Extreme couponing and collaborative consumption

Try these ideas for saving money on food. You'll be reducing waste, reusing leftovers and repurposing materials, too.

Wed, Mar 09 2011 at 11:59 PM

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If a coupon tempts you into buying stuff you don’t need, it wastes money instead of saving it. But how much money can coupons, when used wisely, really save you? A lot, apparently. Over at Blogher, Denise Tanton has been writing a series about extreme couponing, and the savings she describes are pretty incredible:

Last week at the commissary, I spent $7.29. We bought two dozen eggs, each marked down to .49 with a .55 coupon off of two dozen. We bought a bag of shredded lettuce for $1, a bunch of bananas, a half gallon of milk, and a loaf of cheese bread. As I type that, I can hardly believe it — I’ve never spent less than $30 on a commissary visit for a family of six.

My guess is that a lot of that food wasn’t organic, but Tanton does write that extreme couponing has a close relationship to green living skills — like reducing, reusing, and plain old conserving. “Extreme coupon bloggers and forums also share good ideas for re-purposing products, avoiding food waste, and meal preparation ideas to save both time and money,” writes Tanton.

I admit that I spend a lot more money on my organic, local food than Tanton does, as I’ve yet to find coupons for produce at local farmers markets. To be fair, the deals I get at the farmers market are pretty stellar in themselves. For would-be frugal food shoppers who don’t want to abandon their commitment to locavoring, I recommend hitting the local farmers market about 20 minutes before closing time, when some farmers drastically reduce prices!

For the more seriously frugal eaters, Sharable’s got the “The Gen Y Guide to Collaborative Consumption.” There, you can get ideas for spending even less on food — by gardening (on a neighbor’s lawn if you don’t have one of your own), harvesting from nearby fruit trees, or holding a food swap. I think the list should also include scrounging and freeganing!

The Guide to Collaborative Consumption also has tips for getting everything from housing to transportation without buying things and spending less overall. Read it and save.

The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.

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Comments: 2

annettecampbell64 Mar 16 2011 at 11:21 AM

My husband and I have tried both. We used to do "extreme couponing" but, just like you, we ended up buying items we didn't need. We are now practicing "collaborative consumption". We helped organize a group of friends and neighbors so we could buy items in bulk that we all really need. We are now using an online tool called SplitStuff (http://splitstuff.com) which makes the process easier. In my experience, splitting is one of the best forms of collaborative consumption since you can buy the best

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quality items at the cheapest cost.

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Denise Mar 10 2011 at 8:58 AM

Did you miss my post last week where I shared links to couponers who provide savings ideas, coupon match-ups and purchasing ideas for organic foods? While coupons aren't an option for those who are lucky enough to shop year round at a farmer's market, there are organic food coupons available - and coupon bloggers who are happy to help folks find savings on organic foods. Maybe you have some frugal grocery shopping tips for those of us who live in the midwest and don't have the luxury of a farmers

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market year round? Our farmers markets don't start up again until the end of May (and they end in September)... or for those who don't live near a farmer's market nor have the luxury of transportation to a farmers market?

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