Let’s talk Jewish stereotypes. Big noses, bad eyes, smart, frugal. I qualify for three out of four. The one I want to talk about today is the Super Deal Finder Power Woman in me.

Really, it’s all just spin; I’m cheap and selfish and I don’t want to spend a penny more than I have to. Or maybe I just suffer more from the loss-aversion bias identified by Nobel winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

This Life Lab challenge is simple enough: buy only on sale or with coupons for a month. For the most part this applies to groceries — I figure I’ll push off any other purchase to the next month. Will I save money, will my life be forever changed, will my kids run away from home in the end? Who knows?

Let the fun begin.

The Parameters

Ground rules: Everything needs to either be on sale or have a coupon. Exceptions are basics like milk and bread and standard produce (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and potatoes). Obviously I’ll try to buy them on sale, but if there’s no sale, I can still buy them.

And there are a few items that never go on sale that my family would not abide my not buying — mainly herring, specifically Schwartz’s Pepper Crusted Matjes Herring that I use for the herring platter I make every Shabbos. It’s my family’s oneg Shabbos. I don’t threaten my kids with no Shabbos party when they get out of hand, I say, “No herring platter” — and my four-year-old falls right in line.

Oh, one more rule, a guideline really. If something is on sale, or I have a coupon for it, but I can get it cheaper at another store’s full price, I can buy the full-price item. For example, since maple syrup in Target with 5% off through their Cartwheel app is $14.43, but I can get the same thing (one more ounce) in Costco for $10.49, I can buy it at Costco.

The Experiment

I did a bit of warm-up prep for this challenge. First, I downloaded two couponing apps that I had to figure out. Then, I signed up for Seasons, Kosher Konnection, Evergreen, and Rockland Koshers’ weekly e-mail for specials. I downloaded the Shoprite apps for better access to coupons and sales, and I brought in the circulars that land on my front steps every Friday and which I usually toss, to keep abreast of sales at Aldi’s, CVS, Walgreens, Stop and Shop, and Shoprite (which I was already following). Also, I had the Ebates (now Rakuten) extension on my computer that offers cashback on almost any website I shop from — that counts as a sale or coupon, right? (Although how much is one percent cash back on a $16 Target order? The mind games we play with ourselves…)

I was already in information overload when my friend Hindy called. (Can you believe I’ve spoken to her again since my attempt at five-minute phone calls last Life Lab?!) I welcomed the distraction and told her I was trying my hand at couponing.

She laughed. “My brother is into couponing, his garage is filled with toothpaste and Softsoap.”

I laughed too, but part of me grimaced. I want to save money, but I don’t have space to buy boatloads of shampoo at some ridiculous price, waiting for the day I need it so I can wave it high and post on my status “I got this for 19 cents #couponsforpresident.” I do want to try couponing, but not the way I did it years ago — when all I got out of it was a lifetime supply of Febreze air freshener (I still have a bottle in my closet).

(Excerpted from Family First, Issue 658)