Where to buy organic.

When people think about purchasing organic foods and products they tend to think of Trader Joe's and Whole Foods first. And it's true, you can find organics there, but it's not necessarily the best place to spend your dollar.

Most grocery stores have organic sections now.
And you will even find organic in the most unexpected places.

I typically shop at 4 different stores.

Safeway
Nob Hill / Raley's
Costco
The Grocery Outlet

I do go to Trader Joe's for organic apples, soy-free sandwich bread, and organic salad mixes. The apples and salad prices can't be beat. And it's the only place I can find a soy-free bread that my kids will eat. Truth be told-- I need to learn to make my own bread. But that's for another day.

I will also shop at Whole Foods if they are having a sale on something I need to stock up on. I probably go to Whole Foods 3-4 times a year. The last time I got 30 lbs of ground beef for my extra freezer. Organic and grass fed for $5.99 a lb. Whole Foods is by far the most expensive place to shop if you are converting to organic-- I don't recommend them for weekly shopping. They do have some magnificent sales though and organic products you can not find anywhere else.

Safeway carries organic lines and also has several lines of their own. Eating Right, Open Nature and O Organics. ) Organics is the only one certified organic, but sometimes you can find nice alternatives in the other 2. They have promotions often which offset the prices.With a little bit of homework looking for the sales and coupons, I can get my total price to be nearly identical to the non-organic food items.

Raley's / Nob Hill used to have 2 beautiful aisles of organics and naturals. They just recently removed them from my store. Did the same thing happen to you? They decided to incorporate the organics in with the rest of the food. So now organic cereal is in the cereal aisle. Organic flour is in the baking aisle. I get it- but I don't like it. Now I have to go through the entire store to get what I need. I hope they don't think they are going to trick me into putting extra stuff in my cart. They also have a pretty nice organic fresh produce section. I like it better than Safeway's. They have reasonable prices and they food looks crisp.

Costco. Every time I go to Costco I see them expanding their organic product lines. This makes me happy because Costco carries what people buy. They give the people what they want. I love that people want organic. I get my 10 lb bag or organic carrots for only $4.49. One my last trip I got organic chicken burgers with cheese and bacon mixed in them. Nitrite Nitrate FREE! Score! I haven't eaten them yet though--- so the jury is still out. My Costco carried Organic Valley milk, heavy cream, half & half. Organic Valley is a family owned California company so I am not sure if they carry that one all over.  I can get a gallon of organic milk for $5-- which is the cheapest I've seen without a sale or coupon. Their inventory is always growing and the prices tend to be far below Whole Foods. I hit Costco once a month.

The Grocery Outlet is a little gem in our community. It's an overstock store so the inventory is always changing. If you see something amazing, grab as much as you can afford (paying special attention to expiration dates). It may never show up there again! I have found some amazing deals there. Imacculate cresent rolls, normally $4.79 for just $1.49. Organic sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar. Random organic snacks to try out on the kids like chips, crackers, fruit snacks. Organic shampoo/conditioner, body wash, and cosmetics, all for 50-75% off retail. When I got shopping, I go here first. Since I never know what they will carry I spend about 15 minutes going through the aisles, finding the treasures. Then I go do the rest of my shopping at Safeway or Nob Hill to get the missing items from my list.

The rest of my shopping is done online. I save a little bit of my grocery money each week so I can snatch up that unbelievable daily deal. I have purchased coconut oil, spices, organic teeth whitening, all sorts of odds and ends.

I live in one of the most expensive places to live. The Bay Area of California. I have a family of 5. My grocery budget is $600 a month. I typically spend $100 at Costco. $100 for online purchases. And $100 a week for groceries. I buy about 80% organic. It is possible for all of us!

Raley's / Nob Hill Ecoupons

It's Wednesday, so check www.raleys.com for their new ecoupons.

Spend $20 and get a free dozen eggs.


View the coupons HERE

Raley's Nob Hill Ecoupons

It's Wednesday!
Check out the new coupons to print at www.raleys.com



$1.00 off Van's Waffles and other natural and organics available.

View the Coupons HERE

Raley's / Nob HIlls Freebies and Coupons

Shop at Nob Hill this weekend at get 2 FREE Reusable Grocery Bags with any $20 purchase.

