Reading that article makes me feel kind of funny, like when I used to climb the rope in gym class.

Frugality is SUCH a turn on.

In addition to the 5 hours she spends tracking down coupons there is the time sunk into driving from store to store. Also in MA there is no tax on necessities like food and clothing. There are hidden costs meaning "4 dollar dinners" are inaccurate.

I don't think I have the decipline for this.
I would love to try, and I always end up in the store buying $10 worth of food and wasting an hour anyway.

I do need to go through coupons more often though.

Also is it just me or does the photo make her look like a Gelfling?

Since most coupons are for name brand foods that are overly-processed, I wonder how much FRESH fruit and veggies her family gets.

@geekgrrl77: I was wondering the same thing. Cheap, but is it balanced eating?

5 hours a week, $279 saved. I would say it's worth it. Wow.

I am calling total BS on this. You rarely see coupons for fresh produce, meat or things like milk. You do see lots of coupons for brand name highly processed foods. Even with in store coupons or loss leaders on fresh foods your still paying a few dollars for most.

So either they have some interesting eating habits and a health nightmare in their near future or she is simply lying for the publicity.

@Lucky_Strike-001: According to the Boston article, she spends on hour with the coupons and four hours shopping.

I agree that she does more prep work than most of us (about 4 hours and 45 minutes more than me per week), but since nobody counts gas and hours into the cost of their meals, I don't see why she should have to. $4 dinners is a perfectly accurate summation if that's what she paid for 'em.

@floraposte:
In comparing to people who only drive to one place, it would be accurate. However, she does much much much more driving than the average person and therefore since she is doing something that is beyond average, it should be added to the cost.

@bohemian: If she's THAT frugal, they might have a massive vegetable garden and home canning operation.

I did this in college, but boy did I eat some garbage food in college. Now I'll take my $1/lb heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market over 5 cans of Del Monte for $0.46 after coupons. And it's actually a lot harder to do this now where I live. Double coupons are rare and sometimes only offer up to $1 savings. Rebate checks are also much rarer/restricted in CA than the East Coast.

@triscuitbiscuit: Sure, if we add our driving and prep time to our costs. Otherwise, no, not fair.

I just checked out her site. Since you have to pay to join, it's looking like your standard internet scam to me.

I call shenanigans on her claims about her grocery bills.

On a $4/dinner budget, you can make a tasty, family-sized meal out of dried beans and fresh produce, and I guarantee it will be lot healthier than whatever processed junk this lady is feeding her family. They don't make coupons for vegetables and other whole foods.

@GitEmSteveDave_HasTanLines: Frugality is indeed hot. Hot, tiring work.

@Laura Northrup: maybe she's offsetting her bottom line with revenues from the pay-site and tuition from the classes she gives.

@geekgrrl77: True. I tried coupon-cutting but gave it up when I realized that the only coupons readily available were for name brands that were overpriced anyway - or something pathetic like "40 cents off when you buy FOUR boxes of such-and-such" so that you barely save money at all. I prefer store brands and fresh stuff I can make from scratch.

@JulesNoctambule: I was curious about this too. She does say explicitly in one interview, "I get free fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables (as well as junk food)! I regularly get free organic food, mainly Muir Glen, Wild Harvest and Cascadian Farms through the use of coupons and sales." It also looks like there's a lot usage of rebate promos, "spend x get y back," which I guess operate on the total pre-coupon usage from the way she talks about it.

It's clearly dependent on having a fair bit of storage space, too; she talks about "stockpiling" and how it means she can go weeks without setting foot in a grocery store (which would certainly let out some fresh veg, if so. On the other hand, fresh-frozen is often better than fresh, so it doesn't mean they're malnourished). People talk about getting a year's worth of a product at once, though, so it's really serious stockpiling.

One encomium to her system I saw was from a woman whose husband had become unemployed, and she found the system a godsend. I can see that it would be in that situation.

I am usually extremely frugal when it comes to shopping but those coupons are a lot of over processed junk. The key is to make sure you use the coupons for the healthy foods. I also supplement that with my local crop sharing group which saves me $50 a week on produce. I would just grow everything myself if I could but I am not allowed to have a garden due to HOA crap where I am leasing.

whenever I read these frugal super-people stories, it is rarely the woman who is working 40 hours outside of the home, chauffeuring the kids to their umpteen million activities while her husband works as well. the news story didn't indicate if she worked OUTSIDE of the home. i would think that most people, if living the harried life, would simply be happy to spend a few hours on a saturday cooking meals for the following week, even if it means eating a lot of the same thing over and over again

@JulesNoctambule: the ten bottles of ketchup, and the bags of frozen french fries can be considered vegetables (at least by early 80's standards).

@floraposte: I think what he means is that her "$4 meals" cost a helluva lot more in fuel and wear on her vehicle.

Plus, there's time, which none of us can regain. Me, I'd rather spend a bit more on food and have more time for my family.

*Hugs Wii, 360, and PS3* I love you guys!

@bohemian: It's not simply coupons, it's deals and promotions of all kinds, from what she says. It sounds like it's stuff like getting gift cards/credit if you buy over a certain amount. I don't quite understand her phrasing here--she's definitely a math and not a language person, if you read her own posts--but this is one explanation: "I also can make money at the grocery store by rolling a deal and that will give me store money that I can use to buy fresh friuits and vegetables for free."
[writeeditrepeat.blogspot.com]

@sponica: I work 40 hours, go to school, clip coupons, shop and pick up produce from crop shares, cook, wrangle a kid and cats. The key is no sleep lol

She should save the $4 and feed her kids dog poop, at least it would have more nutrition than that packaged garbage.

