On 10/5/2012 10:35 AM, The Cook wrote:

> Extreme couponing is for the birds. We stopped getting the Sunday
> paper that has all of the coupons in it. I doubt that we have
> increased our grocery bill by more than $5. We do check the store ads
> in the local papers and I am signed up with our favorite grocery and
> get an email each Sunday listing of the things that are on special the
> coming week that we buy frequently.

Same here. It's why I like to stock up, so I don't have to continually
look for a sale. Certain items are jacked way up if they aren't on
sale.

> The big problem trying to "coupon" is that you end up with more than
> you can use before it is out of date or spoils. Then you have wasted
> money that would have bought what you needed at regular price when you
> needed it. And unless you have very accessible storage some of the
> stuff will get lost and/or forgotten.

My problem with couponing is that the vast majority of the ones
I see aren't useful to me. I do that Troopon thing, so I do go through
all the inserts. I might keep one or two coupons for myself. Maybe.
The rest are not for anything I use.

It might be different if I had kids, of course.

> If you really want to buy in large quantities, be sure to go through
> everything about twice a year and plan meals with all of the things
> are nearing expiration. And keep the oldest in the front or on top.
>
> Of course all of that goes out the window when the spouse decides to
> buy some groceries and puts them away newest in front and on top.

I hear ya, loud and clear. And you don't want to be that anal-retentive
nag that's always going on about You put the canned tomatoes in the
wrong place again! (laugh)

nancy