The Great Coupon Debate

My friend Brandi recently told me that, because of me, she no longer feels guilty about buying $8 cheese if it's good quality and something she wants. And I say bravo! We should expect to pay a bit for food and look for quality, local, and/or organic consumibles whenever possible. I happily pay $4 for organic milk every week because I see value in it; it's an investment in my core beliefs as an individual.

Yes, my belief system is structured around organic dairy. I've heard crazier things.

However, I feel a confession coming on, as there's a darker side to my grocery shopping habits. In the end, when it comes to groceries, I'm a lot like this lady: a coupon clipper and a sale shopper. I glean enormous pleasure from seeing "You saved 22%!" at the bottom of my receipt. I. Love. A. Deal.

As we delve into this topic, consider that the average American family spends $700 a month on groceries. $700, are you kidding me?? And, as we all know, the average American family eats like crap. So how do we crawl out of this black hole, start saving some cash, and eating a little bit better? Allow me to provide some suggestions, straight from our house to yours.

1. Eat what you buy. Americans throw out 25% of their food, and that number climbs higher when you start factoring in restaurant, school, and grocery store waste. It's a national disgrace. So for our average family, that's $175 every month thrown in the trash. You can't clip enough coupons to make up for that.

2. Plan before you shop. Write a list of what you need, then go online and look at the grocery store ads to see what's on sale. If you're really feeling ambitious, print off a few coupons at the product company's site. You can get coupons at kashi.com, seventhgeneration.com, even kyjelly.com. Not that I would know or anything.

3. Use your freezer. We're lucky to have a stockpile of garden vegetables and wild game in our freezer, but you can go to your local butcher or farmers' market, buy a bundle for a song, and freeze it. Everyone wins.

4. Buy local. It may not always seem cheaper, but I can almost guarantee that you are getting a superior product than you'll find at the grocery store, and you are keeping your dollars close to home, which benefits your community in the long run. And doesn't that just feel better?

In the end, there is more to life than just saving a buck, and if I want $8 cheese, I'm going to buy $8 cheese. However, I don't want to be working until I'm 85 just because I don't know where my money is going. I think of every dollar as a vote, and when I buy food, I try to vote for quality, community, and health.

And when I need a Lucky Charms fix, I'll have a coupon for it.