BUDGET WHOLE30 TIP #5

I used to be a crazy coupon lady. I’ve never admitted that in a broad setting ?, but for our #budgetwhole30conversation, it’s very relevant. I clipped coupons from newspapers, dumpster dived for more newspapers, shopped for more coupons on eBay (yes, that’s a thing), followed all the coupon blogs. I checked out in batches of like 10 separate orders and combined all the coupons with the deals and rebates. It was like a part time job. Grocery clerks in my small town knew me too well and probably hated seeing me coming! I had a LARGE stash of foods and toiletries and often MADE money buying items. My family budget needed it and I loved the challenge.

I haven’t couponed, really couponed, in years however. Why? It’s not lack of need – my family only has gotten bigger! A few things to consider if you are feeling the pressure to be couponing more:

1. The hype of couponing (here’s looking at you extreme couponing reality show!) made most of the grocery stores really examine their coupon policies. It became hard to find stores that would double or triple coupons, which was a big factor in getting the crazy deals.

2. Clean eating products have less coupons available. They exist, for sure (especially for big brand names like for maybe Green Giant frozen veggies and such), but they are much less likely to be showing up in your Sunday newspaper. The clean whole products you are buying for #paleo and #whole30 don’t usually have commercials or a multi-million dollar coupon campaign.

How do you get your hands on the coupons that DO exist for awesome #whole30brands like @applegate or @chomps? You can try emailing the company directly telling them how much you love their product, and ask if they have any coupons they can send you (they often will!). But you can only really do that once per brand.

So, rest at ease my friend – couponing is a dying art that is tough to apply to clean eating products. Your time is better spent making things from scratch & following your local grocery sales to save a buck! ?
#wholefoodfor7onabudget