Proud Saver

I will admit, I do not love the scrimping and saving, as I've had to do lately, but today I worked the system so well, I can't help but to be a Proud Saver. In the grocery store I bought $203.35 worth of food for $109.07. By using a combination of coupons, bonus cash, and grocery store specials I managed a $94.28 savings on the trip and in addition scored a "Rewards Voucher" of $20.00 to be used on a future trip. If you include the voucher, I saved more than I spent.

Included in the trip were plenty of staples, meats, diapers, treats for the Dog,and enough Diet Coke to serve Husband of Food and myself for several weeks, which my friends, is a lot of Diet Coke.

Some of the coupons came from the Sunday paper, some from grocery store mailers, and some from the sources found in the blogpost Food and Grocery Coupon Conglom-o-rama This trip made me appreciate my thrifty side. I wish you all your own proud savings.

Hello Family of Food Friends!

Do you remember our very useful money saving post Food and Grocery Coupon Conglom-o-rama? Here is another link for you. Read Below!

Organic Valley eCoupons Now Available

Dear Organic Valley Farm Friends,

We've recently loaded up our web site with a new set of e-coupons worth $8 to help you enjoy the best of health and delicious goodness from our farmer-owned cooperative. Go to organicvalley.coop/coupons/ and follow the instructions to print them out.

The cows are in the pasture and Organic Valley family farms are working hard to bring the very best organic milk to your local retailer. Thanks to your support, the finest milk available is traveling the shortest distance to you! That means fresher milk and less fossil fuel. And the kids on the farms are growing up to learn the ways of farming in harmony with nature's wisdom for the future of your family and our planet.

You've been fantastic to us, and we'd sure appreciate it if you'd also thank the grocer where you buy our milk. Pat 'em on the back, send a letter, or fill out a comment card. We're all in it together, and your acknowledgment really makes a difference.

Thanks to you, our citizen-partners, for protecting the future of healthy farms and healthy food choices.

In cooperation,
The Farmers of Organic Valley

Staving Off Hunger

Folks are finding it hard to make ends meet these days. Some people are finding it hard to eat out like they used to and buy the quantities of fresh foods they took for granted when times were better. Some people just want to know... what does it take to make it when you have very little.

I collected a few links to the experiences of those trying to live on on a budget for various reasons. Their experiences may help you if you are trying to tighten your belt.


Hillbilly Housewife $40 Menu
This menu complete with shopping lists and recipes has been around a while. Food prices in my area are much higher than on the list, but the basic principals still hold up. Hillbilly Housewife has also made a $70 dollar menu which is a bit more healthy for a family of 4.

Congressional Food Stamp Challenge
This page chronicles the challenge that many congress people and civic leaders took to try a month of eating on a Food stamp budget, $21 a week.

$5 a Day Food Stamp Diet
A reporter tries to live on $5 a day and fails.

One Dollar a Day Diet
A couple tries to live on a dollar a day each. They are able to do it, but not without a cost to their health.

Family of Food's Grocery Coupon Collection
Here is a link to our post about saving money at the grocery store.

Donate to the Family of Food Online Food Drive
Help those who really need it. Donate to the Family of Food Drive today!

Coupon Results

After my last post, Food and Grocery Coupon Conglom-o-rama, I gathered up my coupons and went shopping at Ralphs. The results... I still spent just as much at the store, however I bought a heck of a lot more for the money. My trip included non-food staples like diapers and dog food as well as a full load of groceries. I am hoping not to have to do a major trip for at least a couple of weeks.

I saved over $67 by using the coupons, which is nothing to sneeze at. Many of my coupons were combined with in store sales and then doubled adding to the savings. The shopping took about twice as long, but in time I hope I can get more organized with it. The best coupon I had, get one free Arm and Hammer Fabric Care (laundry soap FREE!), the worst I had was $.65 off Naturally Preferred Cage Free Brown Eggs, they only had white and I wasted too much time looking for the brown.

Food and Grocery Coupon Conglom-o-rama

Last night my husband and I paid the monthly bills and we realized something entirely shocking, we’re broke. We are going to have to tighten our belts, count our pennies, and yes… clip our coupons.

Because it is fashionable these days to be low on dough, I have collected a group of coupon links for all of us little people struggling to stay afloat in this economy. Save a penny, earn a penny, right? Coupons are a great way to slow the hemorrhage of cash going to the grocery store as food prices rise. Just be careful of how you use them. Coupons are enticing advertisements designed to lure you to certain products, so try to use them to buy things you would buy otherwise.

These links are somewhat Southern California Centric, so if you have suggestions for other coupon sources, please leave a comment with your tip. I have put a Bookmarker at the bottom of the post so you can check back to this post whenever you need coupons.

Whole Foods - This link lists Specials at the market. The offers are limited, but you can still save money at Whole Foods by sticking to the “365” house brand for staples, cooking fresh foods instead of buying prepackaged, and by checking the following websites for manufacturer coupons.

Organic Valley - Coupons are good for organic dairy.

Organic Prairie - Coupons are for organic meats.

Earth’s Best - Coupons for baby and toddler foods.

Kashi - You have to join MyKashi to get these Kashi coupons, but who knows… maybe you’re a big Kashi eater.

Trader Joes - Their legendary “Flyer” is like a travel magazine complete with pithy stories and hand drawn illustrations. New products and specials are highlighted in the Flyer. Also on the site is a radio Flyer which has Trader Joe’s Staff talking about their products, this will only likely make you spend more dough as you are tempted by the stories.

Bristol Farms - Get the weekly specials for your local store with this link, though generally Bristol Farms is not the place to save.

Coupons.com - This site is easy and loaded with brand name savings, but you have to install printer software which keeps track of the coupons you print so you don’t abuse the system.

Smartsource - This is a general coupon site. Unfortunately you have to install printer software here, too. The following stores seem to use the Smartsource coupon engine, so you may want to stop here first.

Ralphs

Albertsons

Von’s / Safeway

Kroger - Ralphs is a Kroger store, so is Food 4 Less, Smith’s, Bakers, and others. If your Kroger Store isn’t listed, check the corporate site here.

Safeway - Vons is a Safeway Store and so is Pavillions, check this site for local Safeway stores in other parts of the country.

Supervalu - Bristol Farms and Albertsons are Supervalu stores. Check for local chains here.

Stop and Shop - An East Coast favorite, check the Circular for bargains before you shop.

Target - No special software required, just pick your coupons and print. Target is so nice.

Smart and Final - Click on Store Specials Button for the local circular. If you haven’t been to a Smart and Final, it is like a Small Club/Bulk Store, but you don’t have been a member to shop there. Lots of great bargains to be found, but some items are limited, for instance they carry no baby supplies.

For Baby Supplies try this Momsview.com link. They’ve got a long list of offers and coupons for your perusal.

Here’s to us all saving a few bucks. Just doing tests for this post I found $15 dollars worth of coupons for things I need and if I take them to Ralphs or Vons, those coupons with be worth $30, since both of those stores have Double Coupons. Check your local stores for Doubling since the savings can add up quickly that way.

Good Luck and Happy Saving!