Apparently my sister has decidede that simply eating on $1 a day is too easy. With me ending month 2 with over $20 to spare and slowly eating better food and learning slowly to cook better meals, my sister has gone into full SARBSS mode in an attempt to make things more difficult for me for month #3. Some of the “suggestions” have been to make the challenge living well on $0.50 a day, to be required to buy any food needed for recipes that readers send in to me (I can already predict that I would have a huge influx of Lobster and caviar recipes find their way to my email), starting month 3 with nothing again, limit where I can buy food to a single grocery store or doing the challenge for another family.
The thing is that while $20 is a huge amount when eating on $1 a day, it only takes two or three weeks of sub-par sales at local grocery stores to quickly wipe out that cushion. Having the cushion also makes the challenge a lot less stressful for me. It's never fun to be in a position when you have to hope that grocery store sales will be good in order for you to be able to eat.
I've decided that I will keep things as they currently stand through the first 100 days (same rules, readers determine the decision to any conflicts or questions) at which time it will definitely be time to consider some other options (like going to Hawaii for a couple of months to swim with turtles and sip tropical drinks on the beach)
I have also started to put together a basic guide on “How To Coupon When You Hate Couponing” but I need a little input from all of you as to what areas you definitely want covered and what parts of what I have done thus far have been most confusing (or you still don't understand how I was able to do something). I hope to have something for everyone n the next couple of weeks.
Today was a travel day again and in taking the advice of everyone about how I should get more organized, I did my packing the night before. Unfortunately, part of that packing included my digital camera which I was unable to find until I unpacked at the end of the day meaning that for the first time I have no photos of what I ate throughout the day (see, I knew there was a positive aspect to being disorganized). Photos will return on the next post (apologies on that).
I did get up and take a morning walk to get more of the cherry plums which I used to make another cherry plum banana smoothie. I grabbed a bowl of Kashi oatmeal before heading out with peanut butter and banana sandwiches and the Parmesan cheese Goldfish crackers in hand. When I got home I finished up the rest of the fried potato, onion, mushroom and spinach dish I had made whereupon I began unpacking and immediately found the camera I had been desperately searching for the entire day.
It should be an interesting third month and it is hard for me to believe that two months have gone by since I started this. The current weekly grocery store deals aren't that great so it doesn't look like it will be an easy month, but I'm hoping that my garden begins to produce edible veggies that I can incorporate into my meals. I hope that the challenge continues to be both entertaining and insightful and am happy that you have decided to continue to follow these adventures…
This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:
Money Spent $40.01
Money left to spend: $20.99 ($5.04 must be spent at CVS)
Retail Value of everything bought: $1171.64
The Beginning ::: Day 62: Challenge Goals
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I love reading about the deals you get and the food you’re cooking, but it’s frustrating for me because I have trouble trying to duplicate your results, as I don’t have any grocery stores nearby that do the ‘catalina coupons’. Since those seem to be a big chunk of your savings, I can’t help but wonder if you could still manage $1/day without them. =\
@Tchann
It would be more difficult, but not impossible. Several of the money makers I have used have not been Catalina deals (the Rolaids being the most recent). Of course, your mileage will vary depending on where you live, but the basic concepts should allow you to save quite a bit over what most people currently spend.
An idea to incorporate in to the challange:
Show people how you can also get basic supplies along with your food for a dollar a day. Maybe that would be too easy, as I can often get overage when buying shampoo, body wash, lotion, etc. But laundry soap, razors, dishwasher soap etc are harder. It would be harder to start with nothing and build it up. But you are good at what you do, so it might add a fun twist to the challenge.
Enjoying the challenge, thanks.
I would really like it if you included more shopping from national chain stores. I know you already use CVS quite often but what about Walgreens or Rite Aid? Also, what about posting links to things like the store you purchased from or a place to print any coupons that you use that we might be able to find online?
My asking is purely selfish-The closest CVS to me is about 20miles away, although there is one being built less than 1 mile from my home (woohoo!). I also would like to be able to use some of the “deals” that you get whenever possible.
Regardless, you have done a fantastic job these last 2 months!!! You should be proud of yourself, and I agree that the terms of the challenge should stay the same.
