Coupons for Healthy Food: Do They Exist and How to Save on Staples?

Sonia:  Commented/Asked "I hardly ever use coupons because it seems like it's hard to find ones for things that I actually buy. I tend to make my food from scratch and I avoid junk foods and snack foods. (I can't have that stuff in the house...if it's in the closet I will eat it!) Do you have any suggestions for using coupons with basic staples like milk, meat, eggs, pasta, rice, etc?  Also, do you have any ideas for where to find coupons for organic or health-food items?"

Sonia is accurate that it is harder to save money on the raw staples, as companies don't have to woo you for staples as much and they don't tend to come out with new ones, etc.  (Sometimes the best time to save on a product is when it is new and the company is just introducing it.)  But you can save some money on the raw staples and the healthier foods.

There are coupons and good deals out on rice and pasta often times.  For instance this coming week at Pick' Save we have this deal.

Barilla Pasta 12 to 16 oz. $1 (excludes lasagna cuts, plus and tortellini) 

Use $1 off 1 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta from 1/8/12 SmartSource (expires 3/4/2012)

Final Price:  Free pasta without doubling, or two free with doubling

The normal price for this item at my Pick'n Save is $1.23, so even on a normal Wednesday or Saturday (Pick'n Save doubles 5 coupons in a $25 transaction on Wednesdays or Saturdays with store card.), the pasta would only be $.13 a box after double coupon.  

As a family who does pasta probably once a week, you won't be able to probably buy all your pasta for free, but some of it and often times including wheat pasta.  Last year or so there was a bunch of free Ronzoni pasta possibilities as it was a fairly new product.  So watch for new pasta products and when you find a pasta coupon you can use, let others know and they just may send them your way.

Riceland often times has some small valued coupons out, but as I buy rice a lot, I wait for a crappy Pick'n Save week and use it to double on their rice.  There is also minute rice coupons out, currently from February women's magazines (All You magazine, Redbook and Better Homes and Gardens).  These can often times be matched up to a good deal, but I have not tended to buy minute rice, so not sure if they are really plain rice or do they add salt or anything in their processing to make it only take a minute to cook.  

Milk and Eggs about the only coupons out on that are a result of cereal deals.  IF you match up coupons to one of the General  Mills or Kellogg's cereal deals where you buy 6 or 8 boxes and get $10 off at checkout and you will receive a coupon for free milk and a coupon for free eggs, you can do that.  I do that a lot and used to b be willing to pay only $1 a box for cereal, but with the free milk coupon, I am now willing to pay a bit more.  For me, it is cheaper to find a good name brand cereal deal and match with coupons and then get the free milk or free eggs, etc.  If you don't use cereal, the only other thing I can suggest considering, but have not priced out, is that egglands best eggs does have coupons out often times as does Land O Lakes natural eggs.  I have no idea what they run to know if after a double coupon it could be a good price.  This week milk is on sale at CVS $2.99 and get $1 back in ECBs, and Pick'n Save had a milk sale that ended today, so I watch for milk sales.  Otherwise, some of the cheapest milk normally is Sam's Club or Kwik Trip gas stations.  (My family does not like the Kwik Trip or Aldi's milk.)  Eggs are usually on sale Easter and Christmas, so not often enough to make much difference  in your regular grocery budget.  But butter is also on sale Easter and Christmas and that you can buy cheap and stock up on.  (I think Aldi's is still  $1.99 for a pound of butter though and that was the best I saw this year at Christmas.)

Produce is a hard one to save on.  Shopping in season helps.  (I am not the best at this either, as I want bananas, apples and lettuce/spinach year round.) Buying only what you will use so you don't waste it helps.  (I still have problems in this area.)  There are not many produce coupons out.  The Cuties clementines has some coupons and Kraft salad dressing has a non-insert tearpad coupon out that if you buy two salad dressings you can get $1 off produce, and yes, it does double.  Would have made a good deal this week.  (ends today.)  Kraft 8 oz. salad dressings are $1 and use the $1 off 2 coupon, double and you basically get free salad dressing, as long as you are buying $2 worth of produce.