Print your coupon HERE

They are a few coupons for the Natural Food Department you should check out while you are printing.

$1 off Garden Lites Souffle 3.99 Organic Bistro Bowl 10 oz. 2.99 Immaculate Baking All Natural Scones Selected varieties 16 oz.  2 for $3 Frito-Lay Natural Chips 8 oz. to 9 oz. $1 off Clean Well All Natural Hand Sanitizing Wipes 40 count  2.99 Udi's Bread 12 oz. frozen In our Natural Foods Dept.

It's Raley's Wednesday

It's Wednesday.
Remember to check for your new Raley's / Nob Hill Ecoupons.



Print your COUPONS Here

You've got to be kidding me. I hate when they do that.

Raleys / Nob Hill issued their new Wednesday coupons.

Dr. Brommer's bar soap for $1.99

How annoying is that!!!!

When they had them on sale last week 2/$5.00 and I stocked up?

Duuuuuddddde!

If you didn't take advantage of that deal last week, do it this week.
I've never seen Dr. Brommer's bar soap this cheap before. EVER.




Ecoupons Print HERE

mumble mumble mumble.... how dare they.........

Nob Hill Raley's Ecoupons Dr. Brommer's Deal

Remember the Dr. Brommer's deal on the 32oz liquid soap I mentioned earlier in the week?
The deal just got even sweeter.
Dr. Brommer's soap is on sale for $8.99 (normally $14)
AND they just issued a $1 off coupon for up to 2 bottled printable at raleys.com
Making the price just $7.99


This highly concentrated, all natural, formula is a great base for making your own household cleaners, toilet bowl cleaner, even hand soap and shampoo. The recipes are endless. It's a great way to have chemical free products in your home without the hefty price often associated with these goods.

Dr. Brommer's bar soap is also on sale for 2/$5. I am going to shave these down into a homemade laundry detergent mixed with borax and washing soda.

Check out all the Raley's Ecoupons and make your shopping list.
Don't forget to run your list against The Frugal Finds Coupon Database to see if there are any printable coupons available.

GREAT Price on Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap At Raley's / Nob Hill

Nob Hill has Dr. Bronner's 32 oz Castille Soap on sale for just $8.99

Compare that to the cheapest price I can find on Amazon.com and you will see this is nearly 50% off.

I am crossing my fingers our store has the Citrus scent in stock.

Dr. Bronner's Bar soaps are also on sale for 2 for $5.00
The cheapest I can find on amazon for those is just under $4, so a good deal on those too.

Remember to check their website for printable coupons before you head out the door. They issue new coupons every Wednesday at raleys.com

Raley's Ecoupons 2/15/12

It's Wednesday! Raley's / Nob Hills new Ecoupons are up! Here are a sampling of some of the healthy choices on sale this week. Sorry for the format. I am still trying to figure it out. Remember these are Store Issued Coupons, so you can combine these with a Manufacturer's coupon and get maximum savings. 1.25 Old Orchard 100% Juice 12 oz. frozen with this coupon Limit 6   Select E-coupon
75¢ off Raley's Almonds 9 oz. can with this coupon Limit 2   Select E-coupon		2.19 Barbara's Cereal 10 oz. to 14 oz. In our Natural Foods Dept. Limit 1 with coupon.   Select E-coupon
		1.98 EnviroKidz Cereal Bars 6 oz. with coupon. Limit 1 In our Natural Foods Dept.   Select E-coupon
1.69 Food Should Taste Good Tortilla Chips 5.5 oz. In our Natural Foods Dept. with this coupon Limit 2 Click Here For: $1/1 Coupon Food Should Taste Good. Makes this only $0.69!		Buy 1, Get 1 FREE! Raley's Rice Cakes 4.5-6.5 oz. with this coupon Limit 2 In our Natural Foods Dept.   Select E-coupon
		2 for $3 Lundberg Rice Chips 6 oz. In our Natural Foods Dept. with this coupon Limit 2

My Spending This Week 2/9/12

Every week I look at the ads from the paper and then wait a day or two for my favorite blogs to post the best match ups for the week. Then I decide who gets my money for the week.

Typically CVS and Safeway win my consumer dollars, but this week they couldn't entice me into their stores.

And Nob Hill won.