@Angela
The site is currently listing CVS, Walgreeens Safeway and Albertosn deals each week
Albertsons Deals 6/30 â 7/6
Safeway Deals 6/30 â 7/6
CVS Deals 6/27 â 7/3
Walgreens Deals 6/27 â 7/3
I think when it comes to your sister and rule changing, perhaps you need to look at your goals with this project? Are you wanting to push the limit to see how stringent is too stringent? Or are you interested in seeing what could realistically be accomplished by a person who has a very limited food budget.
As a reader, I would find both goals interesting but personally I prefer seeing what can be realistically accomplished. We can’t all follow all of your strategies of course (ie, we have different grocery stores with different policies, we can’t all go foraging, etc.) but you have been illustrating that with an open mind and open eyes, there are probably more opportunities around us than most of us see.
Congratulations on reaching month 3! It’s been very wonderful reading about your adventures in couponing. We don’t have an equivalent system from where I come from ( and I wish otherwise!).
I agree with what melayla has said. It might be time to reorient yourself to what you want to achieve by continuing this challenge. You have already proven that you -can- in fact live on $1 a day and continue to do so. Do you want to place more “restrictions” on your challenge to make it similar to other people’s situations? Do you want to measure the improvement on your cooking? How about having to do a similar challenge for more than 1 person?
Good luck!
I stumble upon this article about Super-Foods interesting read. May help in your journey when selecting food.
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/age-erasing-superfoods/
I don’t get the Sunday papers, and haven’t found any coupons from them around town. Is there a way to do what you do without them? I’ve been averaging maybe 30% on shopping trips at Safeway, but I know there’s got to be a way to do better.
And frankly, I know a couple store where I can get stuff cheaper than ‘Safeway minus 30%’.
I enjoy the CVS , Walgreen & Rite Aid weekly deal posts a lot, since those are also local to my area. Keep the same rules. I am still confused about how you have overages at the supermarket, my local stores don’t seem to do that. Looking forward to reading the basic guide you mentioned.
Really love your blog, I read your Globe and Mail article. Here in Toronto it is harder to get such deals, food in the US is SUPER CHEAP! I wonder if you had any suggestions for us, many coupons are for US only. I would also love to give more to our food bank. I look forward to your posts,
Alison
I think it depends on whether you’re looking for more challenge or not. I agree with melayla that it depends on your goals for this project.
I know that in the past you’ve said that the couponing doesn’t take as much time as people seem to think, but to me the aspect that appears to take the time is the shopping (I already spend the time to cook!) – I live 20 miles from my grocery store and I cannot imagine going to five different places or being able to get groceries several times a week. If you’re looking for ways to make this a little more exploratory of how ‘real people’ would be able to use some of these tips and tricks practically, I might consider limiting the number of stores (although not to one, I don’t think – maybe 2 or 3?) and/or the number of times you can visit per week.
For the coupon guide you’re writing, I’d be interested in learning more about the “moneymaker” coupons. I don’t have catalina in my area, and I have never been able to figure out my CVS extrabucks.
That being said, I’m not sure you can write a how-to guide for everyone that could be followed to the letter for the same results. I think the most valuable thing you can take away from your experiment is this: it’s possible to eat well without spending a lot of money. We’re all well-served by trying out some creative couponing, foraging, and trying new recipes with cheap ingredients.
@Malik
I would say that half the deals I get come from Sunday paper inserts and the other half are Internet printable coupons, so you still can do this without the newspaper coupon inserts, just to a lesser degree.
@Nicole
I have already limited it to three stores (Safeway, Lucky and CVS) and besides the first few weeks when I had absolutely nothing so I had to run around, I have limited my trips to times when I was already going to be in the area of the grocery store due to other business. I don’t think I have written that in my explanations — maybe I should have been a little more clear about that. Now that I have a base of food, I am traveling to stores a lot less often.
I also hate couponing, although reading your blog has pushed me a bit further in that direction. I’m at least keeping the coupons now instead of immediately pitching them.
The timing of your blog was good for me. I recently started an office job, so I need to pack nutritious homemade food for work. They aren’t $1/day by any means — probably more like $2.50-3/day for breakfast, snacks, & lunch. If you can do it for $1/day, I should be able to manage something on more, right?
You killed my excuse for going to the local food court for a sandwich like everyone else! đ
We are enjoying your “experiment”. Perhaps we missed something, but would you share with us how you determine which products/specials will generate a “catalina” at checkout time at a store. Also, do you have any information on specials/catalinas at Kroger stores?
For a different challenge, how about trying living like a king on $3. or maybe $5.
Hi, a lurker here.
