extreme couponing

A few weeks ago, Napoleon and I happened across an episode of the new TLC series, Extreme Couponing. We couldn't turn away from it! While Napoleon was horrified, sure that these people have some sort of mental illness, I was a bit more intrigued. Add that to the recent inspiration from a friend, I decided a few things:

1. I have no desire to hoard and stockpile food, and various home items, like the people on the show (nor would Napoleon allow it)
2. I need to start being more creative with my budget, as I'm no longer working for the museum remotely, as I have been for the last 8 months
3. I'd like to expand my repertoire of meals that I cook at home.
4. I don't have the time, energy, or desire to hunt down dozens of coupons and keep an updated database of local deals, like the stay-at-home moms do on the show.

So I thought about it...and while I know I don't have it in me to find ways to bring a $1,000 grocery bill down to $1.53, like they do on the show, I decided there ARE some ways that I can change the way I buy and cook.

For the last two weeks, I've resolved myself to look up our grocery stores' weekly circulars to see what's on sale, and have planned our meals around their sale items. Napoleon and I do also have a newspaper subscription, which generally goes unread, but I figured there's no reason I couldn't keep the coupons on hand, in the event that there's a coupon available for an item I'm already planning to buy.

So far, it's been a pretty big success, I think!

Last Friday, I went to Giant with a list and some coupons in hand, and told myself that I wasn't allowed to stray from the list. I bought 37 items, totaling $95.68, before tax. The savings I got from using the store's Bonus Card, and strategically choosing on sale items was $20.00, plus an additional $5.50 in coupons I brought. So my total savings was $25.50, bringing the grand total of my groceries down to $71.25, including tax! Of the 37 items, only 5 of them were regular priced items, that I needed to complete the meals I had planned for the week.

Out of that $71.25 worth of groceries, I was able to make:

7 days of breakfast for myself:
1 box of cereal (on sale), 3 instant oatmeal express bowls (regular price)
Total = $7.00, or $1.00 a meal

Pasta with broccoli and meatballs:
1 box of pasta (on sale), 1 jar of pasta sauce (on sale), 1 bag of frozen broccoli (on sale), 1 bag of frozen turkey meatballs (already had at home), plus various spices from my pantry that I already had. I ate this for dinner one night when Napoleon had a late night, so he didn't eat it, but there were enough leftovers for 2 additional meals!
Total = $4.15, or $1.39 per serving

Apple Cider Sauce and Pork Loin Chops, with rice and veggies on the side:
3 boneless pork chops (on sale), 1 package brown rice (on sale), 1 package frozen corn (on sale), 1 package frozen apple cider (regular price), poultry seasoning (on sale); the rest of the ingredients I already had at home. Napoleon and I both ate this for dinner one night. There was enough leftover for 1 extra serving.
Total = $11.36, or $3.79 per serving

Crock Pot Brisket:
2.5 lbs of brisket (on sale), onion soup mix (regular price), chili sauce (regular price), 1 package of baby carrots (on sale), 1 small package of red potatoes (on sale), 1 small bottle of coca-cola (on sale). Napoleon and I both ate this for dinner one night, and there was enough leftover for 2 more servings.
Total = $16.15, or $4.04 per serving

The rest of my purchases included a case of water (on sale), flavored water (on sale), contact solution (on sale, but was still the most expensive item!), an extra box of pasta (on sale) to keep on hand, coffee (on sale), some fresh fruit for snacks/lunches (on sale) and some cans of soup that I know I'll cook with in the near future. All in all, not too shabby!

This past Thursday I sat down and came up with some recipes for this coming week, and did my grocery shopping yesterday and this morning.

At Giant, I spent...
Total before savings: $110.31
Bonus Card savings: $21.19
Coupon savings: $5.00
Total savings: $26.19
Grand total, with tax: $84.12

At Superfresh, I spent...
Total before savings: $45.59
Bonus Card savings: $6.23
Coupon savings: $5.50
Total savings: $11.73
Grand total, with tax: $33.86

With the $117 worth of groceries,  I have enough for a few breakfasts for Napoleon and I, all of my lunches and snacks this weekend and this coming week (which usually consists of some deli meat, raw veggies, hummus and/or some kind of salad...trying to be healthy, and cut out carbs as much as I can stand), and the following recipes I plan to make:

• Crab Quiche, with a side of veggies
• Turkey Burgers, with a side of grilled sweet potatoes
• Pepperoni Pizza quick bread (not at all healthy, but it looked pretty incredible)
• Chicken Pot Pie, with a side of veggies

Without breaking down each individual meal and recipe, by my calculations, I'm thinking I got everything for less than $5 a meal!

Despite all the savings I've been finding, I don't plan on spending this much every time I go to the store...at least I hope not to. Right now I'm still kind of figuring it all out, and seeing what works best for Napoleon and I, and our budgets/incomes. We'll see if I can keep this up and really perfect it!