This is a little off the sewing topic but I just can’t resist

Yes…a little off the sewing topic but I just can’t resist a little challenge.

Have you all been watching the show called ‘Extreme Couponing’?

Well I am transfixed!

And a little bit inspired for sure but I know It’s just about nearly impossible to get groceries like this in the Chicagoland area.

For one, the key to many of these profiled extreme shoppers is that they are able to shop at a store that doubles the value of a coupon.  NO store within a 50 mile radius of Chicago doubles ANY coupon!

There was 1 exception last Fall when a new grocery store called Mariano’s opened up and for about 10 weeks every Wednesday would let you double 5 coupons up to a buck.  But the catch was you had to spend $20 in order to be able to use your coupons!  So yes…you could double coupon but you still had to spend $20.

In 2008 when the whole economy was going to pot there were articles in the papers about couponing and plenty of human interest stories on tv about the subject.  At the time I was curious and decided I would give it a try.  I couponed for about 3 months but the best I could do was save about 50%.

I bought all kinds of stuff and ended up throwing out a good portion of it (frozen expired stuff) or giving it to the food pantry because it was just too much and the expiration dates were getting near.

I was pretty well stocked up, stopped the clipping and just set my budget to try not to spend more than $75 on groceries each week.  That seemed to be just plenty to bring in whatever we needed.

Well about two months ago I went grocery shopping and at check out my bill was $150!!!!  What!?!  Seriously?  Have I not been paying attention to the rising prices?  How in the world is this possible?  What in the world did I buy?

Wow, that was definitely a budget breaker!  So when I saw these promos for this television show I had to watch and thought maybe it’s time to get back to couponing…just not so extreme…and with a little bit more discipline so I don’t get too much stuff.

So for the month of JUNE we are mostly going to concentrate on thinning out our pantry, cupboards, and freezer and only shop for necessities or things we can get FREE.

And for a little bit of a twist I’m going to make a little challenge to test the coupon theory once again.  Ready?  Do you want to know what the challenge is?

The Challenge: Find something FREE every day for one month.

That’s right.  Let’s find something to get for FREE every day in the month of JUNE!

And it can be whatever! I’m not limiting this challenge to just groceries or food.  It can be fabric, thread, patterns…anything!  Doesn’t this sound like fun?  But more importantly, does it sound possible?

Let’s give it a shot!

~Cathy