Last fall, I went through a pantry/freezer cleaning experiment to see if I could go the entire month without buying any more groceries/spending any money on food. Although we had a few unexpected food expenses arise (taking the family out to dinner), we saved a lot of money that month. Obviously the stuff that was languishing in the back of the pantry and freezer for months weren't items we typically used so once we cleared it out, we were able to start anew with stuff we actually do consume regularly.
Now I want to embark on another experiment. While it saved money to empty out our food stores, it isn't sustainable in the long run because we'd have to replenish it eventually. A better experiment would be to try my hand at a little extreme couponing! We don't typically consume a lot of conventional groceries: we either try to grow our own or buy local & organic--not stuff you'd see in the weekly sale mailers. However, there are items that occasionally pop up that we do put to good use: soy milk, almond milk, juices, jarred (never canned) tomato sauce, and occasional toothpaste/mouthwash/floss etc. I'd prefer to use Tom's of Maine toothpaste but we haven't fully made that switch yet.
Anyway, today was my first attempt at extreme couponing and while it isn't much, I did manage to save $2.05 on a half gallon of Almond Breeze! I've purchased it at as high as $4.29 before but I usually buy it for around $3.79-$3.99. Today, it was 2 for $6.00 and I had a $.55 manufacturer's coupon + store double coupon. I ended up paying $1.95 for Almond Breeze...pretty much a 50% saving from my normal cost! It feels so good!
So I'll do a little here and there to start accumulating more coupons in anticipation of my experiment come September. I'd really like to see how much I can save that month. My goal is $100 off our normal food/grocery expenses.
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