Frequently Asked Questions

I don't want to carry a giant coupon binder! What is the "clipless" method?

"Old school" couponers used to carry around a large, 3-ring binder filled with baseball card sheets. They'd spend hours cutting out every single coupon that arrived in the Sunday paper, sorting them, and filing them in the binder. More time was devoted to weeding out all of the unused, expired coupons. A coupon binder is an enormous time committment, and thankfully, there's a much better, easier, and faster way to coupon...

The "Clipless" method! With the Super-Couponing® system, you're only going to cut the coupons you need for this week's shopping trip, and the rest stay in the newspaper insert that they came in. This "clipless" system is designed to do just that... you will clip less! We file the insert intact each week, then use online tools to help track the sales, plan our shopping lists, and tell us exactly which coupons to cut for this week -- no more! This typically takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes per week, depending on the size of your shopping list. And... that's it! It's a small time committment that "pays" very well!

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How do I get things free with coupons?

Any time we can match a high-value coupon to a low sale price, we're taking the item home free! Here's an example from Dominick's, a Safeway store:

 

Cereal is on sale for .99. With a $1 coupon, it's FREE!

It's important to understand that the prices at the store are constantly cycling and rotating. A product that regularly sells for $2.99 may be on sale for half, or less than half of that price just a few weeks later. Super-Couponers learn how to know when those sales are coming, which coupons to use with them, and when the "best time" to buy a product is. (Free is, of course, our favorite price!)

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What is coupon "stacking?"

Coupon "stacking" refers to using one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon together on the same item. In this example, Kraft mayonnaise was on sale for $2 per jar at Meijer.

With a $1 manufacturer coupon stacked with a $1 store coupon, the mayonnaise was free! Both Super-Couponing DVD workshops feature numerous examples of coupon stacking.

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Will this teach me "Extreme Couponing" like I've seen on TV?

No. And if you've been following the TLC show, you may know that some of the shoppers' "techniques" for saving are both fraudulent and illegal. While the levels of savings depicted on TLC's reality show may be stunning to watch, here's what you unfortunately don't see on TV:

• Manufacturers have confirmed that a number of shoppers have used counterfeit coupons on the show. The winner of the "All-Stars" season utilized counterfeit coupons to win.
    
• A shopper admitted to the media that she committed coupon fraud on the show, using coupons for products that she did not buy.
    
• One store agreed to double coupons for the shopper on the show, even though the store has never doubled coupons for anyone else. Another store agreed to double $1 coupons during the show's taping... but only for that shopper.
    
• Several retailers have banned the show from filming. One chain issued a public apology to its shoppers after waiving its coupon policy for the shopper being filmed.
    
• An employee of the show's production crew posed as a customer on the show.

If you are trying to achieve the levels of savings depicted on Extreme Couponing, understand that some of these trips won’t be achievable unless the law is broken! Unfortunately, with the network, the shoppers, and in some cases the stores all turning a blind eye to the rules, it gives uninformed shoppers the impression that everything on this “reality” show is real.

More "Extreme Couponing" fraud stories in the media:
Augusta Chronicle: 'Extreme Couponing' courts controversy
Tampa Tribune: TLC show on couponing too good to be true?
Time.com: Are the Money-Saving Strategies on ‘Extreme Couponing’ Bogus?

 

The good news is that through using coupons correctly and legitimately, you can still cut your grocery bill in half with coupons... in as little as 30 minutes each week! Ready to get started?