"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" - Hippocrates

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Eating Healthy on an Unhealthy Budget

Catchy title, huh? I did a presentation a couple of years ago on this subject, and it seems that it still applies today. With looming budget cuts and a possible reduction in my salary, I was looking for a way to curb my expenses. But I was not willing to give up filling my body with good nutrition. There is an assumption that eating healthy is expensive. However, it is much more expensive not to eat healthy. Good wholesome food or medications, doctor visits and hospital stays. Take your pick.
I have always considered myself to be a bargain hound, but I have taken it to a whole new level. I went to a coupon class with one of my co-workers. Since then, most of us in the office are hooked. It is hilarious. We text each other, bragging about the latest deals. I did a pretty good job today and saved 68.81 and spent $15.32- and it was all healthy food! I was laughing my way out of the store, LOL. I posted this on Facebook and got quite a few comments. So I decided to blog about it. First of all, a couple of tips about couponing. You get the best deal by combining sales with as many coupons as you can. Publix is great because they accept competitor coupons. This means that you can use more than one coupon (a manufacturer and a competitor) on one item. So if you have a BOGO, you can use 4 coupons! The internet is full of websites and blogs that have weekly ad & coupon matchups. For Publix, go to www.iheartpublix.com. So here are the details of my latest shopping trip.

Green Giant Steamed Vegetables, 10 for $10 or $1 apiece
I had several coupons for these including 50cents off one, 60 cents off 3, etc. The average price was 68 cents per box.

Yoplait Yogurt, 20 for $10 or 50 cents apiece
I had two manufacturers coupons, 50 cents off 4 and 40 cents off 6. I combined it with a target coupon for 50 cents off 10. So I paid 36 cents apiece.

Sargento shredded cheese, 2 for $4. I had two $1.50 coupons. So I paid 50 cents per bag.

Kashi GoLean Crisp cereal, 2 for $5. I had two coupons that I got in the mail for signing up on Kashi.com. Total price per item, 50 cents.

Kashi TLC granola bars, 2 for $5. I printed off two coupons from Whole Foods, $1 off 1. So I paid $1.50 per box.

Fresh express salad, BOGO 3.69.  Two coupons printed from their website for $1 off 1. So I paid 85 cents per bag.

Wishbone dressing, BOGO 2.89. Target coupon for $1.50 off two plus a manufacturer 75 cents off. 32 cents per bottle.

Hunt's tomatoes, BOGO 1.89. Publix has a Viva Italian sale with great deals. Coupon in store for $1 off 3. So I bought six at 61 cents per can. Plus there is another coupon for $1.50 off Publix bread. I decided to get a baguette for free!

Muir Glen tomatoes, 3 for $4. I bought 4 and had coupons $1 off 2 (also at Publix). So I paid 84 cents apiece.

Non coupon items

South Beach Wraps, whole wheat. They were $2 in the clearance section.
Salad peppers, 6 bell peppers for 2.99!

Also with the Viva Italian sale, you can get $5 off 20 items (Muir Glen, Hunt's tomatoes, Green Giant and Progresso). So I used this coupon.

Plus Publix accepts $5 off coupons of various totals from Winn Dixie, Save A Lot,etc. You can sign up at Save A Lot's website and get a $5 of $25 coupon. So I used one of these too.

Total spent $15.32. Total savings 68.81.

A couple of other tips. Get the Sunday paper. You can order the Sunday edition of the Ledger for 75 cents a week. Order at least 2 so you have two coupons for BOGOs. Check out other stores and their deals at these websites,
CVS, www.iheartcvs.com
Walgreens, www.wildforwags.com
Target, www.totallytarget.com

Happy shopping!

1 comment:

  1. Great post! This is just what I needed. Sometimes eating healthy is so expensive, so this is a great inspiration.

    ReplyDelete