from my experience (living in new england, and shopping in the southeast when i visit family), every grocery store i frequent has a coupon policy that sets a limit on the number of identical coupons used (at only 4), and prohibits splitting up a transaction as a way to bypass their coupon policy. basically, i could have 100 coupons for a product, but would be limited to 4 on that day, and would not be allowed to split up my transactions to use more. this still gets me great savings on my purchase, but not to the extreme that i see on some of these websites.

another big concern is the way you use coupon overages. it has been my experience that if my cream cheese was on sale for $0.49, and i had a $0.55 coupon, the coupon rings up at $0.49. not only would i not receive money back, i wouldn’t receive any credit to the other items in my order. that appears to be “standard operating procedure” for these major grocery chains.

perhaps you’ve lucked out and your stores don’t have such a limiting policy, but for most of us reading this guide, that will not be the case.

don’t get me wrong, i’m still saving a lot, but your overage and multiple coupon strategies aren’t universal for your readers.

Rereading through your entries has reminded me of 1 good thing and 1 bad thing. The good thing is that since first reading your project when it was happening, I’ve cultivated my creativity in making something with what I have in the kitchen. I’ve discovered some unusual but yummy and healthy combos just by opening my mind about how to use ingredients with which I had been in a rut. I’m much, MUCH better about opening the fridge and cabinets and making do than thinking about what’s missing that’s I’ve got to walk up to the store to buy.

The bad thing is the same frustration that aggravated me something fierce when reading through the first time. I live in a backwards, impoverished, small rural town. We don’t have Walgreen’s, Safeway, Rite-Aid, etc. We don’t have grocery store wars and certainly not coupon wars. And, a couple of places here now even refuse to accept internet coupons. I don’t have the coupony/offery options that you do, and I certainly don’t have the gas money to drive an hour to the city for it. That gas money would dozens of times over wipe out the grocery savings not to mention increasing my carbon footprint. I hitch a ride with a friend into the city when I can, but that’s not a reliable enough occurrence that I can formulate a weekly plan based on sales that you do. We’re talking about maybe once every couple of months. I live (I really don’t want to live here, but for the time being, I don’t have the means to escape) in one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in the nation. (My ex-husband’s work brought us here.) I grow what I can, barter what I can, mooch what I can, and get hardcore frugal about what I can. But, I can’t exploit offers like you do because the stores and deals are not in my location. This makes me quite cranky when I think about it.

Anyway, it’s a year later, and I still think your sister was a jerk about your challenges. lol

*hugs* Stay healthy and thrifty.

Oh yeah, and I still think you are utterly adorable. lol

I am also concerned about the amount of time you spend searching cor coupons: the working poor typically don’t have that kind of free time.

There is a lady that feeds a family of 3 on $80 month with all the couponing. I kinda agree with the IT guy (even though my 4 digits per hour income includes cents). The time and effort would be huge here.

I do it simpler and actually achieve close to a dollar a day.

I only eat whole healthy foods. I enjoy baking with whole wheat. My primary foods are beans and brown rice with some 49 cent chicken and lots of eggs and canola oil.

Canola cost about 2 dollars for 5 days worth of calories and is way healthy. So theoretically you could survive on 12 dollars.

I supplement with garden produce and actually grow enough to sell.

I also enjoy hunting and fishing for food (not sport) and have friends that alert me of fresh deer road kill.

I don’t put more than 45 minutes per week into shopping and actually shop twice per month at 2 stores.

I enjoy the time and exercise of gardening, hunting and fishing, so I don’t count that as time spent.

I also make my own vodka and wine at about 50 cents per bottle. Also a hobby!

All in all with the sale of my excess produce I’m close to zero per month. (don’t tell anyone I might sell a little wine on the side?)

And wild game with fresh produce is much healthier than store bought yick.

Still an interesting effort by you. Perhaps you should try my method and see how that fits.

Congratulations!!