I've decided to go big or go home...

[Gardencook]

You did pretty well. I would have waited to for veggies to be a bit cheaper myself. I won't stock veggies unless it is $0.30-$0.25 a can...

Maybe where you live prices are higher though.

Prices vary greatly by region so you have to study your own area's pricing. We NEVER get veggies for 25 to 30 cents a can any longer. We've been paying about 50 cents a can for several years now -- and that is usually store brand, so you can't use Qs. Name brand veggies are higher, and if you use a Q, it still brings the price down around 50 cents.
A lot depends on how doubles work in your area. I got some cases of Del Monte veggies free several months ago at a store that accepted a few competitor doubler Qs. That store no longer accepts them though, so that will be the last time. The store with the doublers always sets prices considerably higher, so after double coupons, you are still doing well to pay 50 cents.
If you've got unlimited doubles you can land a lot more bargains than areas where they are limited. We have a single store that doubles up to $1, but you have to use a set of three doublers and only one set comes in a Sunday paper -- limit three doublers per transaction. That means you don't get many doublers to start with and you certainly don't want to "waste" them on Qs that are less than $1, so we rarely double anything less than $1.
One store has recently started doubling coupons up to 50 cents on a rare occasion, but the doubles aren't announced until a day or so before so you can't plan for them and it is the store that didn't bother to stock my beans until AFTER the doublers. Since it was a one month sale, I saw it on a shelf tag. When it isn't in the ad, they won't give a raincheck.

The weevils come WITH the food? Aye, aye, aye, I did not know that. I thought they just came into the stockpile from outside. Well, I'm putting the cereal into the freezer now!

My mom once got up into the spice cupboard and pulled out a can that had been there for awhile. (Those were the days when metal cans of spices were being phased out.) She found nothing but bugs in her paprika container! They had eaten all the spice. Since it was a metal can, there was no way for them to get there from the outside. The eggs must have been in the can when she bought the spice.

[Gardencook]

GardenCook, why oh why do stores pull that stunt? I expect empty shelves from Wal-Mart and the drugstores, but the local supermarkets should stock what they advertise! I am glad that there are tons of stores near my home and work. There is not a lot of driving involved. Otherwise, I would. go. crazy. with the cleared shelves.

Our problem is lack of competition and small stores. Our stores are NOT big enough for our population, so we are stuck driving to neighboring towns to shop in the same chains we have here. Then the corporations won't build bigger stores, because sales are so low here... a vicious cycle!
Besides that, customer service is really poor here and employees often couldn't care less. It is much easier to argue with customers than honor a sale. Even if you can "land" a raincheck, it does you little good when the store refuses to get the merchandise because the store is "too small!"

Ugh, I will check for bugs! *shudder* I guess I will do it as part of the weekly "big" kitchen cleaning I do? Any other tips for storing cereal, pasta, and other grains? .

I've heard that bay leaves spread on the shelves are supposed to deter them, but I've never tried it. Seemed like it woud be a hassle to have to pick up all those leaves, every time I wanted to run a cleaning cloth over the shelf.
Borax around the cracks is supposed to deter roaches, but I've never lived in a region where we fight roaches, so have never had to try it.
I've gone to using cheap plastic baskets in all my cupboards. That way you can pull out the basket to find things, and items are less likely to get pushed to the back and forgotten. It really helps organize things. You can clean under the baskets easily and if you are short on time, you can pull everything out of one basket and clean it, then set it back and clean another basket on a different day.

The fryers were 99 cents/pound. My Wal-Mart was about $1.30.

You might keep an eye out of pull-date chicken at a reduced price when you are shopping. We eat a lot of chicken thighs, because there is so much meat on them and we can find them reduced to a much better price than whole chickens.
Whole chickens freeze pretty well the way you bring them home, but if you buy meat on styrofoam trays, it is always best to take them off the tray and move them to freezer bags for long-term freezing. There is way too much air with the styrofoam packs and freezer burn becomes a problem.
If you buy chicken parts, freezing them with a marinade or broth will help deter freezer burn, as well. The less opportunity air has of reaching the meat, the better.
Make sure to push out all the air you can or use the freezer bags with a pump to remove the excess air. LOVE those things and you don't have to have an appliance on the counter like with a Food Saver.

[JulieDB]

My mom once got up into the spice cupboard and pulled out a can that had been there for awhile. (Those were the days when metal cans of spices were being phased out.) She found nothing but bugs in her paprika container! They had eaten all the spice. Since it was a metal can, there was no way for them to get there from the outside. The eggs must have been in the can when she bought the spice. [/QUOTE]

I had that happen. I had moved into a house with a roommate and our landlord stayed there once a week. The landlord had some spices and things in the house.

I made deviled eggs for a potluck at work and had no paprika to put on top so I used his. Also in a metal can. It didn't look right when it came out. So I called a friend to come look. He said, "I don't know what they are, but they have legs!" Eek!

I wound up buying a sausage and cheese to take to the potluck.

[RubyRed]

You guys are awesome. Thanks!!!

Uh, JulieDB, deviled eggs are my go-to dish to make for potlucks. I'll never look at them the same again. LOL!