I use coupons only for things I use regularly - mostly things like handlotion, soap, toilet paper/paper towels, cleaning items, etc. Very few times do I find coupons for food items, and mostly then just things like tomato sauce, vinegar, mayonnaise (but not if it has high fructose corn syrup in it), yogurt, butter, milk. I find myself shopping more and more at farmers' markets. Since I don't use boxed/prepared foods and junk foods, coupons don't play that big a role for me. But I do try to take advantage of specials, which aren't quite as "special" as they used to be. Some stores here used to offer double and even triple value for coupons, but that ended a while back. If you coupon a lot, check online and see if there are coupons available for what you're going to buy. Sometimes even individual grocery stores have their own downloadable coupons online, and many have in-store coupons available.