Couponing the Natural Way

If you've been following my facebook page, you know that I am a huge couponer - you also know that you won't find coupons for Pop Tarts, Cokes, or Twinkies on my page!  As much as I love (and need) to save money, there are some things that just aren't worth sacrificing.  Feeding my family foods that I know are safe and healthy is an incredibly important responsiblity to me.  I take this very seriously and don't waiver no matter how great the sale temptation may be.  Just because you can buy a box of mac and cheese for free doesn't meant that you should!

So, exactly how do you coupon for real food?

• Forget buying Sunday papers.  If you are truly committed to providing real food for your family, the number of usable coupons isn't worth the cost of the paper and the time it takes to clip the coupons.  Plus, the "awesome" coupons in the ads just add extra temptation to buy bad groceries!


• When you do find a good deal, stock up!  I'm not going to lie, all-natural or organic deals are few and far between.  So, when you come across a great deal, buy a lot (but not so much that it'll expire before you can use it).


• Check your favorite stores' websites for in-store coupons. These stores will often coordinate their coupons with current manufacturers' coupons.  When this happens, you can really save money.  (Whole Foods, Target)


• Save money in other places.  I know it seems like retreat from grocery couponing, but it's not!  It's just readjusting your focus.  Look for great deals on paper goods, cleaning products, cosmetics, etc., because it's much easier to find deals on the natural versions of these items than on natural groceries.  When you're saving money in other places, you'll have more to spend on organic groceries.  If you get a couple of $15 boxes of vitamins for free, that's $30 more to spend on food!


• Look for "money-maker" coupons.  Although these coupons are usually not going to be for things that you actually want to use, when you're getting money back, you can use it towards your organic groceries.  There are tons of food banks that are more than willing to take your extras.


• Check the coupon sites regularly.  I check coupons.com & redplum.com daily to see if there are any new coupons available.  If you don't have time to do the leg work yourself, follow a coupon blog or two.  My page only posts all or mostly all natural coupons, but be careful if you're following other sites, because the bad food deals can be super tempting!


• Follow your favorite brands on facebook.  They post high-value coupons on their pages often, so keep an eye out.


• Don't forget about the daily deal sites!  There are tons new online organic shopping sites (yay!), and they are often using daily deal sites to promote their sites.  I've ended up with $250 of Seventh Generation diapers for only $40 by using daily deal vouchers.

As far as couponing goes, that's about it.  Look out for another post about general money-saving tips for shopping and living organically, though!  Even if coupons are hard to come by, you really can still eat organically on the cheap - my family is living proof of this!