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Saving Cash With A Coupon Coup

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 23, 2008

Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series about how Brandon area residents and businesses are coping with inflation, high gas prices and other effects of the nation's troubled economy.

BRANDON - In a pinch, Sarah Whitt might pull out a credit or debit card to make a purchase, but only if it means she will receive a discount for using her card.

Her currency of choice is coupons.

When necessary, she will toss in some change or use a gift card if her coupons don't cover the bill.

Whitt gets the gift cards in exchange for rebates or for transferring prescriptions from one pharmacy to another.

Nowadays, most rebates can be done online, and customers can request a gift card for the store instead of a rebate check, earning a 10 percent reward. And, to attract customers, pharmacies have been offering $25 gift cards to customers who transfer prescriptions from other drug stores.

Getting something for nothing is the ultimate reward for Whitt and fellow members of the Brandon Coupon Club, who meet monthly at the Bloomingdale Regional Library to clip and trade coupons, share money-saving tips and confide where to find the best bargains in town.

Whitt, a coupon collector for 25 years, said it has become a way of life for her.

"We hate to pay full price for anything," she said. "'Retail price' is a dirty word."

Brandon residents Linda Hanson and Juanita Sapp co-founded the club with a couple of money-conscious friends eight years ago at the Brandon Regional Library.

"I didn't really need to save money, but I hate wasting money," Hanson said. She volunteers for the Brandon Emergency Care Help Organization, a nonprofit organization that provides food and clothing to people facing emergency needs. There, she said, she has seen the value of a dollar to a mother who didn't have a penny to feed her children.

For years, the club attracted 10 to 12 members, mostly women. However, recently their numbers have doubled.

"We've had a lot more people during the last couple of months due to the economy," Hanson said. "I think people are really starting to think about where their money is going and how they can save."

The club members all invest in Sunday newspapers for their coupon supplements. What coupons they don't use for themselves, they bring to the meetings to share with fellow members. Whatever's left over, they give to the MacDill Family Resource Center in Brandon, which supports military families. The coupons are sent troops overseas because expired coupons are honored for six months for active-duty service personnel.

"We don't waste anything," Whitt said. "These coupons are like money to us."

Between meetings, club members communicate via e-mail, alerting each other to good deals they come across.

"I hate to buy anything without a coupon," said member Joan Daily. If she can't find a coupon in the newspapers, she searches the Internet, where a plethora of Web sites allow her to print coupons for just about anything she needs.

"There are some great Web sites, but I still clip coupons because sometimes the coupons in the paper are better deals," she said.

Skeptics often ask her if it's worth all the time and energy Daily puts into clipping and organizing her coupons.

Her answer: "I haven't spent any money on groceries yet this year."

How's that possible? After deducting coupon savings from her totals, Daily pays the amount due with credit card reward points or gift cards she earns transferring prescriptions from one pharmacy to another. She said drug stores have no problem with the frequent transfers.

Other members say they save an average of 75 percent on their grocery bills.

"We don't shop the traditional way," said longtime club member Adrienne Ashton, a coupon clipper since she was 18. "One day I might buy 10 bottles of shampoo or all canned goods. You stockpile while it's on sale. It's not a hobby so much as an addiction. It's a way of living for some of us."

Joan Poor added that there is nothing like the feeling of walking away from a store with a cart full of items that cost practically nothing.

"I once went into Macy's and, between the sales, the clearance items and the reward system for using the credit card, I walked away with $300 worth of clothes for $5," she said.

"You feel like you've beaten the system," Ashton said.

Although she's been clipping coupons for years, Patty Hughes decided to come to a club meeting to see what else she could do to save money. Carmen Chilson told her she can combine store coupons with manufacturers' coupons. Hanson informed her that Sweetbay accepts Publix coupons.

They all agreed that signing up for store reward cards is a major cost savings.

"It's so easy, I can't believe everyone doesn't do this," member Lisa Howell said.

But instead of taking advantage of cost savings tools, Ashton said people behind her in the checkout lane sigh impatiently when she gives the cashier coupons.

"Some people get really irritated, but then they get really curious when they hear how much I've saved," she said.

Others don't want anything to do with coupons. Ashton was in Best Buy and had a coupon for 12 percent off. She couldn't use it, so she offered it to a man purchasing a video camera. He turned her down. The coupon would have saved more than $50.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "I guess some people don't want to save money."

The coupon club meets at 2 p.m. the second Saturday of each month at the library. Meetings are free. Those attending should bring scissors and coupons they don't plan to use.

Call Hanson at (813) 689-9150 or e-mail love2save@ verizon.net.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Brandon Coupon Club
WHEN: Meetings are at 2 p.m. the second Saturday monthly

WHERE: Bloomingdale Regional Library
CONTACT: Call Linda Hanson at (813) 689-9150 or e-mail love2save@verizon.net.

GOT LEFTOVER COUPONS?

Unused or expired coupons can be donated to the MacDill Family Resource Center at 710 Oakfield Dr., Suite 153, Brandon. The center, which supports military families, sends coupons to troops overseas because even those that have expired are honored for six months for active-duty service personnel.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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