Thrifty in the City: Coupons at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods? Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

I think we all get excited when watching Extreme Couponing and think, "Wow, I could totally do that!  I need 900 mini deodorants for a penny!"  The unfortunate part is that NYC is not coupon friendly.  None of the local stores offer double or triple coupons (the closest one is Pathmark in Harlem).  And the stores here are limited on what they offer and the sales that come out - although there are good deals to be had.  And most of the coupons that come out are for over processed and unhealthy packaged foods.

Trader Joe's
I, myself, am a Trader Joe's Junkie.  I love it.  It makes my life so much easier.  It has all the natural and organic foods that I wish I could afford at Whole Foods, under their TJ's private label, that are crazy affordable and it's close by.  Sometimes I even spring for the $6 delivery when I really load up.  But did you know that you can use coupons there???  No, this is not a joke, people.


Over the summer, in a constant attempt to save money, I found some really great coupon and savings websites.  My favorite being Healthy Life Deals and The Thrifty Mama.  This blog puts up all the coupons and weekly specials for Whole Foods and Trader Joe's!

Trader Joe's Coupon Deals - Healthy Life Deals

Trader Joe's doesn't put out coupons for their own low priced products, but they will accept coupons for the few name brand items that they do sell.  What's great is that most of the coupons are printable, so you don't have to buy newspapers that you won't read.


One tip though - wait until the END of your transaction to do the coupons.  For whatever reason, every time I do coupons at Trader Joe's, it locks up their register.  The last time, they rang up the coupons separately and then just gave me cash back - which was fine with me.


Whole Foods
Check out the Whole Food's Deals too!  I know that "Whole Paycheck" can be way pricey.  But when they have sales that match up with coupons - you can get good stuff for next to nothing.  Plus they offer their own printable coupons too!  Whole Foods will also take one of their coupons and a manufacture's coupon for one item - Haaaay!

Whole Foods Coupon Deals - The Thrifty Mama