I love the Costco sampling on the weekend but I pay for it every time. Even if I manage to get away from the sample lady, DH will sneak it in the cart and when we get to check out, I'm always like "Hey, how did that get in there?" And I walk out of there spending way more than I planned.
I still spend way less than I did in 2006 when I first started this style of couponing but I spend more now than I did a couple years ago when the WAGs deals were hot and I fed the four of us (and all our cats) on 30.00 a week. And we ate well too ... shrimp and steaks and lamb chops from Jewel thanks to all those MM deals at WAGs. I sure miss that.
Like someone else said, I miss having extra to make food pantry donations. I used to donate bags of stuff every month or so. Instead, I made a donation this week (Ice Mt sparkling water, Dr. Pepper, and TGIF frozen dinners - the pantry ladies were really excited to see the frozen dinners!) and hadn't made one since December and probably won't make one again until summer when DH's garden has excess and we can donate that. I used to bring in HC soups and HH all the time but when the deals for those dried up, I wouldn't buy them anymore. It's too bad really ... I liked the idea of saving my money while helping others.