I use some coupons on toiletry type items. And then use them when the same item is on sale at say target. I don't use food coupons too much.

I have tried coupons and they never work for me either- they are either for processed food or items that I would rather buy in bulk at Costco or Amazon. We're also pretty loyal to specific brands/products that we like and buy a lot of the same food regularly, including many favorites from Trader Joes.

We also shop at Safeway, and the coupons are often for fresh or frozen produce, yogurt, milk, juice, meats, etc. Yes, the bulk are obviously for the middle rows and not the border, but that's just grocery stores in general. I just had a coupon for a free coconut water this week. I don't normally drink it but grabbed one just to see.

Normally though we spend around $50-60 a week at the farmers market or Whole Foods on produce and organic meat (we don't eat much of it). Canned stuff, pasta, frozen, dairy, etc we get at Safeway. We spend anywhere from $150-$200 per week on groceries depending on if we need to restock on some of the higher priced items (maple syrup, protein powders, olive oil, etc).

Used to spend $1k month at WF. Now spending about $400 at Giant and CSA, sometimes Harris Teeter (cheap organic milk). Generally not that impressed with Teeter, Giant has better quality organics & produce. One teen boy, one tween boy, two adults.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is wrong with egg noodles? Someone here is making them sound as if they are on par with cool ranch Doritos.

Hey what's wrong with Cool Ranch Doritos?? Those were a childhood staple for us. Mmmmmmmm

LOL

Gross. You eat store bought Doritos? We get ours fresh, from a local ranch.

This made me laugh so hard. Well done

Me too!

Anonymous wrote:$800-$1000 for a family of 4.

Same for us. Organic produce for the dirty dozen, not a whole lot of eating out, mostly home cooked food.

$4-500 a month at Aldi and Giant for a family of 3. We aim for $400 but go over frequently. That doesn't include random items we pick up on monthly trips to Target for diapers that we would normally get at the grocery store because dividing up receipts to track specific items is too finicky.

And yes, I do feed my family junk and garbage, thanks for asking! I cook from scratch as much as I can but that isn't 100% of the time. Plus my husband likes his store bought snacks, and he's a grown up and gets to spend his hard earned money on Cheez-its if he so desires.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is wrong with egg noodles? Someone here is making them sound as if they are on par with cool ranch Doritos.

Hey what's wrong with Cool Ranch Doritos?? Those were a childhood staple for us. Mmmmmmmm

LOL

Gross. You eat store bought Doritos? We get ours fresh, from a local ranch.

This made me laugh so hard. Well done

I participate in the store savings program for all the stores I tend to shop. I just try to put it out out of my mind that they can track everything I buy. Feeding family of 5, we cook almost every night and we make a fair amount from scratch but there's a limit on the time we're willing to spend on that. We sometimes make our own bread or pasta but we're not going to roast our own coffee or make our own cheese. Spend 800-1000 per month. Large freezer was a good investment.
I get the savings on the things the stores have on sale and I can add any special offers to my account while I'm in the store to save a little more. And sometimes it's just extra gas points or $10 off your order if you spend over a certain amount. Or the coffee I like is 8.99 on sale and I can get it for 6.99 with my coupon. And I only buy it when it's on sale and I stock up then. Those are the kind of coupons I think a PP was getting at, not necessarily the mfr. coupons a lot of people are thinking of.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is wrong with egg noodles? Someone here is making them sound as if they are on par with cool ranch Doritos.

Hey what's wrong with Cool Ranch Doritos?? Those were a childhood staple for us. Mmmmmmmm

LOL

Gross. You eat store bought Doritos? We get ours fresh, from a local ranch.

Is it an organic ranch? I make ours. It doesn't take any more time than making bread or graham crackers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Groceries--about $120/week.

Us too. For family of 4

Same amount for single mom of 1.

Same. Family of 3.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have y'all ever heard of coupons?

The Safeway app has discounts that in some cases are not advertised.

Have you ever heard of the value of time? Rather than scour apps and print ads for coupons on mostly brand name products that aren't on my list, I'd rather plan out meals, shop at Aldi/Costco.

I sure have, it is called planning. The app/website in Safeway's case takes less than 5 minutes to see what is on sale for that current week.

Coupons, ten minutes tops, the Sunday Wash Post doesn't add that many.

I guess you don't like to save money on shampoo, soap, ice cream, and other things that are not on your meal preparation list either?

All of that stuff is cheaper as Brand X at Aldi/Costco!

Yup. And coupons are for processed foods. No thanks, don't eat that crap. My food is cooked from fresh ingredients. We MIGHT consume 2 boxes of ice cream a year.maybe.

You never buy flour, graham crackers, chocolate chips, sour cream, spices, vegetable oil, yeast, cream cheese, raisins, egg noodles, tea bags, tapioca....? Must be quite a little operation you're running in your kitchen. Or the most boring diet ever.

I actually only buy spices from that list, and I get them in bulk at Moms or at Penzeys. I buy olive oil at Costco.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is wrong with egg noodles? Someone here is making them sound as if they are on par with cool ranch Doritos.

Hey what's wrong with Cool Ranch Doritos?? Those were a childhood staple for us. Mmmmmmmm

LOL

Gross. You eat store bought Doritos? We get ours fresh, from a local ranch.

Is it an organic ranch? I make ours. It doesn't take any more time than making bread or graham crackers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have y'all ever heard of coupons?

The Safeway app has discounts that in some cases are not advertised.

Have you ever heard of the value of time? Rather than scour apps and print ads for coupons on mostly brand name products that aren't on my list, I'd rather plan out meals, shop at Aldi/Costco.

I sure have, it is called planning. The app/website in Safeway's case takes less than 5 minutes to see what is on sale for that current week.

Coupons, ten minutes tops, the Sunday Wash Post doesn't add that many.

I guess you don't like to save money on shampoo, soap, ice cream, and other things that are not on your meal preparation list either?

All of that stuff is cheaper as Brand X at Aldi/Costco!

Really? I have seen ice cream as low as $2 at Safeway depending on the week. Let's put it this way, between sales and other things, I have saved well over $500 this year.
Also, Aldi isn't that popular (at least in Northern VA, just did a search in multiple cities). Costco is a pain to get in and out of, and frankly, bulk only works if you have the cabinet space and a big enough family.

This is ridiculous. Only the Pentagon City Costco is a pain because of the parking lot construction. I shop there as a single person in an 800 sf condo!

Why do you care if people use coupons or where they shop?

Anonymous wrote:Have y'all ever heard of coupons?

The Safeway app has discounts that in some cases are not advertised.

Most coupons are for processed food I don't eat. I buy paper products/cleaning supplies at Costco when they are on sale.