Life's cheap....it's the groceries that are expensive.

The economy seems to be a black hole surrounding every working family in America today. I have noticed a recent barrage of grocer ads on the television, online, in the paper and even in my mailbox, all promising the lowest, cheapest prices. Double coupons, frequent shopper points and in store savings.
The one thing that I have noticed as I have shopped, is that most of the local grocers have not only raised prices, but they have limited the quantities of items on the shelves. Now, I have taken into consideration the cost of gas and shipping, but really, does a box of Kraft mac and cheese have to cost $1.50? Aldi's sells mac and cheese that tastes just as goof for $.39 a box. You can buy 10 boxes for $3.90 there, cereal costs 1.49-1.89 for the store brand. Kroger brand (and not the extra value) starts at $2.99, let's face it folks frosted flakes are frosted flakes, pour a them in a bowl, add milk and you would not know the difference.
Frequent shopper points: Shop with us and receive a point for every dollar and you will be able to use these for..blah...blah...blah. Ok, stores do this to bring in loyalty, great hook, I'm in, I have those little plastic key tags for every local store. These have become the electronic equivalent of the green stamp, but instead of pasting squares to a card, the purchases are saved and usually logged at the end of the receipt. Now, depending on the store, it can be a LONG time before you ever have enough points to make the purchases worth while. Some stores use the accrued dollar amount, such as a $10.00 coupon for every $150.00 spent. A pain. One of the best stores for coupons is Justice. This is a girls clothing chain, I signed up for emails and have received 40% coupons on a regular basis. This includes the ENTIRE purchase and sale items!!!! My daughter loves the clothing and lets face it 40% off makes a HUGE difference at the end of the register bill.

I would love to hear your opinions on store deals, register cards, frequents shopper cards and coupons. Your favorites and not so favorites.