Am I understanding it correctly that some of your coupons rely on having certain software downloaded on your computer? If that’s the case, then I suggest that you revise the rules to forbid using those types of coupons since many poor families would only have access to public computers (at the library or work).
Love what you’re doing here btw. I hear friends complain about not being able to buy good food all of the time, but I’ve never had a problem. I haven’t been able to communicate my success the way you are though.
@Sandra
Finding what catalina deals are available is not always easy. If your grcery store is good (which is often not the case), they should list the deals under the price tag at the store. Upcoming catalina deals are also printed out from the catalina machine. Niki has listed the catalina deals we know for Safeway and we will be working on other stores as well.
Not sure if you have a Walgreen’s in your area, but they are having a 4 day sale (ends Saturday) going on right now. Several moneymakers, especially if you can find all the coupons.
http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/06/walgreens-4-day-sale-630-703/
Some Walgreen’s don’t know anything about the sale (see the comments), but you can always find out by giving your local one a call.
Congratulations on your success — and it is an amazing feat! For your guide, I wonder if you could address how you are able to do so many repeats of various coupon deals — so often, it will say “Limit 1 per card holder” or something like that. Sometimes, the limit is use of 2 or 3 Mfgr’s coupons at my Von’s and Ralphs — how do you get around that? Just a question for the guide . . .
At any rate, amazing job you’ve done!
Ha! I had commented a few days ago that I would love to see you finish two months at $20/month and you insisted you wouldn’t be able to. One penny over isn’t bad, eh? You could find a penny on the street to make up for it.
I’ve said this before, but I honestly think a VIDEO of your entire process would be more helpful than a written guide at this point. When you say (repeatedly) “I get the Sunday inserts but don’t look at them” and “I only print coupons when I use them” reminds me of the old South Park episode with the underpants gnomes (“Step 1, underpants; Step 2, ???; Step 3, profit!”) – I just can’t see how you get from point A to point B. For instance, how do you know what coupons to use if you don’t read the inserts or clip coupons?
@Mike
If you shop at Safeway, Albertsons, CVS or Walgreens, I will list the matchups so there is nothing that you have to do (how is that for easy?) If you shop at another store, there is a link in the header at the top that says “coupon database” Any deal that your local storre is running, simply input the name of the product on sale and if there is a coupon for it, it will show up and tell you where to get it.
I agree with Julie. SARBSS turn about is totally fair play! If she thinks it’s too easy, it’s time for her to step up to the plate and do something similar.
I know she has kids and so on, so it couldn’t be the same thing, but perhaps she could try having her family live on $4/day or $2/day + current pantry for a month.
That would actually be far more interesting, on some level, because it might mimic other people’s problems. You’ve shown how, possibly, a single person can do very well on $1/day. But some folks living in poverty are families. How do those units work?
Basically, I agree with Julie & everyone else who says, “What are your goals.” Given www.pennyexperiment.com, I’d expect your goals to be to show how to do this in real-world poverty situations, and not just be an exercise in extreme eating. However, that’s between you, your sister and your conscience(s).
I find myself beginning to have feelings of violence toward your sister. (Only kidding of course, but wow! IT ISN’T HER CHALLENGE! Why can’t she be supportive of you?) What is the reasoning behind .50 per day? That’s what homeless people have? Seriously, what is the point of the exercise? You’ve already proven your original point several times over. And you could have used the extra $20 at the movie theater!
Maybe month 3 could be $1/day but about better quality meals. Take the extra money and start getting more basics that maybe don’t go on sale much or have coupons. Oil, flour, sugar, spices, vinegar, bacon bits, better meat… Oh and some travel size containers to bring the salt/pepper/oil your mean-spirited sister won’t let you borrow from your friends.
You have inspired me more than you could imagine. I love reading your posts because they provide daily proof that what you’re doing is achievable! When I read your sisters request for you to cut down to $0.50 a day I almost burst out laughing. You just can’t make some people happy I guess.
@Mike Dunham: LMFAO! That is so true. I’d like to see some real-world video of how this is done. I’ve been trying to replicate it and am not having much luck. I go to the coupon websites for Brand A but I don’t even see Brand A there and there is no search function to make it easier. Maybe Brand B if I’m lucky but that’s not what’s on sale. And mostly lots of Brand Z, which is not close to what I want at all. Tons of time wasted so far scrolling through 20 pages of coupons that are NOT the one I want.
