People might not agree, but I am NOT too sympathic with most of the stories I hear about families having to "cut back" because of the terrible prices and the state of the nation. It is my opinion they should have learned to be more thrifty all along. I have a decent size bank account, but I STILL cut coupons. I still shop for the best prices. Milk at the moment at one local discount store in my town is $1.99 a gallon - yes, I checked around. Both online and in the newspaper.

I was more than disgusted to read a story about a woman who is FORCED to get food from a local food pantry. The picture showed her and her children holding McDonald drinks. I DOUBT she was given them. I can buy a pound of hamburger for the cost of just one of those drinks.

Another newspaper article had a woman in California whining that due to high gas prices she won't be able to take as many vacations that year. /sob /sob

People - learn to live thriftfully year around and stop being so wasteful and spoilt.

Someone is feeling a little holier-than-thou today.

We still have enormous affluence compared to our parents and grandparents. Ask anyone what conditions were like during WWII, or the Depression. Food rationing was very difficult. Even with "cutting back" we still have far more.

For my family of 10 (3 teenagers!) we've never spent more than $600 a month in groceries. We rarely eat out, camp only for vacations. Thrifty living should ALWAYS be a way of life. I'm amazed by storied claiming that only NOW are people shopping ads, clipping coupons.

Pry open your wallet you old crone.

Cool job, you will be set for the future.
I am 43 & have kept most of the shopping habits of my mother; ad shopper, couponer & food stretcher. Yeah, we have seen our food budget inch up, but we are not hurting.

Hey Denise, .... 3:13am?

Well, I for one will not be thrifty at the expense of health, Denise. Fresh fruits and veggies and whole foods that there are no coupons for will remain on my shopping list even if they are more expensive, even if I am attacked by people like you for it. Cheapest is not always best when it comes to what you put in your body- high fat low grade ground beef that is cheaper than a Mc. D's happy meal soda may be cheap to buy up front but will cost you more in medical bills for your clogged arteries down the road.

I think this article misses on huge point. They are tracking the cost of the item but not what is in the wrapper. Biggest trick in the book is to put less in the bag. Bag of M&M's costs the same but when they put 15 M&M's in the bag instead of 20 you really do not get the same amount. Look at ice cream buckets. Used to be 5 quarts now they are a gallon and you pay almost the same. Bag of chips, less chips but same bag size.

This article is not comparing apples to apples in my opinion.

We are getting less and less. Look at a light bulb. They used to last for a few years. Now they are being engineered to burn out in 3 months so you must buy more. Things are made of plastic and instead o

When you see the price of Diesel fuel go up and say that I don't drive a diesel, think again. Everything we buy is shipped from somewhere.

I guarentee you that after 3 to 6 months after the price of diesel rises, you see food go up. They simply pass the cost on.

This is true. you could buy a chicken meal with salad and rolls. Now, they only offer the chicken and the salad and rolls are seperate. You are getting less for what you pay for.

Trish M. I have 8 in our family and we can in no way spend 600 a month. I don't know what you are eating but we go through 6 gallons of milk a week alone. I am not complaining because I feel we are making a good living but I do feel for those less fortunate.

Hooray for you Denise! I completely agree. I remember my sister-in-law stating that she would know when her and her husband had truly "made it" financially because she would then be able to buy any brand name at the grocery store and not even look at the price! Now after building a 2 million dollar house and thriving financially as a dentist, they still cut coupons and look for deals! hooray for her too.

Coupons are only good if they are the items you use and most times you don't save enough. Even when I had a large family at home I found coupons were worthless because they did not meet my dietary needs and 25c a coupon is just not worth the effort and since I don't buy junk magazines or get the Sunday paper coupons do not come easy anyway.

I think some of you are missing Denise's point: She's not trying to sound holier than thou (although I agree it comes off that way), and she's not trying to say you should sacrifice your health for the sake of being cheap. She's saying that people who complain about struggling with prices are often hypocrites.

For example, I get tired of hearing people complain about $3 gas while they're holding a $4 cup of coffee. You don't NEED that coffee - it's certainly not helping your health. Why not brew it at home for pennies? Or drink the coffee at your work? Or drop it altogether and drink water? If you're really hurting for gas money then your budget for coffee should already be exhausted, right?

Those are the kind of things I think Denise is talking about.

(I am not in UT so I'm not speaking about the Deseret News but my local big city paper)

It's worth it to get the Sunday-only newspaper IMO, since we got it when we had the chance to get Sunday only papers for a dollar a week. Even if I only use 3 coupons, or just one 40% off coupon, I usually have saved the cost of the paper (and gotten to read the sunday funnies to boot)

I do agree that things cost the same, but we dont get as much as we used to - I remember being annoyed that the 1/2 gallon carton of icecream went to 1.75 qt and last night my husband was pointing out that it is now smaller again and only 1.5!!

It's hard to clip, organize & use coupons (esp with disgustingly short expiration dates) but it *does* help me save money - because I go to the grocery store and go 'oh, that's a good price but wait, I think I have a coupon at home for that.' then never make it back before the sale expires. :-)

Dave, not feeling a little holyer than usual at all. :-) Just feeling that many people are lazy and spoilt. People just need to think thriftier. I am a "card-carrying member" (if they had a card) of Dave Ramsey (the Get out of debt and be debt-free dude). Yes, there a LOT of people that are really hurting now. People out of work, injured, etc. etc. and I do feel for them. But I DO NOT feel for the lady in the expensive home she purchased when deep down she KNEW she could not afford it and now it hitting up the local food bank. I saw her on ABC news. Her home was beautiful, filled with beautiful things. I would have been selling that junk off before taking food from a food bank and from people who are down to their last loaf of bread.

Couponing should be illegal. It unfair to the poor.
You rich ones help each other learn all the stuff and get bargins, but working folk help pay your way, paying full price.
When Hillary is prez, you won't get away with it.

You're funny.

I'm blessed. My wife has all her coupons cataloged, can check out with a cartload for under $15. It took a few years to learn. We feed our family well for less than half the average.

And she hands out coupons to the people waiting in line behind her, for money off on what they have in their carts.

To those who misunderstood me: I was not saying to buy cheap/worthless food. My husband is ill AND has celiac disease. For us that means NO WHEAT in anything. So no Campbell soups, no cheap bread-we have to buy the gluten-free or no bread for him at all. There are no coupons for gluten-free products. I make almost everything from scratch to make sure he eats well. So we can buy the things he needs there is no pay-for-view movie channels, no HBO, no going out to the movies, no vacations, no coffee at Starbucks, no clothes that need dry cleaning, etc. etc. I pinch every penny to make sure we live well and safe. All extra money goes into the bank so I can care for him and bury him (or me at this rate) when the time comes.

Yes, it is the person with the huge expensive car (for a family of 2) whining about gas prices or the person who had to cut down to 1 vacations rather than 3 a year, I have little sympathy for.

LOL and about my 3am post… I am often up that late taking care of him. :-)

Make websites like pinchingyourpennies do the work for you. It doesn't take that much time to stick your coupons in a folder and look at the website, which will tell you where the coupons are located for stuff you are going to buy anyway. When there is a screaming deal on something (whether from coupons, case lot sales, or a combination of coupons and sales) stock up on 6 months worth and make it last until the next big sale. You'll save on gas, not driving to the store as often for last minute things (where you end up throwing a couple extra things in as well while you're there), plus buying in bulk is often cheaper as well.

And while we're at it, eating out is killing our society. It's way too expensive and the food is not good for you at most restaurants. My family of 6 can eat for a week for how much one meal out costs.