I have 4 sons, now grown. However, when they were young and sitting in the wagon, I found that good preparation was a tremendous time saver as well as a great money saver. Kids have a shorter attention span than adults, so getting in and out of the store quickly was extremely important. But I didn’t want to sacrifice my savings either. So began my system of shopping by categories.

Each aisle represented basically a new category for me. I prepared my list by these categories so I wouldn’t miss an item, a sale or a coupon. I easily reviewed each aisle as I strolled along with my boys and kept my coupons to the front of the organizer for ease of handling. When I got to the checkout, I didn’t fumble through the organizer. I had the coupons in the front and was ready for their redemption.

For 37 years since I started Supershopping, I have rarely ever bought a generic brand. I feel my system of coupon shopping, store sales and refunds have chopped the price of all my products below any generic brand.

Let me give you a few examples. Hunt’s Tomato Products were on sale: 4 for $5. or $1.25 per can. I had a coupon for $1 off 4, bringing my cost down to $1 per can. The store brand for the same size was $1.99 or twice the price per can. Next, Nature’s Own Apple Juice was sale-priced for 2/$3 or $1.50 per 64oz. bottle. The store brand was $2.49 per bottle. I saved $2. And last Angel Soft Toilet Tissue was $1 for the 4 roll pack. With my $1 coupon, my cost was $00. The store brand was $1.99 for the same size.

So using coupons is a big money-saving plus. Let me hear your stories. We can all learn from each other.

Stores have their busy and crowded times and then there are the off hours or less frequented times of the day. I prefer the less crowded times of the day or the less busy days of the week.

Tuesday has traditionally been a quiet day not only in supermarkets but in other retail outlets as well. That’s why many promotions are geared toward Tuesday, to try and bring in more traffic. Senior discounts almost always occur on Tuesdays. Evenings are usually good, and just after the school-day ends when parents are driving car-pools and helping kids with homework. Early mornings on the weekends prove to be quiet times too.

I prefer these hours since I can travel the supermarket more leisurely looking for ‘unadvertised specials’ and ‘specially marked packages’ a couponer’s delight. There are also less shopping cart collisions making the overall experience more pleasant. The checkout is less hurried and I can watch that the advertised specials are ringing up properly. In every shopping trip I scan my cash tape before leaving the store because there always seems to be an error. Even with new computerized registers sale items don’t necessarily appear.

Thus, whenever possible take advantage of these quieter shopping times and keep an eye on the register.

A great bonus to alert shoppers are Unadvertised Specials and Specially Marked Packages.

Let’s talk about unadvertised specials. Most sale items are outlined in the weekly store flyers. But sometimes, a supermarket may have an abundance of a product or received too much product and employs the ‘unadvertised special’ to promote the item. These are usually shown at the end of the aisle or in a prominently visible display. For me, and for the savvy shopper these are a great bonus. Since I always take all of my coupons along, I can easily sort through my organizer and match up a coupon to this super-special.

Next are the Specially Marked Packages. They vary and offer great savings at no additional cost.

• Products packaged with 25% more volume
• Items offering coupons on current or future purchases
• Full purchase price refunds on the purchase
• In-product promotions most common in the cereal and pet food aisles
• BOGOF: Buy One Get One Free pre-packaged items

So join the refunder’s bandwagon of savings, fun and alert shopping.