Around here, cats are included in the leash law too. Although it's a little silly, it's fair enough. The anti-cat forces are so paranoid about the cats "hypnotizing birds" and chasing the wildlife.... since to them dogs don't chase deer or the like, but I digress. I do have to interject here though. How on earth can you not include the cost of the store trips when you're making 6 special trips to the store each week??? I hate going to a store period, but more than once every month or two makes me nauseous! But let's be real, that's excessive. Now I grant that when accepted as it being a hobby which results in a savings, OK. But not everyone can save like that. I can't save by volume spending in the grocery category. $450/wk savings is impressive. But I don't spend 1/10th of that and frankly I doubt littlejo gets that every week, do you? And I have no idea what you're buying. I've gotten bargains and enjoy getting them. I'll use coupons when it makes sense. Again, buying a paper requires a substantial savings to offset it and if you have to drive more it costs more. I look at the cost of spending less on mileage to paying more at a closer store. Saying "I get the paper anyway" doesn't cut it either. You save more by not getting the paper. I automatically save $104/year by not getting the paper. So I'd have to have $10-20 worth of coupons coming out of there every trip to the store for it to break even for me! OK, I can drive around and collect coupons from places at 15¢/mile for gas alone. It'd take a large family to make a realistic savings in that manner. And buying store brands almost always is cheaper than name brands. If the quality isn't there, fine, don't buy it. But not all name brands are good quality either. I understand, appreciate and respect coupon use in a frugal and practical way. But buying things that you wouldn't normally buy is not a good deal and cannot be included in the purported savings. Getting a good deal and donating is admirable, but again, it's not a savings, it's an expense. So let's call it what it is. Again, I respect that it's going to a good cause. But I'd still caution that far more and I'd even suggest it exponentially more people will spend more with frequent coupon use than with occasional, seldom or no coupon use. I think stats will bear this out, though I have no stats to show it. Higher earners/better educated using more coupons is believable. That's the exact group that buys TV dinners, prepared box meals, and all other target profit groups. I would also suggest that their net coupon useage would be offset by making one scratch meal a week! Funny you should mention toothpaste. I have found that I like Colgate toothpaste. I'm not normally brand-loyal on much but using the Pepsodent and other cheapies resulted in browner teeth. Colgate works well and I like it. (Crest probably would work as well) Rainbow has it on sale several times a year for 99¢/tube for the large tubes. Buying two on sale, and at a time when I'm shopping rather than a special trip is better than buying a paper, clipping a coupon, sorting it, having it with me and using it. Ideally, if I had it with and used it with the sale, it would be better, but I don't know what the value would be and face it, offsetting $100+/year to get some coupons is not a frugal practice for me. I don't enjoy the hobby so I don't use it. I commend people who do, and do it right, but let's be realistic on what's being saved. Not including a number of extra trips, postage, paper costs... well, that's only fooling yourself. Having people save coupons, well, OK. But you're making more special trips, contrary to what many will say that they go there anyway, I don't believe it. There's still special trips. A better alternative to me is to join with those people and buy a bulk of something and split it. Make your own mini co-op. Then if one has coupons on it, it's logical for them to apply it. I know a guy who likes doing coupons. It's a hobby and acknowledged as one since he's retired. It can rationalize some expense when budgeted to recreational fund but down deep a person has to understand that a dollar spent is not a dollar saved. Example to ponder: I can buy a lamp on sale for $500, with a coupon for $200 which brings the price down to $300, they can double the coupon to $400 which brings it down to $100 plus tax. Or I can replace the light bulb in the one I have for $1 for a CFL and use that. One way I spent $1. The other way I "saved" $400. Which is the bargain? No intention at all to be a couponer basher. Just promoting common sense and approaching something with open eyes and an open mind, realizing the bottom line. I guess saving money is a different definition for each of us.

Hi Linda - I remember you from other Forums but can't remember which ones. I think I even responded to one. K-J is right, sometimes we are a bit rowdy but all in good taste. But as I'me getting older, I realize that the past generations really knew how to make the best of it and to have fun, even just with each other. My Mom retired from Howard University after 30 yrs and then became a member of the retirees organization. When she passed, the other members kind of took me under their wing. I had never had so much fun!! Now as I'm getting closer to that age, I've found that the fun things that "old" people do, are just that - FUN! We laugh here, and we cry here, but we also share here so that after we cry, we can all start having fun again - LOL. But I really luv these guys a lot! Glad to see you here too! gng

I miss the old style reporting, even though it was policy to be unbiased, their look at news was neutral, but biased by what the general culture approved and it was based on the event and not on the personality

Maybe you're the one who's not going to let this go, Anglo, whatever "this" is. I thought it was a discussion. I know the history of our free speech movement. I know what the Constitution says. It's protected speech whether it comes from extreme members of the left wing or extreme members of the right wing. So going back to the original question, safe spaces shouldn't be provided for either side when they don't like what they're hearing or reading. Homann and the commenters on Breitbart and the people who emailed Fox are whiny little snowflakes who can't handle harsh talk about whites so they forced the student paper to apologize, to give them a safe space where they didn't have to read such "baseless garbage". Hopefully they'll all grow up some day and get married and have a mortgage. And raise their kids to not be whiny snowflakes so the cycle doesn't repeat itself.