Money Saving Monday, City-Style

 

Hi there lovelies!  Welcome back to another week of Money Saving Monday.  Unlike Project Food Budget, I will never abbreviate the title of this series.  You see, in the public health world MSM = “men who have sex with men.”  So yea…not what these particular posts are about!

Last week was an exciting one for this little couponer.  Why?

1. I started receiving my newspaper again after 3 weeks without it.  Yay for coupons!  Now if only I can figure out where the heck my mail is…
2. New July coupons, including a brand spankin’ new Whole Deal.  Need I say more?
3. We can officially walk to the Farmers Market.  And we did, despite the 100+ degree heat.  #worthit
4. All the summer fruit is out.  We have blueberries, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and plums for the week. It was essentially a whole new farmers market.  So so good.
5. Popsicles.  There is this stand that I’ve never seen before.  Vegan, homemade fruit possible with locally-sourced ingredients.  I got cherry dark chocolate chunk; the beau, peach sriracha.  Nom nom nom
6. I officially started shopping at the downtown Whole Foods.  Ok there were ups (such a better vibe – younger, hipper, and more urban…obviously) and downs (where the heck is the new Whole Deal and don’t you tell me the May/June one is it…come on now folks).  But all in all, I wouldn’t change it for the world.
7. We learned to never take public transit across town. Our trip to WF took about 2.5 hours…we were int eh store for maybe 45 minutes (and that’s super duper generous).  Mmmm hmmm…. thankfully it was sunny and we had nowhere to be.  And our frozen stuff didn’t completely melt.  <–win

Though most of our shopping was done at the Farmers Market and will continue to be for as long as its open, I wanted to share both a tip and some great deals that we scored at Whole Foods and Walgreens.

Tip of the Week

Haggling at farmers markets is totally ok.  You might not hear a ton of people doing it but I can promise you its happening.  Haggling is especially easy if you go towards the end of the market.  Obviously the risk here is that the selection will be less, but you’ll also likely get the most amount of savings.  Its definitely a tricky balance!  I try to go within the last hour.  By then, the farmers tend to want to get rid of as much stuff as possible so they don’t have to lug it back.  I actually had someone come right out and say this to me yesterday!

By the end of the market, the farmers tend to fall into one of three categories:

1. Those who automatically discount their prices.
2. Those who will give you extra produce just because (e.g. you ask for 2 zucchini and they give you 4).
3. Those who do business as normal and only discount if asked.

This last group is key for haggling.  They’re smart too- since the customer has to initiate the deal, its less likely that the farmer will sell their products for less than they’re priced.

But you’re smarter than that, aren’t you?  Regardless of the timing, here’s are three simple steps to haggling.

• Decide what you want and how much you want to pay for it.
• Ask the farmer if s/he will take $x for y and z products.
• Be reasonable with your request and understand that not everyone will give you a deal.

Example: “Hi there!  I’m wondering if you’ll take $5 for 1/2 pound of greens and the head of kale?”  The greens are normally $4 and the heads of lettuce run between $2-3 each.  So about what I would get if I used a coupon at a store.  Obviously, if you want to haggle lower, go for it.  But remember- this is their livelihood.  Respect that.

Meal Plan

Pad Thai (subbing homemade sunbutter for peanut butter)
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Black Beans
A highly adapted version of the Farmers Market Salad in Crazy, Sexy Kitchen
Something with zucchini noodles

Spending Savings

Farmers Market: $38
Whole Foods: $21.84Walgreens + Rite Aid: ~$15 <– we still need to go today

Total: $74.84

Steals and Deals

Walgreens

Chobani yogurt – 5/$5 (reg $1.29)
-5  x $0.30 Chobani cpn <–you need 2 computers to do print this many= $3.50 for 5 = $0.70 each

Rite Aid

Green Mountain K-cups – $5.99
– $1.00 Green Mountain cpn
=$4.99
= $0.42/cup of coffee

Whole Foods

Note: Since my store did not have the latest Whole Deal and I hadn’t printed the coupons, I couldn’t take advantage of all of these.  But I figured I would share anyway.

Click here for the July/August Whole Deal coupons.

Avocados: 2/$3 (reg 2/$4)
Dr. Kracker crackers: 2/$7 <–total splurge but they’re soooo good
Hmm Hummus: 2/$5

Ciabatta bread: $2.99
-$1.00 July/August Whole Deal cpn
=$1.99

Way Better tortilla chips: 2/$6 (reg $3.49)
-$1.00 Way Better cpn (from a VegFest)
=$2.00

Go Veggie vegan shreds: $2/6 (reg $3.49)
-$1.00 Go Veggie cpn
-$1.00 July/August Whole Deal cpn
=$1.00

Dream non-dairy beverages: $1.99
-$2.00/2 Dream cpn
-2 x $1.00 July/August Whole Deal cpn
=FREE

Did you score any great deals this week?  I’d love to hear about them.

Yoga/beauty/savings,

Kait xo