Simple ways to save when buying healthy foods

Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a lot.

It’s definitely easier to find coupons for popular items like chips and soda, but you have to look a little harder for healthy and organic products.

The experts at Coupon Sense say coupon companies are recognizing that healthy and organic items are becoming more in demand and those companies are beginning to issue coupons.

• Keep an eye out - tear pads, stickies ON products and you can even email companies asking for coupons for their items. In fact, a lot of the smaller 'natural' food companies are more than happy to mail out $1+ coupons to customers who just politely ask!

• Need wholesome snacks for the kids? Stock up on peanut butter and raisins when they are at a rock-bottom prices. Remember in general, sales price + coupon = rock bottom stock-up price.

• Yes you can save on fresh food and produce. Compare prices each week. Price match at Wal-Mart (if you like their produce quality) for a one-stop shop each week. You can also join a produce co-op like BountifulBaskets.org . It provides produce at a discount if you pick it up at their designated location.

• Take advantage of sales on seasonal produce and even stock up in order to freeze or can them. This is exactly how our grandparents saved money!  Buy in bulk when the price is right – then freeze or preserve them to save for when the prices bounced back up.  Use a Food-Saver to store produce when you stock up. There are many resources online to help you turn your seasonal produce into something you can store - as jam, jellies, breads, freezer meals, frozen raw, sliced, and whole, etc. Whatever the best method might be, you can always get resources and tips online.

• You can save a bundle by not buying something like canned chicken! Buy seven or eight pounds of chicken breast when it’s on sale, throw it in the crock pot with a can of chicken broth and slow cook it for seven to eight hours. Much more delicious! You can shred the chicken and freeze it in meal size portions.

• Want to be really thrifty? Don’t buy bread at the store. Make your own! You can find coupons to make oatmeal free or super cheap.  Oatmeal has a long shelf life and can be grounded to a nutritious flour in a blender.  Likewise, salt, oil, white flour and sugar, many of the ingredients in homemade bread can be purchased at discounted prices with coupons and sales.  Wheat is harder to purchase with coupons, but, it can be bought on sale at stores that sale bulk grains like Sprouts and Whole Foods.

• Not all “convenience” foods are bad.  The folks at Coupon Sense LOVE the frozen vegetables that you can pop right in the microwave and steam.  They are done in five minutes and with coupons they frequently get them for less than $.50 each and many times for FREE.