BUT! I need dog food and it isn't on sale!! ARGH!

No need to be frustrated. There will be times that you need an item that is not on sale. This will happen more often while you are building a stockpile.

What you need to do is utilize the Coupon Database. Type in the item you need, for example Dog Food. You could even type in a brand name. For example, Alpo. If there are coupons available anywhere for that item, they will be listed in the forum. Then, at the VERY LEAST, you can purchase the item at full price and use a coupon on that item.

I am SUPER DUPER excited about this database. Sometimes there are things I forget to buy when I'm focusing on all these sales and I am happy to know that I have this database to help me out!