$276 Worth for 1 Penny!

I've been in the kitchen lately cooking up more pasta (of course!), stir-fry, grilled chicken and veggies, and breakfast. Cheap and pretty nutritious meals, but nothing that you haven't heard or know about! Nothing too groundbreaking. It's been costing me (if I hit the sales right and stretch meals to the max and making rice and beans when I'm low on other options) to do those meals for about $150 a month which can feed about a family of four. Wednesday and Thursday nights (because of our schedules and savings which come from it) tend to be our leftovers or rice and beans nights.
One idea I'd like to share when making your rice and beans is to mix in a can of tuna. This makes the meal stretch even further, adds that extra protein, and may sound disgusting, but if you like tuna it's actually good. Top with hot sauce and no joke it really hits the spot! A filling meal for a couple of bucks.
My meals haven't been too groundbreaking as I mentioned earlier; so the reason I must speak to you is the inspiration I got this morning on "Good Morning America" that truly is groundbreaking! I was flabbergasted when I saw this married mother of two and the way she grocery shopped! I am going to try to learn her method. I mean she could make millions on her technique if she wanted to; it is incredible! Some of you may have seen her.
I call this blog "The Pennyless Cook" for a reason. I hope to challenge myself and others to make inexpensive, but still delicious meals on a small budget, but what this woman has done is on a completely different level! She feeds her family of four on literally pennies a week! I am not exaggerating! Her monthly cost on groceries is roughly $4.00 a month! And she's even buying seafood when coupons allow! It's not just Ramen Noodles, because even those are $0.28 a piece. On her shopping trip that aired this morning she bought $276.00 worth of groceries, and with the many coupons she handed the cashier the price continued to drop with the speed of light. The final total was (drum roll please)..... 1 penny! Did you hear me?!?!? 1 PENNY!!!! CRAZY!!!! My mouth dropped wide open when I saw this! That happened to be a record-breaker for her. As I stared at the piles of groceries crowding the trunk of her vehicle I just could not believe what I just saw!
Some of the methods she uses includes finding out the rules for all stores on double-coupons, rules on combining double manufacturer coupons and store coupons (CVS allows this for example), and buying free or close to free items such as 1/4 pound of seafood which costs $1.00 with a $1.00 off coupon. She works hard at this and goes to the grocery without children, I noticed, so she can concentrate and calculate with accuracy. Check it out on www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/. Happy shopping! And happy it will be if you can master this skill! Let me know if you do.