Also, a lot of the links I’m running into just forward to the mfr website, with no navigation or clues as to how to obtain the coupon. And then if I’m lucky enough to find out how to get one, I have to sign up and WAIT days for it, after the store sale is over. Or there is no actual coupon right now, but some time in the future.
@cheezfri
You are doing it wrong đ You are doing it like most people – looking for the things you want. What you should be doing is looking for things that will get you what you want. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but that is how you find the deals on things that don’t go on sale often or have coupons.
Are you using the coupon database I have linked at the top of this blog? There is a search function to the right.
You need to change the way you shop. If you aren’t willing to do this, then couponing will save you very little. You also need to be patient. It takes time to build up the base of coupons saving from the newspaper inserts.
I am glad that you posted because I see that people still aren’t understanding some of the key elements needed to make this work.
@Jeffrey: sorry for all the posts today but I just remembered one more thing:
I made the Poorman’s Meal the other day and I remember thinking it is a lot like the base for Hot German Potato Salad. Add a bit of corn starch to some vinegar and then add in some sugar, and mix in into the potato/onion mix instead of red sauce. If you’ve got cooked bacon, crumble some of that up too, instead of hot dogs.
So some of the basic pantry stuff you should get would be vinegar and bacon bits which I mentioned earlier, plus corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, spices, jar of minced garlic, etc.
Looking way forward to your guide. I have been trying to coupon like you, but am struggling. Wednesday I spent 1.5 hours just trying to put together a deal for Dove products at Walgreens. Even with a website telling me exactly what to buy and what coupons to use, I had to leaf through the flyers several times, dig around online to find the coupons, etc. I would love a step by step (do this, click that, go to page whatever) guide for moron-minded people on how to get these great deals you manage.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing you branching out in your cooking. I think you should keep up the challenge for that reason alone!
Regardless of when you decide this particular experiment has run its course, I would encourage you to continue to work on your culinary skills. It’s good for you to expand your horizons that way and it’s good for you so you don’t need to buy more processed foods because you don’t know how to do anything else.
As far as full throttle SARBSS mode, that’s usually done to this degree just before they concede defeat, because it’s obvious to the whole world (well, in this case, thousands of people) that they’ve jumped the shark.
I would like to see a step-by-step on video also. I don’t understand the pre-loading or the moneymakers fully, and I especially don’t understand how you can find stacking-coupon deals if you don’t look at the inserts. I think what would be most helpful is a step-by-step explanation of how you got one particular deal one particular item or group of items. If you run through how you got to the deal, explaining each step along the way, and do this for a couple different items, it should be a lot clearer to me.
Is everyone having trouble with the Safeway money makers and the CVS moneymakers or just the Safeway money makers?
I have to laugh at everyone requesting a video because it would be absolutely the most boring video in the world. It would seriously consist of the following:
1. Me getting the grocery store advertising flier.
2. Me looking through it circling several deals that look promising.
3. Me going to the computer and looking at the coupon data base
4. Me plugging in the deals I found into the database to see if there are any coupons available.
5. Me finding maybe a few deals that also have coupons.
6. Me turning to my shelf and pulling the coupon inserts where the database says they are or printing them if they are online
That is it. There is no hidden magical step that a video will reveal. I think that what I need to do (and please correct me if I am wrong) is explain in minute detail how the money makers work.
I will try and document my process in detail this week and see if that helps and I do apologize for any confusion you have been having – it isn’t your fault. It is me not doing a good job explaining it to you.
I vote with the others who say it’s your sister’s turn to try it, since it’s so easy! Perhaps what she secretly wants is to be the “other family” mentioned as one of the challenges.
Of course, even that probably won’t convince her, but it would probably shut her up for a while. đ
Your description of the video made me chuckle, but it’s only half the process. You also need to film yourself going to the store, and buying stuff. In all seriousness, I think if you posted a couple of video examples, it might make it easier for people to understand.
I, like many other commentors, remain unclear on exactly how you achieve your miraculous results. I confess I haven’t pored over your posts, and it’s not possible for me to even try to replicate your process since it is impractical or impossible for me to shop Safeway, Lucky, and CVS, and the only coupons I see come in the mail from redplum. But when I read your posts, it just seems I’m missing something. I think it would be helpful if you could perhaps write a detailed account of whatever length of time and number of shopping trips is necessary to illustrate the process. I’m esp. baffled at your ability to earn money with coupons, since the only coupons I see are for relatively minor amounts. And do you find a coupon and then wait for a sale on that product so as to maximize savings? So much of your process remains mysterious to me.