@xredgambit: I think she's actually an investment banker.

@bohemian: She has the only pets that subsist on a diet of Twinkies. She probably has to brush their teeth three times a day.

@HIcycles: Technically no, depending on how much those 5 dollars are worth to you. At my regular freelance wage, I'd be several dollars in the hole.

I bet she hedged her grocery bills, and writing down the losses into a previous tax year, thus her expenditures of only $4 a week.

I pity the pets. I doubt they're getting quality nutrition. And no, Purina does not = quality nutrition.

I live alone and cook for one. This week, I've bought two beets, a bag of carrots, a head of romaine lettuce, a cucumber, two bags of tomatoes (from the farm), a bunch of broccoli, an orange head of cauliflower (from the farm), a bunch of fresh dill, a red pepper, an onion, two bulbs of garlic, some bulk pumpkin seeds, two loaves of fresh bread (from a bakery stand at the farmer's market), bananas, fresh basil, frozen tropical fruit mix, organic locally-made fat-free yogurt, a can of chickpeas and two bags of Cheerios snack mix. I'm combining those ingredients with things I already had on hand: cheddar cheese, bulk brown rice, natural peanut butter, frozen chopped spinach (organic), frozen blueberries, juice and homemade iced tea.

The food I eat doesn't ever have coupon discounts! Ever! Maybe the Cheerios snack mix, the canned chickpeas and some of the frozen fruit might occasionally have a coupon, but nothing else. However, I do look for in-store specials where you get lower prices when you swipe your loyalty card, and at the farm and market I look for seasonally lower prices... but I couldn't ever feed MYSELF for $4 a week, much less a family of four!

@H3ion: I thought she looked like Marg Helgenberger.

Btw, I wish Carey Greenberg-Berger would marry Marg Helgenberger and they'd hyphenate their last names.

I don't think she's feeding her family the healthy balanced food that many of us are used to. Or her pets. For example her Yahoo group page has a photo of many bags of "Goodlife Recipe" dog food. Here are the first few ingredients listed of one flavor from the Goodlife site:

GROUND CORN, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL (SOURCE OF LUTEIN*), CHICKEN, ANIMAL FAT, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, DRIED PEAS, RICE, WHEAT FLOUR

Not what I'd call a decent meal for a dog. If the pets eat processed junk I bet they do too.

@floraposte: Some fresh vegetables, like carrots, can keep for up to a month, and potatoes will too. But greens won't, and I can't see it being very balanced.

@BadHairLife: I swear to God, I'll pistol whip the next guy who posts a youtube clip or animated gif from that movie Super Troopers.

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: Out of curiosity, what does your dog eat? Subtracting all the (US subsidized) corn, that doesn't seem too awful.

@Chris Walters: That would be illegal in Germany.

@BadHairLife: We have a call of Shenanigans! Everyone please goto Aisle 12 and get some brooms while the call is decided.

My problem with coupons is you have to do a lot of work to save on things you may not like. Usually the coupons are for name brands that are overpriced to begin with because they have to pay for advertising. However, if this woman can feed her family for $4.00 and enjoys the work and food, more power to her.

@evarga:
Corn is garbage for a dog. They don't need it, it's a cheap filler for manufacturers. I think my dog was allergic to it, she used to throw up a lot more when we bought grocery store dog food. If you look pretty much every brand of dog food sold at the grocery store has corn as the first ingredient.
Spend a little more on something like Natural Balance or Blue Buffalo (with actual meat, not meat by-product meal, as the main ingredient, and no corn, soy filler, chinese poison, etc.) and your dog will live longer.

@laserjobs: Did you eat at her house last night? How the hell do you know what she feeds her family?

I'm loving all the posts claiming she's either lying or not feeding her family a balanced meal. LOL I assure you it can be done, or at least the average person can save a fair amount and still not eat spaghettios daily.

i'm curious how much research the nay sayers have done themselves to really disprove this. yes, it requires some time and shopping at more than one store. Maybe not for the 40+ hour worker, but for a frugal stay at home mom, plenty of time to do the steps necessary to save some big bucks.

I've saved over $60 in one trip without trying. I have a girlfriend who's been featured on our local news for her coupon discipline. She's trying to teach me her "art". She also has a stockpile and has actually come out of more than one shopping trip with them owing her money.

@Lucky_Strike-001: Ugh, and the amount of antacids I would have to take to choke down processed dinners... the amount I'd spend on blood pressure meds due to the salt. I dunno. Buy fresh healthy things in bulk. Probably the same amount of money, with much less time and transit.

@GitEmSteveDave_HasTanLines: Good-that explains this chafing...

@Laura Northrup: Then that should be disclosed in the article. She is trying to self promote that she has a system allowing you to eat for $4 a week. If she has a garden that means she is not eating on $4 a week, she is supplementing it.

It would be like someone saying they live on $1 a week in groceries and failing to mention the $100 a week in food stamps they are taking in.

@Jetgirly: You'll save yourself plenty in health costs later on in life. Oh, and your tastebuds too, lol

@floraposte: None of the grocery stores in the Midwest give you any sort of store money or gift cards for purchasing a certain amount.

Is that something that is common in other parts of the country?

Belp.

Consider I pay someone else to do my grocery shopping, I could give a fuck less.

@Lucky_Strike-001: If she has 4 kids, she's already putting the mileage on her vehicle, so I seriously doubt it would be that much more.

What's an average family of 6 spend on meals? $200? $300? Consider she saves that in a few hours of extra work (and time that she might have been watching TV anyway) and she's got a pretty good gig going on.