Extreme couponing

taking an already low price and adding coupons will net you the best possible proces.   I first went to the dollar tree.   I  spent 11.60 and got coupons of 2.25.

I got

1. A wicker basket 
2. A roll of bounty basic ( it tested the best of a lot of brands for absorbing) .75 net 
3. Kleenex tissues for my purse 
4. A darling ice pack - marked 2.99 - it a monkey.  There were other animals.  I thought the monkey was the cutest and it's a boo boo pack! 
5. 2 pkgs creamy  caramels w coupon one was free. 
6. 2 jars peanuts
7. 1 pkg shortbread cookies
8. 2 glade air freshener - one was free with coupon,   

Next Safeways B5S5 

1. Tabasco sauce .79
2. Cookie Crisp cereal 1.24 with coupon 
3. Cinnamon Toast Crunch 1.49 with coupons 
4. Baking powder 1.89 ( mime was old ) 
5. Mustard, .99 ( daughter broke the last ones jar) 
6. Hot dog buns .99 ( they are usually .88 at Winco, but not worth a second trip for .11) 
7. Herdez salsa net 3.44 with coupon.   
8. Strawberries 
9. Duncan Heinz brownies .99

Total spent 14.32, total saved 11.19 or 44 percent. 

Not what extreme,couponing tv style would be. But in this state with no double

Couponing. It is about what you can expect.   78 percent was my best.  I can average six or so dollars a trip.   Fred Meyers was 11.25, dollar tree was 225, and Safeways was 1.80 for a total of 15.30.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro sypxective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will 

need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 

on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the 

planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.