Thrifty in Louisiana

Welcome to Thrifty in Louisiana!  I am a stay at home-school mom living in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.  My husband is in the HVAC business (heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration,) so our income drops considerably in the cooler winter months.  I have learned to prepare ahead for this, stockpiling on good, shelf stable deals in the summertime and starting the winter with a full freezer.
I have always been quite cheap frugal.  But I haven’t really used coupons, because name brands are often more expensive than the generic brand by more than the value of the coupon.  (A 0.50 coupon on an item that is  0.75 more than the generic is pointless unless the name brand is far superior to the generic.)  This winter I discovered coupons combined with sales, and drug store deals, and have saved a large amount of money.  (During the fall/winter 2010 season I spent $15 at CVS, and saved $195+)
Blogs like moneysavingmom and krazycouponlady have helped me save a lot this winter.  But a lot of the deals (like double or triple coupons at Aldis and Kroger?!?) aren’t applicable to this area.  And there have been some great deals at Winn Dixie, LeBlanc’s, and Alberstons.  So, I decided to attempt to share some of the deals that I find.  Hope it helps somebody.