The scoop on coupons: 'A huge money saver'

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and many families soon will be hosting out-of-town guests as relatives and friends visit to share in the season of thankfulness.

They’re also coming to share in a feast, and trips to the grocery store could become stressful as families shop for a much larger table crowd than normal.

One Mundelein mom won’t have to worry about cooking for a crowd. Tami Kondela is heading out of town to visit family for the holiday, but she does have tips on how to save at the grocery store, whether for Thanksgiving or general shopping.

Kondela doesn’t describe herself as an “extreme couponer,” but rather a smart shopper who takes advantage of deals available to the public. She used to spend $100 to $150 at the grocery store to feed her family of four. Now, with the help of coupons, she spends $60 to $70 for 30 to 50 percent savings.

Her ideas, plus tips from representatives at grocery chains Jewel-Osco and Dominick's, could help make a grocery trip a little less painful to the pocketbook.

Where to start

When it comes to couponing, shoppers first have to have coupons.

The Sunday newspaper is a good place to start, Kondela said. The easiest thing to do is have one delivered to your house, but if there is a particularly good insert, extra papers can be purchased at newsstands. Or, Menards sells the Sunday paper for just $1, she said.

Another place to look is online.

“I’m still scouring sites to find some of those deals that I may not have picked up on or hadn’t heard of,” Kondela said, noting that the easiest thing to do is make use of couponing sites available on the Internet. “Some people, it’s their job – it’s their full time job [to find deals]. They have coupon classes, they run their blogs – that’s what they do. They get essentially paid to do that. So, I’m going to make use of their tools.”

CouponTom.com is one of Kondela's favorite sites, because it's a database for coupons. Kondela can pick an item for which she needs a coupon – say, diapers for her nearly-2-year-old daughter, Eden – and see if there was a coupon in a recent newspaper insert or if there are coupons available online.
It's a great resource that keeps her from wasting time hunting for specific coupons, she said.

MashupMom.com is another great site because it details available deals on more than just grocery and pharmacy merchandise, Kondela said. Run by Rachel Singer Gordon, it even mentions deals available at department stores or online shopping sites like Amazon.com.

Kondela’s other favorite site is run by Jill Cataldo who helped start the couponing craze, Kondela said. Cataldo’s blog, www.supercouponing.com, is a great site for beginners because she explains how deals work and what the total price should be at the store after coupon discounts have been taken off, Kondela said.

"She'll lay out the deal for you," Kondela said. "So, if you're not really comfortable with perusing the inserts yourself and trying to put it together – is that really a good price or isn't it? – she's a really good place to start."

Have a game plan

When Kondela is ready to go grocery shopping, she makes a list of the items she needs, checks out a few coupon blogs to catch the latest deals, gathers her coupons and heads out the door.

But she also has a strategy in mind.

“I try to only go to one grocery store and one pharmacy a week,” she said. “I think at the beginning [of couponing], you want to chase every deal because there’s a good price there, good price there, but then you’re kind of defeating the purpose by driving all over tarnation and wasting the gas. It misses the boat.

“I kind of look at the big picture – who has the most deals on what I need and what I want?”

Shoppers should have an open mind, however, and not be afraid to try a new store that might have better deals, she said. While CVS and Walgreens often have the best offers for pharmacies, you can’t rule out Target and other stores.

People also shouldn’t be reluctant to gather a small “stash” of items they know they will use on a daily or weekly basis, Kondela said. Buying enough of an item to last two to three months is a good idea because prices cycle and coupons will become available again, she said.

"I got a lot of Cheez-Its this last time [I went shopping] because I was getting them anywhere from 75 cents to $1.25 a box, and a good price maybe is $2.50 a box," Kondela said. "But we eat them so much, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to buy eight boxes of them. I share them with my friends at school, in our team meetings – we're going to eat them."

It's not that hard

Kondela did note that trying to become a couponer before Thanksgiving could be a tall order. It takes a while to learn the difference between good and bad prices.

However, there are ways to save immediately at the grocery store, such as joining store programs like the Dominick’s Just 4 U program or using a Preferred Customer Card at Jewel-Osco.

The Just 4 U program gives customers access to hundreds of digital manufacture and Dominick’s-specific coupons, their own personalized site with savings directed at what they purchase often and weekly deals available only at J4U, said Lauri Sanders, director of public affairs for Dominick’s, in an email.

“Plus, [you get] access to Deal Match, where we match the hottest deals from Jewel and Target [fliers] every week,” Sanders said, noting customers also should use a Fresh Values card for additional savings. “Basically shop for Dominick’s, Jewel’s and Target’s hottest features every week all in one location.”

A new Dominick's iPhone app gives customers easy access to their J4U account, too, Sanders said.
Meanwhile, weekly specials can be found at www.jewelosco.com; exclusive coupon offers are available at www.facebook.com/jewelosco; and customers also can sign up to be notified through email about savings opportunities, said Karen May, external communications director for Jewel-Osco, in an email.

“In addition, we partner with key vendors throughout the year to offer seasonal booklets that contain coupon offers,” May said. “Our Thanksgiving Handbook, which is now in stores, offers coupons on holiday favorites ... and our Thanksgiving circular, which will run from Nov. 17 to Nov. 24, will be full of great values on many holiday favorites also.”

It’s also important to know that some of the “myths” about couponing aren’t myths at all, Kondela said – like the thought that it takes too much time and effort to coupon.

“You definitely have to organize a little more before you go shopping, and when you’re just getting started, it does take extra time, but once you get into the swing of it, I don’t feel it takes that much more time,” Kondela said. “Utilizing my resources and all the available blogs really helps a lot.”

Coupons aren’t just for junk food, either. Kondela – a vegetarian – said she has saved on produce by using some of the store programs. New items can even be offered to customers for free to entice them to buy that product in the future.

And just because you coupon doesn’t mean you’ll turn into a hoarder, she said.

“So many people use their couponing skills to stock up to donate to food pantries or to give to food drives at their kids’ schools,” Kondela said.  “I overdid it recently on boxes of Hamburger Helper because I was able to get them for 10 cents a box at Jewel. I kept what I thought we’d use before they expired – about 10 boxes – and then shared with my family and sent a whole bunch to the food pantry, too. If there is a great deal on an item that I won’t use, I will grab it anyway and pass it on to those in need.

“A lot of couponers do this.”