Coupons are only for junk food? Guess again.

by: Josh Elledge, Chief Executive Angel

I commonly get questions suggesting that SavingsAngel shopping is only for junk food: unhealthy, processed, and certainly not good for you. It’s absolutely true that you can get about every type of processed food at bargain prices thanks to coupon and sale combinations.  However, the reality is that you can actually get some very good discounts on some of the best new products hitting the shelves that are made with better quality ingredients and are minimally processed.

If you prefer to eat higher quality foods including eating organic whenever possible, you know that your grocery bill is much higher than the average shopper.  Without pause, the response to that reality is something like, “it’s less expensive in the long run, because fresher, unprocessed foods mean fewer doctor’s visits in the long run.”  This may be the case - but it’s no excuse to pay full retail for everything just because you want to avoid the doctor.

My family and I are committed to eating healthy.  We try to make a majority of our food in the day plant-based (fruits and vegetables). Our food standards may not be yours; every family is different - but we’ve found a way to save an enormous amount of money at the grocery store while supporting our plan for eating by following these three tips:

1. Use coupons for the items that don’t matter as much.  I don’t care much that my paper towels were made from non-organic trees.  It doesn’t bother me that my shampoo was bought from a chain store - and not from a place in the artsy part of town.  I also don’t mind that my razors were manufactured by some large food and product conglomerate.  I’m not going to pay anywhere near retail for about 2/3 of the consumable products I buy because it’s not just as critical for me.  This includes staple ingredients that we use to cook and prepare our own food.

Shopping like this gives me far more money to work with each month - ensuring that the ⅓ that matters for me are the best, freshest, products that we’d love to buy.  If you are on a fixed food budget, your newspaper insert or internet printable coupons, matched with the best local sales are going to free you to eat much healthier.

2. For the items that do matter to you, get very familiar with where the coupons are - because coupons for healthy and organic foods are more popular than ever.  At the time of this writing, there are over 50 coupons with the term “organic” in our database for products.  In the weeks ahead, more organics coupons will be added.

3. Fresher is not always better. There are many instances where frozen or canned fruits and vegetables can actually be a healthier option for you.  Because much of our produce is picked very early in the ripening process, shipped long distances, sprayed with gasses like ethylene (to ripen), exposed to heat and light, and can even sit around for up to two weeks before it finally hits your shopping cart, many of the nutrients that could have been in that product simply don’t exist when found in your grocer’s produce department.  

While the best option is to only eat what’s in season from a local grower (or your own garden), the next best bet may be your supermarket frozen foods aisle.  Produce picked for frozen food use, is often picked at it’s most ripe — and most nutrient-rich state. When the produce is flash-frozen, its nutrients become locked-in and sealed. According to the US Food and Drug Administration and the International Food Information Council, nutrients in fruits and vegetables are generally lost during canning or freezing. They go on to state that fresh, frozen, or canned versions of the same food have relatively equivalent nutrient profiles.

Here’s the kicker: Incredible coupon and sale combinations are plentiful for frozen or canned fruits and vegetables.  Many times over the past few years, I’ve loaded up my freezer with bags of veggies for five to ten cents a bag.  Another benefit to frozen or canned produce is that you won’t have to worry about spoilage because the produce simply stays frozen until you’re ready to eat it.

So as you thumb through your the available coupons, you may “thumb your nose” at coupons for foods you don’t eat.  Even for the choosiest of eaters, there are more economical ways to shop for your family if you dig a little and use some smart Savings Angel shopping strategies.