Thanks~

I keep signing up on their website using different names and addresses of my family etc. I love those coupons.. $3 off each can. I haven't seen them as often as I used to get them.

I used to be a Heinz ketchup snob but no more. One of our tastes have changed, whether it's Heinz or mine. I'll buy generic before Heinz now unless Heinz is much cheaper. And I don't use much ketchup anymore anyway so it doesn't make a difference. I tend to use BBQ sauce or steak sauce where I used to use ketchup and I have never been one to bury things in ketchup anyway. I mentioned to a few people I know that I didn't like Heinz anymore and they said basically they found the same thing. And then I saw America's Test Kitchen did a couple taste tests and the perennial victor, Heinz, lost the last couple times to Hunt's. Guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like it anymore. It's also interesting that Hunt's is cashing in on the corn syrup paranoia. I've been meaning to see what sales impact if any they can attribute to that aspect. For most other things I always look at store brand/generic first, then compare to name brand. There's one where I find real superiority and that's Green Giant canned vegetables. But the price is *so* much higher usually that it's not worth it to me. Occasionally though they'll go on sale if I happen to catch it. But I don't buy as much canned veg anymore either. Using more fresh and frozen. Although I still prefer canned corn to frozen. Most household cleaners however I seldom find store brand to be adequate. There I look for clearance, coupons and sales and that's quite often. Dish soap is Dawn or Joy only. I don't waste my time with anything else unless I use it for hand soap. I've bought the store brand "Magic Erasers" and they seem OK. Generic laundry detergents seldom do the job on real dirty stuff unless I doctor it up and that increases the cost so I might as well just use Tide Free. Bleach is bleach, baking soda is baking soda and all aspirin are alike to me. Speaking of aspirin, I found it interesting that the Target I was in this week only carries Bayer aspirin. No store brand anymore. And 100 count bottle was over $9! No way. I stopped at a Walgreens a day or two later and 100 count bottles were $1 each. Now for a quick rant: Since when did people become so stupid they'll pay $7 for 50 count of "low dose" aspirin? A female friend of mine is on that and I said why don't you just bite a regular aspirin in half and toss the remainder? Net cost of a penny per dose rather than 12¢-14¢ per dose. And since it's daily, it'll start to add up. $45-$50/yr savings there and if she cut them in half and used both halves you double the savings. End of rant. I am shopping Aldi more and more so there you get mostly store brands. For the most part they're just fine and usually much cheaper (but know your prices - they're not always cheaper). Paper products vary. Lately I've done well getting paper towels on clearance and put a $1 off coupon on it and have better product cheaper. I buy paper plates at Aldi. They're fine. Toilet paper? I used to be a Charmin snob but then for a while it was so dusty I quit, especially when the price went up. Now I usually buy the 1000 sheet rolls, usually Scott because they're so much cheaper than anything else and I'm pleased with the product. I buy them at about 25¢ - 50¢ per roll. That equates to about 5-7 rolls of any other brand. Won't find it any cheaper and it all goes down the toilet anyway. I haven't found store brand deodorants to work as well as name brand and with clearance and coupons I usually buy good brand names for under $1. I like foaming hand soap and the store brand is fine but there too I watch for clearance and it can be cheaper. With any of them you have to try them and see what you like or don't like. But you also have to be a savvy shopper because they're not always cheaper. Know your prices and compare sizes too. Size of items is ever-changing.

There are just two of us, and I don't even buy meat there, but I'm still very happy with my Costco membership. It's not just the price, although on some things the savings is amazing, but the quality of their products that makes membership worthwhile. We go through a pound of organic mesclun almost every week -- unbeatable at a price that has been between $4 and $5 over the past 18 months. We're lowcarbers, so we also go through a quart of heavy cream each week -- at several dollars less than supermarket prices (most recently less than $3 a quart). The savings from each of these by itself is more than the cost of the annual membership. Somewhat less frequently, we buy butter, eggs, standard and fancy cheeses -- it's the only place we've found Rosey goat cheese (rosemary coated aged goat cheese) -- and their big chunks of cheese actually keep longer than the same ones in smaller packages from Trader Joe's, so it's worthwhile for those cheeses we really love. We live in an area where we can't count on getting good avocados, so I appreciate their bargain price for Wholly Guacamole which I use as a base for my own recipe. And the wild Alaskan salmon burgers they carry are delicious and take less then ten minutes to prepare. Also nuts, pet food, paper goods, fresh flowers, gardening supplies, and the occasional electronic item or appliance. Then there's the savings from contact lenses and glasses, another cover-the-cost-of-the-membership if you need these things (and I think you do have to be a member). You don't to be a member to use their pharmacy, and their prices are great -- hopefully my insurance company appreciates it, but for me it's the convenience of a quick stop while I'm doing other shopping. And their gas is almost always cheaper than even the cheapest gas station around here, and we don't have to go out of our way. I rarely buy other frozen or nonperishable foods because of the quantities, or fresh fish -- it may only be this unit but their fillets have come complete with scales. The only Kirkland brand item that has disappointed us was their coffee, but that may well have been because of how long it took to use it rather than the quality when first opened. Of course, not everything is an incredible bargain. But for those who can't or don't want to take the trouble to cherry pick other stores' loss leaders, or to recognize when the size offered doesn't match their storage or usage needs, they're probably safer at Costco than other places, if only because of their great return policy.