BOOK REVIEW: Let the ‘Coupon Mom’ slash your grocery bills

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January 19, 2010

By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Niagara Gazette Tue Jan 19, 2010, 11:05 AM EST

For about a year now, you’ve tightened your belt, hard. You’ve stretched your pennies until Abe screams. But careful personal tracking has shown that there’s room for financial improvement.

Take, for instance, your grocery bill. It takes up a good chunk of your household budget. You can live without vices and other cash-wasters, but eating is a habit you’ll never break. Yet, just like you’ve slashed other expenses, there’s got to be a way to save at the supermarket.

A good place to start is by reading “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half” by Stephanie Nelson. With this book in hand and a pair of scissors, you’ll bag a surprising amount of savings.

Even in a down economy, your time is worth something, right? So how would you like to make $400 an hour? Nelson said it’s possible. With just 15 minutes of effort, you can save $100 a week or more on your family’s food bill. But it’s going to take some groundwork.

First, Nelson said, know what kind of shopper you are. Busy shoppers barely have time to get to the store, much less plan. With this book, Busy shoppers will learn to save up to 25 percent.

Rookie shoppers are interested in saving and have a little more time to spare. More planning time means rookies can save up to 50 percent.

Varsity shoppers are the coupon world’s go-getters. They know how to use coupons and other methods to save on groceries. This book will fine-tune those skills and add others to the cash-off equation for savings of up to 70 percent.

Next, learn to efficiently track sales of your most-purchased items. As you’re tracking, ask about your favorite store’s policies on coupon redemption. Find out how to combine coupons, double your discounts and get free full-size products. Become a member of your store’s shoppers club. Never throw away coupon fliers, even if they’re not useful today. Sign up for helpful Web sites like couponmom.com or visit corporate Web sites often.

And really — never, ever shop on an empty stomach.

Although a lot of what you’ll find in “The Coupon Mom’s Guide” is common-sense stuff your mama should’ve told you, I liked this book.

I tried a few things Nelson mentioned — shopping at a drug store instead of a grocery store, for one — and I did save money. But there were things that weren’t fully addressed in this book, mainly what to slash when there is no major chain store nearby and no double discount days. Much of Nelson’s strategy assumes that stores’ policies are alike around the country, which is not usually the case.

Even so, I think this book (which includes helpful resources and dollar-stretching recipes) can teach shoppers to think differently when it comes to turning pennies-off coupons into dollar bills. For less than $20 — definitely not a budget-buster — “The Coupon Mom’s Guide” just makes sense.

Terri Schlichenmeyer is a freelance reviewer from LaCrosse, Wisc.

IF YOU READ

• WHAT: “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half”

• BY: Stephanie Nelson

• DETAILS: Published by Avery, 288 pages

• GRADE: B

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