The Fruit of My November Widow's Challenge: 27 Boxes of Hamburger Helper and More!

For the past month, I have been setting aside $3/week of my grocery budget to buy food for a local food pantry.  I wanted to challenge myself to see how far I could make that $3 stretch using coupons and sales.  Here is the fruit of my couponing labor:

27 boxes of Hamburger Helper

15 cans of Progresso soup

10 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes

7 cans of Campbell's soup

4 cans of Libby's fruit

3 boxes of Cheerios (Multi Grain/Banana Nut/Original)

3 jars of Vlasic relish

3 cartons of Progresso broth

2 cans of College Inn broth

2 jars of Mott's Applesauce

2 Betty Crocker cake mixes

2 Betty Crocker frostings

2 boxes of Jell-O

1 Pillsbury brownie mix

1 box of  Stove Top dressing

I must say, this is more food than I initially thought I could get for $12 total! However, since I started this challenge, I was able to meet with Kathy Spencer from How to Shop for Free. She uses the method of stockpiling to grocery shop for her family of six (plus a cat and a dog) for $4/week! She has definitely inspired me to stretch my dollar even farther, which is very possible with the right amount of coupons (and a bit bigger pantry)! I think that's a November 2011 challenge in the making.

Also, Laurie at Passionate Penny Pincher has a tremendous heart for giving and has been challenging her readers to give whatever they can this Thanksgiving season. I love that half of her blog's proceeds are given to the Tatum family, missionaries to Costa Rica.

New to the "Widow's Challenge"? Check out what the Widow's Challenge is all about.