and hunt and fish like we do for fresh meat. Someone on here (I think it was KellyMarie) says she trades some of her stockpile HBA items for fresh turkeys, etc to the local farmer. I think that is AWESOME. I would gladly trade some of my tons of shampoo and conditioners, toilet papers, etc. for some fresh meat and veggies. Never underestimate what we can do....

[AngieP]

We're not big on processed foods in our house either~~You can try looking for farmers markets in your area~~~if not your best bet, like 2vette mentioned, save everywhere else (health & beauty, baby...) and it won't seem so bad to purchase produce. I pay zilch for health and beauty~~I get so much stuff that I sell of bags of stuff to friends and family cheap~~I pay nothing and get extra cash in the end~~~~I then take my cash and go to the grocery store for my yummy fresh produce.

[mpayne]

I have some $3 rebate forms WYB any kind of oranges ($6 min) if anyone would like one! PM me.

[angel nee nee]

PUblix greenwise market magazine has some oranic product coupons in them. Depending on where you life, you can have them mail them out to you.
Publix GreenWise Market Magazine - Subscription Form

[mpayne]

Are the coupons in the magazine only good at Publix?

*Nevermind, can't even subscribe in NC.

[angel nee nee]

some are publix coupons. some are man. coupons.
they only have few in them, but magazines are free and you might get something you like sometime.

[angel nee nee]

mpayne, Maybe I can help find the coupons in there for you and mail them out?

[mpayne]

If they are good at other stores, please let me know. That would be great.

I'd like to get the magazine...it looks interesting.

[angel nee nee]

okay! I will.

[therbel]

Email DOLE they always send me good coups. Also try buying fresh veggies/ fruits when they are on sale, and cook and freeze them. Stewed fruit in the crock pot is yummy, and freezes well. Steam veggies you get on sale and freeze them for later. Alot of the organic companies are really trying to make a good name, so they have been sending me some really good coups. And farmers markets are the way to go if you have one near by!!!!

[angel nee nee]

It's not food, but I do have some green works cleaning supply coupon I got from that magazine. There's few more I got from that magazine but do not remember the name of the product.