Let’s face it, coupons for produce just don’t come around that often. In the 2+ years that I’ve been seriously couponing, I’ve seen a good handful of coupons in the Sunday paper for Cuties clementines, two printable coupons for potatoes (which I didn’t need because another brand was cheaper) and one (yes, only one) printable for Vidalia onions (which I also didn’t buy because another brand was cheaper). So in the end, if I only bought produce with coupons, I’m basically stuck with oranges.
Don’t get me wrong, those little Cuties are DELICIOUS, but a gal can only take so many oranges before feeling a little over-acidic herself, ifyouknowwhatImean.
One tip for easy savings is to check for marked-down produce. These are fruits and vegetables that are past their “good-lookin’ prime,” but still very edible. I’ve seen bananas for as low as $0.22/lb, and watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe and honeydew for less than $0.80/lb – and it was already chopped for me! My buy-now price for produce is $1 per pound, so anything less is great!
Get to know your local grocery stores and where they keep their marked down produce. Check the sections each time your there to see if you can find hidden treasures. I’m not saying stalk the stores, because that would just waste gas and be silly, but make an effort to check if you’re going to be there anyway. I found marked down bananas at Nob Hill over the weekend just by looking around. You never know what kind of savings you’ll uncover!
Link to… Feminine Adventures
Just popped over from Money Saving Mom. Love your site! I actually read ALL of your posts, AND made your chocolate chip banana muffins, all before noon.
I was interested to read more about your extra income endeavors. (I have been thinking about selling some of my crafts to help our budget a little, just haven’t had the nerve to start.)
Anyway, keep up the great work!
Thank you Theresa! How did your muffins turn out?
Extra income – before baby #1 was born, I had taken up an interest in scrapbooking. I wanted to give a new-baby gift to a friend – personalized wooden letters – and decided to make them with scrapbooking materials. Everyone raved about them so I started a business selling them. I advertised on Craigslist (free) and eventually started a website and sold them on Ebay. As time went on, I sought ways to reduce expenses (wholesale supplies vs. shelf price) and in turn, increase revenue – kinda like our home budgets! It certainly didn’t make us rich, but it gave us wiggle room and allowed us to pay off our debt significantly faster. If you’d like more information, please contact me through the contact form (on the “About” page) and we can discuss!!
That’s a great idea! Unfortunately I rarely find marked-down produce accept occasionally at Aldi, but have often found great deals on meat. I’m gonna start looking harder though.
Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Thursday!
Today the grocery store had a small bag of bananas marked down to 99C but when I examined them there was hardly any yellow and just black and squished. I just wait for sales and pay 33c lb,
Oh yes, sometimes you’ll stumble across those fruits too. I always browse through the bag carefully. If it looks gross, I pass. But often they’re just one day beyond prime, and those are perfect for chocolate chip banana muffins!
I like the idea of marked down produce, and in fact the Meijer where I shop frequenly has a less than desirable produce rack. GReat, right? Wrong. Unfortunatel they wait waaay to long to mark it down. MOst of the time what’s there should be on the compost heap. But I keep looking….maybe one day…
That’s unfortunate Wendy. Do you have another grocery store in the area who keeps a better produce area to begin with? Perhaps a store with a higher “standard” would be more likely to mark items down sooner.