It depends on how how you work it. I said that at the beginning, and I still sorta say that - I mean, Tillamook doesn't exactly send out coupons for their cheese and butter. 
But.
I got a boatload of Quaker oatmeal for free this Jan/Feb. The 40oz canisters or boxes of flavored instant packets were $1 each at Albertson's. I got a raincheck because they kept running out. Then I found some $1/ea coupons on ebay for a few bucks. Voila, free - just had to keep haunting the store until they got them back in stock. And I have oatmeal for a year or two - I'd kinda dare someone to tell me oatmeal isn't better for the kids than fruit loops... I don't live in an 800sf apartment though, and even when we move I may have my "pantry" in a climate controlled storage unit if we end up renting that small of a place.
Also in the last few weeks I combined SureJell (pectin) coupons with free sugar coupons (free sugar if you buy 2 or 4 boxes of pectin) at Fred Meyer. I have like 30+lbs more of sugar in my basement that I may have paid like $2 for. On top of that, for a while Kraft was doing a Catalina coupon for the pectin as well, so I used that with the subsequent transactions. Yeah, you could say I stockpiled that as well.
You do need to keep an eye on your local sales to jump on thing sometimes, and I've been quite prone to going in late on a Tuesday night to get a raincheck for something to buy me some time to track down coupons. Not quite evil, but hey, gives them time to replenish their stock.
I'm not to the couponing point that some of my friends are - they hit Walgreens, Safeway, Albertson's, Walmart, and so on every single week. I don't have that kind of time/luxury (you tried checking off your grocery list and sorting out the correct coupons with four antsy kids with you? I wouldn't recommend it!).
I live in the NW, so this gal helps give me a heads up if anything groovy's going on. She even came across a killer Hooked on Phonics deal that I had to take advantage of (I figure one of four will use it, or I can resell on craigslist for more than I paid!).
But.I got a boatload of Quaker oatmeal for free this Jan/Feb. The 40oz canisters or boxes of flavored instant packets were $1 each at Albertson's. I got a raincheck because they kept running out. Then I found some $1/ea coupons on ebay for a few bucks. Voila, free - just had to keep haunting the store until they got them back in stock. And I have oatmeal for a year or two - I'd kinda dare someone to tell me oatmeal isn't better for the kids than fruit loops... I don't live in an 800sf apartment though, and even when we move I may have my "pantry" in a climate controlled storage unit if we end up renting that small of a place.
Also in the last few weeks I combined SureJell (pectin) coupons with free sugar coupons (free sugar if you buy 2 or 4 boxes of pectin) at Fred Meyer. I have like 30+lbs more of sugar in my basement that I may have paid like $2 for. On top of that, for a while Kraft was doing a Catalina coupon for the pectin as well, so I used that with the subsequent transactions. Yeah, you could say I stockpiled that as well.
You do need to keep an eye on your local sales to jump on thing sometimes, and I've been quite prone to going in late on a Tuesday night to get a raincheck for something to buy me some time to track down coupons. Not quite evil, but hey, gives them time to replenish their stock.
I'm not to the couponing point that some of my friends are - they hit Walgreens, Safeway, Albertson's, Walmart, and so on every single week. I don't have that kind of time/luxury (you tried checking off your grocery list and sorting out the correct coupons with four antsy kids with you? I wouldn't recommend it!).
I live in the NW, so this gal helps give me a heads up if anything groovy's going on. She even came across a killer Hooked on Phonics deal that I had to take advantage of (I figure one of four will use it, or I can resell on craigslist for more than I paid!).