My main advice when it comes to meat is to read the ads and see what is cheap.  I have a basement chest freezer and try to buy meat when it is cheap and then plan my meals around what I have, so I don't have to buy meat at regular price.  (That means at Christmas, I bought an extra ham, at Thanksgiving I would have bought an extra Turkey, but was out of town.  I do the same at Easter.)  Lately pork has seemed cheaper than beef, so we have been using a bit more pork in our meals.

Another healthy to me item that you can find deals on are canned tomatoes.  Today when I went to Pick'n Save their Roundy's canned no-salt added diced tomatoes were $.59 a can.  That surprised me as I don't think they are usually in the canned tomato sales.  Had to buy a number of cans as I am thinking of a pot of chili and some homemade sourdough pretzels on Superbowl Sunday.

Pasta Sauce deals can be found if you do not make your own homemade.  (I try to make homemade, but had a hard time figuring out the right amount of sodium, as I usually cook sodium free, but pasta sauce needs some in my opinion.)  If you are not picky, you can find it for $1 often times, including more than the canned stuff.  But as we are picky, I did the Sentry deal this week $1.66 a jar and then you can use the in ad coupon for $5 off when you buy 10, so that comes out to $1.16 per jar for 10  jars of Ragu.  Good deal in my book.

Cheese is one you can find on sale and stock up on also.  I do freeze cheese, but my blocks of cheddar get a bit crumbly, so have stopped doing that, especially as it seems I can get shredded just as cheap.  This week at Pick'n Save they have an 8 oz. shredded cheese for $1.66.  (Piggly Wiggly had a better price, but I don't live near one of those.)  When it is $1.66 I do stock up a little bit and freeze and wait for the next $1.66 to $2 per half a pound sale.  They can be found about once a month.  

One other thing, is there are some places that have cheaper produce normally.  Aldi's seems to have a few good produce deals every week.  (Some of their produce, I like, some I don't.  I don't like the bananas, as I just can't see buying bananas  that are prebagged.  My family is quite particular about their bananas.)  This week starting today through 1/31 Aldi's has Avocados $.49, a one pound bag of baby carrots $.49 (I buy these a lot.), 3 pack of multicolored peppers $1.79 (I think about 3 peppers is a pound, so not a bad price, but again, my son and husband love red pepper in their salads and are picky about their peppers.), strawberries $1.39 for a pound, 4 lb. bag of Navel Oranges for $.99 and pineapple for $.99 each.  (Wish I was  going to Aldi's this week, I would probably get strawberries, oranges and a pineapple or two!)  

Now does this mean I advocate stopping at multiple places to shop?  Depends on what is close to you and your schedule.  I shop Aldi's once a month for the few things that is cheaper there (potato/tortilla chips, dishwasher detergent, produce, hamburger patties $2 per pound but recently went up, precooked meatballs $2 a pound but went up recently, and chicken breasts $2 a pound but I prefer theirs to other stores no name brands).  Then I shop Pick'n Save, CVS and Walgreens most weeks.  I shop Pick'n Save on Wednesday, as it fits my schedule and it is double coupon day, which I highly recommend.  

When it comes to organics, and such, I really don't know much at all, as I am not an organic buyer, but there are blogs out there that focus on organic coupons and organic coupon matchups.  One that I happen to read is.. Saving Naturally.  I am not a big reader of it, so can't say it is the best, but if you go looking you will find a community of organic shoppers and organic coupons.  

One last recommendation is that if you have favorite brands, sign up for their email and coupon programs, and send them an email telling of your loyalty to their brand and you just may receive some coupons in the mail.  Ronzoni does online coupons on occasion.  Driscoll sent me a birthday strawberries coupon.  Splenda has online coupons.  Ragu occasionally has online coupons.  Pillsbury/General Mills/Betty Crocker all have lots of online coupons.  Stoneyfield farms I believe has online coupons quite often.  Kashi has also.