Coupons can be invaluable for saving lots of money on your grocery food budget. But now there are less coupons available, at least in the Sunday newspaper.
How do you feel about the Valassis Company’s decision to pull the RedPlum coupon inserts out of the Sunday newspaper? The areas affected since last month are major cities in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Maryland, and Texas. This has definitely affected me in a regional sense, because when I look for coupons, I usually buy the Philadelphia Inquirer for coupons, and sometimes purchase more than one copy if there are good coupons available.
Valassis says that shoppers can still get coupons by printing them out online. It also has a program to mail some of the inserts to people at home. I received one skimpy insert in the mail in the entire six weeks since the coupons were pulled. Coupons printed online are sometimes not accepted by our local grocery stores.
But you know what? The pulling of the coupons from the Sunday paper hasn’t affected me all that much. This is because in the last few years, I haven’t relied much on Sunday coupons. Six years ago, I could feed a family of three on $30 a month with coupons, but times have changed. Stricter coupon rules and lower value of coupons in my area has made it more expensive than not to for me to use coupons. Plus we are a little more conscious about using organic products these days and less processed food.
My strategy for saving money on my grocery bill include buying ingredients basic ingredients instead of meals or meal helpers, buying in bulk, ordering coupons straight from the manufacturer (lots of freebies that way), buying fresh local products including organic milled flour and native produce, and shopping the clearance rack for cereal and other prepared products that we do still use.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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