Gretchen emailed me with this question:
I just read some of your series on “Getting Real with Food“. I am in the midst of being a “coupon queen” but trying to quit. I am doing some organic foods and trying to cook so much more homemade food. My question to you is, how do I make this transition?
I am having a lot of trouble just trying to figure out how to stop couponing. I get organic produce delivered to me. I am starting to buy my pantry staples in bulk. Do you have any advice?
My answer:
(And by the way, we’re not talking about trying to stop couponing because there’s anything wrong with couponing…it’s the fact that usually coupons we find are for unhealthy foods, and our focus is on getting food for cheap or free instead of buying good, quality foods.)
Okay, now…My answer:
I SO understand your “pain” with trying to stop couponing. It seriously is painful…I’m not kidding when I say that. I loved doing it so much and it was such a part of who I was…not to mention it was something that made me feel so good about how I was taking care of my family. I didn’t want to give it up. But I did want to eat healthier. Oh, it was painful.
I remember walking through the grocery store one day when I had first learned about high fructose corn syrup and MSG and hydrogenated oils. And I was determined to still use some coupons because I thought surely I still could on some things. You know, like granola bars. Those are healthy, right? And I kept checking labels and EVERYTHING I had a coupon for had at least one thing in it that we shouldn’t be eating. I was getting so discouraged. And I started getting mad at the grocery store. And I thought it suddenly smelled stinky. And then I was starting to feeling teary.
I think I might have used one coupon that day on toilet paper or something…and saving those 50 cents didn’t really make me feel good like normal coupon shopping had. It made me feel worse.
Ultimately I think what helped me the most was that I pretty much stopped shopping at grocery stores. I began getting my food in all different ways, like from local farmers, our farmer’s market, a food co-op, and other bulk food stores and graneries. This means I hardly needed to walk into a grocery store anymore, which is where my couponing took place.
And, where I used to have SO MUCH FUN couponing at the grocery store…I now have SO MUCH FUN pouring over my food co-op catalogs and seeing what’s on sale for the month and what produce is available. I really kinda make it an “event”…when I have a quiet moment with my feet up to look through the catalogs and make my order. AND, I have so much fun seeing what awesome food I can get at the farmer’s market, and so much fun finding great foods from area farmers.
And the joy I used to feel knowing I was “taking such good care of my family by saving so much money with coupons” I now feel knowing that I’m taking such good care of my family by feeding them so well.
And this joy feels even better!
SO, hang in there. It sounds like you are very much on the right track!!!! Since you get your organic produce delivered to you and you’re ordering staples in bulk….you are making the transition very well.
And hey, use some coupons sometimes while you’re transitioning…on some things that are more “compromise foods” or toiletry items (I still use those kinds of coupons actually when I can).
Or, still use coupons to get free or almost free items that you can share with a food pantry.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask me more if I haven’t answered you as specifically as you would like.
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Anyone have anything they’d like to add?
(Visit Tammy’s Recipes for other kitchen tips.)
Cassandra Stafford says
I like the idea of using coupons to get food to give away. Thats a great idea.
I need to find out what companies you recommend and whose catalogs you receive. Except looking at food in magazines and stuff like that tends to make me hungry. :)
Rane @ Arabian Knits says
I was never a “couponer,” but I do use coupons. I use them on Organic Valley milk when we can’t get raw milk from our farmer friend. Their website has coupons for their products. I also use coupons on cleaning and paper supplies, OTC medicines, toiletries, diapers, etc. If you go to shortcuts.com, you can register your store card (they have a limited group), and get coupons off of organic produce and meats, I’ve used those as well. Smart Chicken has coupons, too.
Denai says
I used to be a HUGE coupons queen, I even taught classes on HOW to get all that JUNK for FREE! It was a VERY VERY hard day when I went through my coupons and got rid of all the bad…. My coupon file is now very thin, mostly Health and beauty stuff. I do have a hard time sometimes, but I am like Laura and know it is better for my family.
I have a SIL who I taught couponing to who is a HUGE coupon queen now, and I am sure will be forever… she took all my JUNKY foods from my house when I cleaned out the pantry… I am not sure she will ever GET IT… I rememeber her yelling at me when I threw my Hershey’s Syrup away… I was like “HELLO, the first 3 ing. are a kind of sugar!”
When I feel the loss of not being able to use coupons like mad, I try and remember… Coupons are for Junk that makes you feel like Junk… NOT all coupons, but most of them!
Debbie says
I use my coupons to get food pantry donations. That way I can still keep up my hobby and still feed my family good foods. I am able to donate about a grocery bag a week to the food pantry.
Kirstin says
I really only use coupons for bath type items. Because like you said most of the coupons are for things I just don’t buy. However I do still buy mayo and salad dressings and such and sometime find coupons for those but not too often. Eventually I’ll get around to making my own salad dressings. Anways, great answer to a great question,.
lizzykristine says
I use coupons for toiletries, detergent, soaps, etc. I buy very little food with coupons just because we don’t eat that stuff — though I’ve gotten tons of Muir Glen tomatoes with coupons! But keeping the non-food costs down low really helps me stay in the grocery budget while buying tons of fresh produce. I can’t have everything, so I balance the best I can and try to stay grateful. :)
I’m sure couponing will gradually phase out, especially once we get a house (Lord willing) and can have a garden and small fruit orchard. But right couponing enables us to afford a whole food diet. I’m very thankful for that!
Julie says
Im not a big couponer, but I totally get getting teary eyed in the grocery store. We have always shopped at the big warehouse stores and the first time I went in after changing our eating habits, I cried. Nothing was healthy, I thought. I missed being able to just grab the big box of mac n cheese and ramen noodles. Dh tried to tell me there was nothing wrong with eating out of the box occassionally and I completely agreed. BUT knowing how bad those artificial flavors and ingredients were for my family I just could not do it!
Deb says
I love your website, so helpful. I was wondering one thing. I am researching local farms to get raw milk, organic grass fed eggs & meats but what about cream cheese, sour cream, cheese, & yogurt. Do you buy these organic, no hormone, etc. Do they come that way? I think I have seen yogurt atleast at my health food store but cheese & the others are soy, etc. at my health food store. I am vegan but the rest of my family isnt so I would really like to follow your way of whole foods but am just a little confused on that part. ~Deb
Kristie says
We have slowly been removing processed foods from our diet. We first started because MSG was a migraine trigger for my DH. Then we found out my DS had a corn allergy (now outgrown). It was shocking to see everything that had HFCS in it once I was looking for it. There are still plenty of things I use coupons for, like rice milk and soy milk, Cascadian Farm fruit spreads, Muir Glenn tomatoes and pizza sauce, 100% juice drinks for road trips, etc. Qs help me afford these things. Before, we would have had the store brand HFCS filled jam, and with Qs and a sale, I can get the Cascadian Farm stuff for the same price (or sometimes less!).
Hannah says
A farmer in my town just started a food co-op, he plans to make it available to the “public” by next year. It’s organic, local and for me it’s free if I go and help a few hours a week! All you can eat organic greens!! I’m sure it will challenge me to cook new greens too. I have canned peaches, tomatoes in every way, but what about greens? Can you can leafy greens somehow? or freeze them?