Lately online grocery service Peapod has been trying to work the frugal angle, with TV commercials touting good prices and easy budgeting (since the site keeps a running total of what you've put in your cart). But whenever my mom friends evangalize about Peapod and other online grocery delivery services, I always resist. "I need my coupons," I tell them.

Then I found out that Peapod TAKES manufacturers' coupons, clipped right out of the Sunday paper. You just give them to the driver upon delivery and they should be credited to your account. I'd love to hear from Wise Bread readers who have taken advantage of this -- do the coupons reliably get credited? What if they're close to or even past their expiration date when you hand them over? What about coupons printed off the Internet? I'm assuming those are a go since the Web site states that "Peapod accepts all manufacturers' coupons."

This is not enough to get me using Peapod right now; I still blanch at the minimum $6.95 delivery fee, and although the site says tipping is optional, it's mandatory for me if I don't want to feel like a jerk. Also, since I only buy specials at my predetermined threshhold prices, I doubt I'd be able to put together the $100 worth of stuff you need to get the lowest delivery price. Their specials look pretty comparable to other grocery deals, but I don't see anything that gets me excited.

However, when I have my third kid this summer, I can certainly see myself resorting to Peapod for awhile until I get my groove back or until the oldest goes off to kindergarten. And at that point, the coupon policy -- combined with any coupon codes I can scrape up -- will certainly soften any budget blow we take in exchange for the convenience of delivery.

As retrograde as it feels to clip or print out coupons and sent them into Web retailers, this paper coupon thing may be a trend. This week I noticed that Diapers.com is also accepting manufacturers' coupons, by mail. That's especially nice to hear since I just printed some high-value Huggies coupons today from Coupons.com that would get me a box of 152 newborn diapers for $30 (or $20 if you are a first-time customer and use the code AFF10).

Has anyone out there noticed other Web retailers that are taking manufacturers' coupons, not just coupon codes but paper ones? I'd love to know.

Note: This post contains an affiliate link.