In 2009 I did a TV show in Washington DC, with Kris Van Cleave, which was later picked up by CNN. Apparently, Matt Sharp an executive producer at Sharp Entertainment saw the show and came up with the idea for the Extreme Couponing show on TLC.

From the NY Times 12/27/2011 written by Brian Stelter:

“The show’s formation follows the recent timeline of the economy. After the financial collapse in 2008, as American households cut back on spending in the recession, a few television stations and newspapers ran features about fanatical coupon cutters. Some were professionals, like Susan Samtur, who had been writing books and articles about couponing for decades and whose pointers were suddenly back in vogue.

“Her weekly grocery bill you’ll have to see to believe,” said Kris Van Cleave of WJLA, a Washington-area TV station, when he interviewed Ms. Samtur in April 2009. With her coupons and rebates filed by category, she saved $144.11 on a trip with Mr. Van Cleave, paying just $9.43 for a week’s worth of groceries.

CNN picked up the WJLA report, and Mr. Sharp sent the video to a colleague at his production company, Sharp Entertainment. “There’s a show here,” Mr. Sharp wrote in an e-mail. “Something in EXTREME CHEAPLIVING.”

Check out the NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/arts/television/extreme-couponing-all-stars-and-extreme-cheapskates-on-tlc.html?ref=brianstelter

Inmar, the nation’s leading promotion transaction settlement provider, reported that annual coupon use is on the rise for the first time since 1992 and coupon distribution hit the highest level recorded since the company began tracking trends in 1988. For the first time in 17 years, consumers used more coupons than they did the year before, with 3.3 billion consumer packaged goods coupons redeemed, an explosive 27% increase over the 2.6 billion redeemed in 2008.

The rise in coupon use started in October of 2008, coinciding with news of the U.S. financial crisis. That has led to five double-digit growth (based on percentage change from the same period of the previous year).

The increase in redemption goes hand-in-hand with an increase in distribution. Despite the tight economy, marketers invested heavily in coupons, boosting the number available to the highest level in over 30 years.

Online coupons also contributed to the rise in coupon distribution and redemption, with Internet distribution up 92% and consumer redemption of these coupons up over 360%.

With this news it’s a great time to be a consumer with coupons filling not only our supermarket basket but also our other retail purchases. For over 125 free printable and digital coupons and coupon codes go to my site www.couponqueen.com.

Lately a lot of attention has been given to Extreme Couponing. This is exactly the way it sounds, couponing taken to the extreme.

It’s not like buying 4 boxes of cereal because they’re on sale 4/$6. It’s like buying 40 or 80 boxes because of the sale; or toothpaste on sale for $1.49 and buying 2 tubes, it’s buying 100 tubes. Of course each purchase would also have the additional coupon savings, bringing the cost way down.

The situation is that some folks have 1000 tubes of toothpaste, or 1400 rolls of toilet paper, or enough detergent for 20,000 wash loads of clothes. Where are all of these items stored and is freshness ever compromised?

I live in comfortable-size home and at times I do buy in quantity. For example, 5 cans of tuna for $4. I bought 10 cans, or 4-12 packs of Coke for $10. Combined, in addition, with my coupons naturally. I’m able to store these and use them easily within the printed dates

My feelings are that everything should be in moderation. And perhaps more important is that these sales constantly repeat themselves so there’s no reason to stock up just for the sake of it.

There are always items on sale, and with 350 billion coupons being issued yearly, coupons readily available. My advise, buy what you need on sale and with a coupon, but buy that quantity that fits the size of your home and use.

For over 100 free printable and digital coupons go to my www.couponqueen.com site.

One of the longest running promotions is the Labels for Education and Box Tops for Education programs.

General Mills runs the Box Tops for Education. They have donated hundreds of millions of dollars since 1996 to purchase new books, computers, playground equipment and much much more. Last year alone, they donated $49 million. There are now 330 participating General Mills products.

For more information and to start collecting for your school go to: www.boxtops4education.com.

The other great program is Labels for Education sponsored by Campbells. Once again hundreds of products are accepted for the promotion.

For more information go to: www.labelsforeducation.com

As a matter of fact there are bonus offers from Campbell’s Labels For Education (LFE) program, to help your school earn Bonus points. Now through May 31st, your school can receive one bonus point for each UPC submitted! Start collecting today to help your kid’s school reach their goal! Learn more at http://www.labelsforeducation.com/earn/bonus-offers.aspx?EID=4468&MID=3461418&LID=3767

As of late I’ve been finding more refund offers inside the store. Kelloggs has long been one of my favorite companies. Their web site offers many in/on package refunds as well as printable offers on their site. A few of my favorite are the full purchase price refunds found on Corn Flakes: Simply Cinammon, Cinabbon and now Fiber Plus. We refunders call these ‘Specially Marked Packages’ . In each case you receive the full purchase price of the cereal. It makes it a good time to try new, improved or in the case of Corn Flakes, a different variety of the item.

Seasons and events will of course dictate new offers. At least ½ dozen different beer companies: Miller, Coors, Budweiser have refunds of up to $15. back to inaugurate football season and tailgating. Check near these products for the mail-in offers. In the few refunds I found, very little was required to receive your refund.

In the October 2010 issue of Consumer Reports a study was conducted on the quality, value and taste differences between store brands and national brands. The results were quite interesting and surprising.

I have always touted using National Brands when they are sale-priced combined with a coupon savings. This has given me a 50-60% savings each and every time I shop. So here’s what Consumer’s found. They used 21 test items for taste and quality. Of the 21, 7 National Brands came in first, 3 Private Labels were the favorites and the other 11 items were a tossup. On the value scale, Consumer’s concluded that Private labels could save up to 30% or $1500 over the year.

