By Marci Laehr Tenuta
Journal Times | Posted: Thursday, December 18, 2008 12:00 am
Each Sunday in Racine County a growing number of scissor wielding savers can be found bent over the newspaper advertisements.
A clip, clip here and a clip, clip there … They are literally trimming unnecessary costs out of their budget. As money gets tighter and tighter for families, more people are turning to coupons as a way to put a little extra cash in their wallets.
Jan Phelps of Racine used coupons periodically in the past, but more recently she said she's become a full-fledged member of the coupon clipping club.
"Since the declining times, coupon clipping has become one of my past times," she said. "If I can save a buck or two, why not?"
Phelps said she used to sometimes clip coupons, but would often forget to use them. "Now that times have changed, I never forget the coupons that I've paper clipped together and put in my wallet," she said.
"My main reason for starting to use coupons is not only to save here and there, but as a consumer knowing that a buck or two off an item is a buck or two in my pocket," Phelps said.
Diane Rubel of Racine said she doesn't go to the store anymore without checking her coupons. "I don't think I ever buy anything that's full price anymore," she said.
Nearly four years ago, a fall changed her life. She broke her neck and was unable to continue her work at a dental lab. Rubel said she's now disabled, something she never anticipated.
Although she had been a coupon user before, she said she is now more vigilant about it.
A single lady, Rubel said she saves about $10 to $20 a week on groceries. "Sometimes it's even more," she said. "It depends on if the store is having a sale."
Rubel also scans the sale ads for whatever stores she needs to go to. She said if an item is on sale and you have a coupon, you can sometimes end up getting things for free.
Another trick, she said, is to watch for store coupons. Putting together a coupon for an item for Walmart, for example, and a manufacturer's coupon, gets you an incredible discount on things.
Rubel organizes her coupons by dividing them between food items and nonfood items. She keeps them together according to date, and puts them in a bag, with a piece of paper dividing the different types of coupons.
Richard Howe of Racine admits that he doesn't have a big grocery bill. He's single, retired and eats out a lot.
But he is a self-described common sense coupon clipper. "If there's something I use, I clip it out," he said. "It's just common sense. It saves you money."
Howe says he probably saves about $10 to $15 a month using coupons. A savvy shopper, he often waits to go to the store when they offer to double the worth of coupons or when the item he needs is on sale.
He said once at Walgreens he had a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon for something. The clerk ended up owing him 6 cents.
Serious savers
Dorothy Clark of Racine is so coupon savvy, she's actually won national contests for saving the most money in the grocery store.
In 1984 she entered Martin Sloane's nationwide coupon contest. To win, entrants had to have the most coupon deductions. Clark won by buying $1,448.74 worth of groceries and spending $108.08.
"My receipt was 53 feet long, with 32 feet 9 inches of coupon deductions," Clark said. "I was in the store for l5 hours, and I had 66 bags of groceries, along with cases of soaps and detergents. I even ate my lunch at the store. It was crazy."
Clark got to keep all the groceries and won the $100 contest prize.
"I just wanted the title of Smart Shopper of the Year, and knowing I could do it," Clark said. "Martin Sloane wrote me a letter, saying that nobody could probably beat this, and I think it was the last time he ran that contest."
She said she often wonders if she could do it again, but doesn't know what she would do with all the groceries. Back in the '80s, she and her late husband were raising their 10 children, but now she's in her 60s and only has one son at home.
"But I still use coupons to shop," Clark said.
Cathy Noonan of Caledonia also saves serious money when she goes to the store. On one of her recent trips to Kmart, she paid $58 for $112 worth of items. "The lady in front of me had the same kind of stuff as me," Noonan said. "She paid $60, but I had twice as much."
Noonan said on average she saves $30 to $40 at the store. Her secret?
She always looks for stuff that is 30, 40 or 50 percent off and then uses a coupon.
"You can find anything you need on the clearance rack," she said. "If you can't you can wait."
Longtime clippers
Susan Maxwell says she was taught to use a scissors by cutting coupons with her mother. Clipping to save has become a bond between mother and daughter that has lasted several decades.
"We often lived many states apart and I would always look forward to receiving bi-monthly greeting cards from her full of encouragement and coupons," Maxwell said. "We'd exchange stories about who saved the most that week."
Her mom is now in her late 70s and Maxwell is in her 50s. She keeps cards and coupons from her mother in her purse to this day.
"It's like a little love in my pocket," she said.
It's a tradition that has served her well and made life more enjoyable.
Maxwell said when she was working full time and had three small children, the money she saved on grocery coupons would pay for a half-hour of latte sipping freedom at the Barnes and Noble. "Often the only time to myself I'd have in an entire week," she said.
In addition to grocery coupons, Maxwell also uses restaurant coupons often. "I've saved hundreds of dollars for my finance and I eating out," she said. "We seldom are without at least a 20 percent off coupon."
Chris Holle of Racine said she's been clipping coupons since she was a kid.
"That was my way of helping out," she said.
It's a practice she's continued as an adult, with some good results. "I once saved over $100 in one trip," Holle said. "That was in April. That's still my proudest moment. (The bill) would have been $317, but it came down to $215. That food lasted me about a month and a half."
She said she doesn't do anything special, just clips coupons from the Sunday newspaper.
"On average I probably save like 30 to 40 bucks," Holle said. "A couple of times I've save so much that they had to call the supervisor over to allow it."
Holle said the trick is to wait for things to go on sale.
"People who study us shoppers say that we buy less if we don't go hungry to the grocery store, and if we plan what we are going to buy," said Patty Blakesley of Racine. "Coupon use is a built in plan."
Blakesley said she has been clipping coupons for decades. Her goal is to reduce her grocery bill by 5 to 10 percent a week. Her golden rule: "I never clip a coupon for an item I do not want, can not afford or do not need."
Coupon clipping advice
* All coupon experts agree the best way to use coupons is to combine them with other discounts including: sale items, on double coupon days at local stores, and with store coupons.
* Patty Blakesley recommends keeping a wallet of coupons in your purse or car so that you have the coupons with you while shopping. This will help you use the coupon by the expiration date, she said. "I hate throwing out a coupon I clipped because it expired."
* Don't buy products just because you have a coupon, the experts agree. There may be new things you would like to try, and that's OK. But buying a bunch of products you and your family will never use, just because you have a coupon is not saving money. It's a waste.
* Write out your grocery list in advance and note each item you have a coupon for. That way you won't forget to use it, Jan Phelps said.
* Divide your coupons by expiration date and type, Diane Rubel suggests. Keeping them organized will ensure that you use them before they expire.
* If you have a coupon and there is a sale, buy in bulk, Cathy Noonan suggests. If you have room to store extra toothpaste and toilet paper, you'll save money in the long run.