When you’re putting together your guide…I think its important to recognize that many couponers do not have the time or freedom (ie, because they’re at work all day, have kids to take care of, etc.) to gather lots of coupon inserts from coffee shops, trash days, etc…but they do have access to more than 2 computers (work computers, kids computers, etc.). If part of a good couponer’s strategy is to use multiple coupons for the same product, then I don’t think it should matter whether the multiple coupons come from multiple computers or multiple inserts. Just my 2 cents!
Simply changing the rules for the sake of making it harder is not really much ‘fun’ is it? I agree with what other commenters have said, find another goal to achieve – then the new rules will follow.
I’m loving your blog and I’m so happy that you’ve made it this far!
Your sister is being a punk and a sore loser. She sounds a lot like my 4-year-old when he doesn’t get his way.
Do this challenge YOUR way and keep on inspiring people everywhere!! I’ll be here reading about it!
Your sister is a very, VERY sore loser. She needs lessons in good sportsmanship.
I have to say that it’s amazing how demanding some of your readers are, asking you over and over again to spell out exactly how you do what you do, and telling you how to write your guide. And then there are those who complain that they don’t have the same stores, or the same deals, or it takes too much time, etc.
I say to them, guess what, you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart. (And a whole lot of goodness there is, too!) You’re not being compensated, yet you take the time to read each email and to document your progress daily and to provide an in-depth grocery guide. Good grief, what else do these people want? For you to be their personal shopper and tailor your guide to each of their individual needs?
im just wondering….is your sister upset that you did so well….and if so….WHY?
or is she just jokey about it?!
@Rachel
She simply sees her job description as as a sister as trying to make things as difficult as posssible for me under any and all circumstances (especially outrageous bets me make) in order to “keep me in line” I would do the same if the roles were reversed đ
Has your sister been converted to eating on $1 a day?
Just think, eating on $1 a day could give a massive chunk to pay off the old mortgage!
There is another blog where a woman fed her family of $800 a year.
http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/
It also makes fascinating reading, though you have to dig through the archives now to see how she did it. I think she has vids on youtube as well.
I’m behind on reading, but I can say that I have been inspecting my CVS much more closely and have been getting most of my cereal there. I walked out of my CVS the other day with $9 in extra bucks after turning in about $9 worth, plus buying stuff on sale. I think I had just been to lazy to think it through. You can see the Walgreens and CVS ads right on line even if you don’t get the paper. We don’t get the paper and so unless we make an extra trip of my son buys it for us, we don’t have it, but I can see the groceries ads for Giant Eagle on line also, so even if you don’t have coupons, you can watch the sales to stock up on good deals. Gieant Eagle had Campbells Tomato soup on sale for 50 cents a can a week or two ago so I got 10 cans and put them in my pantry. I have virtually eliminated shopping for groceries at Walmart as I found with checking out the ads of the other stores I can do better. And with CVS the more you shop there, the more you get in extra bucks evry quarter.
Maybe I am a little slow, (and definitely very bad a math!) but I would like a step by step guide to figuring out the deals. I get the basic concept of stacking, catalinas, etc. but have trouble following how all of that worked. I need VERY basic — I have this coupon for $1.00 off 1 xx item; I have this coupon for free yy with two xx items, so I am buying two of xx and one yy. The regular price is $zzz but I got $2.00 off and the price of yy, so it was actually $aaa. I know this seems very simplistic, but I get lost on the multiple products and deals.
@Becki
Nope, you aren’t at all. It takes some practice to get it all down (it certainly took me quite awhile). Several readers have asked the same thing and I have done a couple thus far;
For Safeway
https://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/step-by-step-safeway-ecoupon-moneymaker-eating-well-on-1-a-day/
https://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/step-by-step-safeway-moneymaker-example-eating-well-on-1-a-day/
For CVS
https://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/step-by-step-cvs-money-maker-eating-well-on-1-a-day/
https://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/step-by-step-cvs-extra-bucks-moneymaker-example-eating-well-on-1-a-day/
I recently found this and have read through the entire experience. I do have a few ideas for the future…
1. You can’t shop or forage from 8am – 6pm (typical work/commute hours). Not all of us have the luxury of working out of the home.
2. Lunch must require preparation that would be available in any office building.
3. Perhaps eat out once per month, as many would be roped into doing this. Alternatively, you must host a dinner once per month.