To put this in perspective, if you never use a coupon, Private Labels might be for you. However, the best way to save is to combine many methods: Store Sale, coupons, double coupons, private labels, store coupons and any other tool that saves. All of this should take a common sense approach and you’ll achieve the best methods for you.

Coupons as we have already determined are a great source of savings and is one of the most powerful marketing tools, if not the most powerful. Retail stores have come to realize this and are issuing coupons in record numbers. Every event, season or opportunity brings a whole array of retail coupons.

On a given Sunday, I’ll find upwards of 6 or 7 coupons inserted or printed in my newspaper. Some are mailed directly to my home. Clothing and department stores are among the tops: Bloomingdales, Macys, Kohl’s, Lord & Taylor, have a steady stream of sales and coupons. Old Navy, Banana Republic, and The Gap (all under the same umbrella) have coupons as well as a loyalty program. These include a registration process for your register receipt that nets you an extra 10% off your next total purchase. Last year during the holidays, I got 3 extra $5 coupons good on any purchase.

Stationery and office supply stores offer coupon savings, dollar days, loyalty programs and an entire rebate center. Sign up for the programs is easy and secure, and once you’re signed up your savings begin. I’ve been receiving $25 off a $75 purchase at Staples on a regular basis. Each time I use the coupon, I’m mailed a new one.

Other retail outlets include: Golfsmith, Brookstone, Bye Bye Baby, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace, Truvalue, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical and Bed Bath & Beyond. In all of these cases you can and should buy the product when it’s on sale and then use the coupon. With Bed, Bath & Beyond they not only offer coupons but have a rebate sheet found behind the courtesy desk. Combine both the coupon and rebate for a fabulous savings.

One of the first refund offers I sent away for was Lipton Cup of Soup. I found the certificate or the write up in a local store. Today, I still find some of these on tear-off pads usually near the product itself or as a write up on the package.

These write-ups are most commonly found on cereal boxes, cookie wrappers, household cleaners and pet food. In refunders’ jargon we call them Specially Marked Packages. Kelloggs, Keebler, Hersheys and General Mills are among the most popular for these unique boxes.

A very big portion of rebates are now found on the internet. These range from rebates submitted directly online or more often where you can print out the necessary form.
I love the internet submissions because it’s easy and nothing to send off. Staples is popular for these easy-rebates as is Rite Aid.

But many other great offers are found on the company web sites under promotions or special offers. I always check that link to see what’s new. As a matter of fact, I daily postings are made to our www.couponqueen.com website so you can see all the new and current offers.

For anyone who sends me an email at: susan@refundlebundle.com I’ll send you a list of 100 plus refund offers to get you started.

Cyber Monday. The Monday following black Friday is infamous for fantastic online deals. Everything from Flat Panel LCD TV’s, Appliances, Video Games, Clothes, Cosmetics, Jewelry and much more.

Some experts estimate that it is one of the biggest shopping days of the year!

To get the holiday season started right, I have included just a few of the amazing deals.

Walmart:

Electronics and Gaming:
• Philips 8GB Vibe MP3 Video Player – $39.98
• Garmin Nuvi 295W 3.5″ Portable GPS – $89
• Viore 24″ Class LED-LCD HDTV – $199
• HP Mini 210 Netbook PC – $318
• Sony PlayStation 3 Entertainment Value Bundle (includes PS3 160GB console, choice of 2 games, choice of Blu-ray movie and Sony Blu-ray remote) – $388
• Element 42″ Class LED-LCD HDTV – $499
• HP 17.3″ DV7 Laptop PC – $578

Toys:
• Hot Wheels Turbo Town Mega Garage Playset (includes five ramps, working car elevator and two car launchers)- $29
• VTech MobiGo Touch Learning Game Bundle (includes Toy Story 3 Bonus Software Cartridge) – $49.97

Cameras and Personalized Gifts:
• FujiFilm Digital Camera Bundle (includes camera case, 4GB SD card and 100 4″ x 6″ prints from Walmart One Hour Photo) – $89
• Kodak Easyshare Digital Camera – $199
• Personalized Photo Christmas Stockings with a bonus stocking holder – $10
Source: examiner.com

• Target:  http://prod.beta.mtw.target.sf.akqa.com/cybermondaysignup
• Best Buy:  http://www.bestbuy.com/site/null/null/pcmcat197800050000.c?id=pcmcat197800050000
• Amazon.com:   http://www.amazon.com/Black-Friday-After-Thanksgiving-Sale/b?ie=UTF8&node=384082011
• Home depot: http://ext.homedepot.com/community/blog/home-decorators-collection-10-days-of-deals-now-through-cyber-monday/
• Dell:  http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/cyber-monday?c=us&l=en&cs=19
• Toys R us:  http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3912217
• Buy.com:  http://www.buy.com/specialty_store_6b/black-friday-thanksgiving-deals/63214.html

Here are some additional sites you might want to take a look at:

• Bradsdeals.com
• Mycoupons.com
• Shopathome.com
• Dealcatcher.com
• Fatwallet.com
• Dealio.com

Happy shopping!

Did you know that 70% of all stationery supplies are purchased during the Back to School season.

Think of all the students and teachers returning to school and the needed pads, pencils, notebooks, backpacks and other related equipment.

Manufacturers take great advantage of this season to promote their products with sales, coupons and refunds.

I found some of the greatest deals at Staples for $.01 for pens, pencils, sharpeners, rulers and such. Great deals on packages that have a BOGOF on pens, erasers, glue sticks, and filler paper. The most fun are the cash rebates that come along with these specially marked packages.

So enjoy the season, save some money and make a little too. Try the stationers sites for special deals: www.officedepot.com and www.staples.com.