How picky are you about expiration dates?

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Are you the type who watches the milk like a hawk, and as soon as that expiration date starts creeping closer, you get rid of it? Or do you push it a bit past the date, as long as there are no lumps? I tend to fall into that second category. I keep my refirdgerator pretty cold and I feel it keeps the milk better. I've used milk that was a week and a half past the date. And if it hasn't been opened, I can push it even further!! (I would never have un-opened milk that long, but a friend had some, so I drank it for her). That flovored coffee creamer from International Delights, of CoffeeMate will last months after the date. I think I went up to 3 months past, but then there were clumps in it. They didn't effect the taste, but I have a mental block against lumps floating in my coffee, so I had to toss it. I think the best example I have is packaged sausage. I had a package of that long Koblasa sausage (or something like that) that I had in my refridgerator. (It NEVER made it to the freezer) I had it for quite a while, then found it pushed to the back of a bottom shelf one day. I decided to have some. It was an unopened package, so I figured it would be okay. So I ate it. It tasted fine, I didn't get sick or anything. But the expiration date was July (This was in Aug)... of the previous YEAR!! So it had been expired for OVER a YEAR in the refridgerator and it was still good!! No telling how long it had actually been there before expiring! I also have a box of popcorn in my pantry. It's plain, so I have to be pretty desparate to eat it. It's one of those family sizeed boxes with 15 packages. It expired Sept of 1999. But it still pops up the same and still tastes fresh when popped... so I see no reason to toss it. There are only 2 packages left, so they will get eatten eventually. I have even used some Hamburger Helper that were a few years old, they are fine too. So what about you?