You can follow the entire 100 days here: http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/eating-well-on-1-a-day with all the receipts of the food I bought, how i bought it and the costs.

I’ve also learned that people with poor reading comprehension find your experiment profoundly threatening for some reason. It would never have occurred to me – there may be a psych Ph.D. dissertation in there somewhere!

Your generosity has also inspired me to find ways to donate to my local food bank.

The FAQ page should answer some of your questions: http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/eating-well-on-1-a-day-faqs/

My wife got to college before she realized people shop all in only one store.

Conversely, my mom was a single parent (even when she was married – my dad was the kind that closed our $25 kids account with a promise to repay us in a month with interest so he could afford some gas an 100% natural peanut butter) who worked almost all day, had to walk to her minimum wage job with a back injury, and had no choice but to shop for some meager cheap calories at a single place within walking distance of our house. This sob story is to show that I understand when people say “not anyone can do it”.

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I also am curious on a total cost analysis. What is you time worth and how much time did you put in? My wife currently works 2 jobs and I am working 1 job and going to school, so time is a premium. What is your mode of transportation? If car, how many miles did you use at what mpg? If public transport, what is that cost? Don’t forget the time used to prep meals. What region do you live in? (For example, my wife and I live in a small rural community with only 2 convenience stores, a small town 5 miles away with one grocery store, and 15 miles from Madison, WI – this will influence time/transportation costs as well as what types of coupons are available.) Also, for whom were you buying? Yourself, you plus 1 or more children, you and a spouse, or a family?

Now, I am all for work less for a company to work for yourself, so please don’t misread my intention.

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Finally, I’d like to say that I am getting far more into cooking. It started when we bought half a cow that was grass-fed. The farmer worked with a packer that cut and vacuum packed everything. The meat was far more flavorful and colorful than anything I had tasted in a store, and it has kept well for the 3/4 year (and should run out at the end of the year). With all this meat, we fell short of your challenge. It cost us about $800 in total, and should last us a year – that’s over double your monthly budget in just beef alone for us 2.

However, it is inspiring me to cook for flavor. I use to buy Prego spaghetti sauce. Now I buy a 6 lb can of crushed tomatoes, 2 lbs of carrots, some onions, green peppers, some garlic, and a use 5 quart canning jars to make my own fresh spaghetti sauce. Vinegar, a bit of brown sugar, and some other spices, and I divert 2 cups of tomatoes to make home-made ketchup that is far better than anything made with corn syrup. It still costs a bit, but the flavor and control of the ingredients are important to me. I am starting to convert my lawn into a garden (I hate mowing and refuse to use any chemicals on it, so my neighbors hate me), but the 6lb can is the same as a 20 lbs fresh tomatoes (and a lot of gardening labor). Of course, fresh made pizza crust with crushed sun-warm tomatoes, the lightest sprinkling of mozarella, and onion-and-garlic with italian seasoning tossed in olive oil far outdoes any cheap Jacks frozen pizza deal any day.

Heck, discovering my favorite candy (toffee/brittle) is nothing more than a stick of butter, a half cup of sugar, 2 tbsp water, and a tsp of vanilla boiled and stirred on a stovetop to the right color (or above 300 F but below 320 F if you have a candy thermometer) is my favorite recipe next to fudge brownies (which is almost as simple). Its simple and inexpensive, and how much does one little candy bar cost today?

Oops, I am getting side tracked with too much detail – now you know why my moniker is Verbosity. My point is I also agree with those who say there is something about becoming reconnected with food again that reawakens one’s taste buds. Unfortunately, this means spending a lot more, either in cash or in the garden/farm.

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Anyway, these are some things I am hoping your readers will start thinking about when they hear the $1/day challenge is doable. Congratulations with your success, and I hope you soon discover the joys of cooking.

Both. The ones that are for specific items are usually triggered when you buy a competing item. These are not the ones that are of much value to me. The ones that I go for are the ones that are good for anything on your next purchase.

Don’t get hung up on the amount and feel free to shoot for any amount you want. I am sure that if you did $5 a day, you would still save a lot over what most people currently pay. Start slow – reduce your current spending by 25% and then you can continue from there. It’s not the amount – it is the process.