My total came out to $130.00
Store Sales saved me  $38.00
Raley's Ecoupons        $22.00
Manu. Coupons          $12.00

Total Savings:              $72.00
Total OOP:                 $58.00

That is a savings of 56%
My goal for grocery store shopping is to hit the 50% mark, so this was a success in my book.
It included many items from the Natural Food aisle and organic veggies.

In addition, I can submit my receipt and get a $14 rebate for some of my purchases through a deal in last Sunday's paper, reducing my OOP even more.

By only spending $58 at Nob Hill, I didn't feel so bad heading on over to Trader Joe's and paying $6.19 for a gallon of Organic Milk. I bought a 2 lb bag of organic apples for $2.49. And Organic salad mixes for $1.99 each. I also bought a loaf of  Sprouted Bread since that seems to be all the rage. It was $2.99.
So that was an additional $16.




So $58 at Nob Hill and $16 at Trader Joe's. Only $74. That allows me the wiggle room to then snag the deals on line when I see things on sale or clearance, like the Organic Pancake Mix earlier in the week.

How did you do this week?

It's Wednesday- that means NEW ecoupons at Raleys.com

Raley's is the same as Nob Hill and Bel Air. The coupons even have all 3 names at the top of them, so need to worry about a grumpy store clerk refusing your coupons.

This week you will find a Barbara's Cereal coupon for $1.99
Full Circle Soy or Rice Milk Buy 1 Get 1 Free
Full Circle Organic Berries $1 off
Endangered Species Chocolate 2/$3

In addition you can print a coupon for Raley's Bagels 6 ct for FREE with $20 purchase.

Check out the other coupons as well. These are just the ones I printed.

Raley's eCoupons

Raley's Coupons are Up

Every Wednesday Raley's posts new coupons for the week. Make sure you read the fine print as some of these are only good for Friday- Saturday- Sunday. Raley's coupons can be used at Nob Hill and Bel Air, although I don't know of any Bel Air grocery stores in the Bay Area.
There are 2 great things about Raley's coupons:
1- They always have a FREE item with purchase, typically a $20 purchase. The $20 is BEFORE coupons. This week it is 3 lbs of apples free. They aren't organic, but they are free.
2- Raley's coupons are store issued coupons which means you can combine them with Manufacturer's coupons and use 2 coupons for the same item. For example, if the Raley's coupon is for $2.49 for Tropicana and you also have a $.50 off Manufacturer's coupon, you can use both and get it for $1.99.

Go to www.raleys.com and create a profile. In your profile it will ask you to select an area of the grocery store you are most interested in. Each week they will give you an extra coupon specifically for your area. For example this week if you choose Fresh Meats you will see a coupon for $1 off Meat. If you choose Organics you will see a coupon Cedarlane Enchiladas. You can always print one, change your profile, and print the other. I keep mine on Organics and then wait for www.thefrugalfind.com to post Raley's best deals for the week. If she posts a coupon in another area of the market, I might go back, change my profile, print it out, and then change it back. Otherwise I just keep it at Organic. I don't have the time to go change it to each section and see if a different coupon I might want pops up.

This week 4 or 5 of the coupons are all for the Natural Food aisle. Take a look and see if anything peaks your interest.

www.raleys.com

Organic Fingerling Potatoes at Raley's or Nob Hill

Raley's and Nob Hill and Bel Air are all the same store. Just FYI. The coupons for one work at the other 2.

This week Organic Fingerling Potatoes are on sale 2/$5.
I just paid $5 a pack at Safeway 2 days ago so I kind of want to stomp my foot and roll around on the ground in a little fit.
Instead- I am just going to go to Raley's and get these ones too. If kept in a cool dry place, potatoes will keep quite nicely, so I am going to stock up.





Sometimes we can't afford to buy ALL organic. My suggestion is to start with the produce that absorb the most pesticide and toxins. If you can just buy these ones organic you are making a huge difference in the health of your family and their exposure to harmful chemicals.

The general rule is Thick Skin Ok. Thin Skin Go Organic. Thin skins would be apples, strawberries, potatoes, carrots. Anything that grows under ground is absorbing more pesticide. Anything where you are eating the skin is also on the "dirty list".

Things like avocado, oranges, watermelon, bananas, where you do not eat the skin and peel it away are safer.

I'll post the "dirty list" later.  It's very helpful.