Joanie Demer - Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey: Learn Coupon Strategies to Save $1000s at the Grocery Store

LEARN COUPON STRATEGIES TO
$AVE $1,000s
AT THE GROCERY STORE!

JOANIE DEMER & HEATHER WHEELER

Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey
Learn Coupon Strategies to $AVE $1,000s at the Grocery Store!
2011 Joanie Demer & Heather Wheeler

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author.

Address all inquiries to:
The Krazy Coupon Lady
permissions@thekrazycouponlady.com

PickAnotherCheckOutLaneHoney.com
TheKrazyCouponLady.com

ISBN: 978-0-615-52517-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011919059

Editors: Kinsey Lindgren and Ruth Dunbar
Cartoonist: Hugo Camacho
Graphic Designer: Darlene Dion Design
Cover Art: Shiloh Schroeder, Fusion Creative Works
Author Photo: Melissa Niu [Framed Show]

Printed in United States of America

Second Edition

For additional copies visit: PickAnotherCheckOutLaneHoney.com

To our awesome kids, nothing brings us joy like you do, not even free detergent.
To our loving husbands, thanks for understanding
every time we disappear to the store for hours longer than promised.

To our parents, thanks for teaching us to work hard and be frugal, and for
never buying that pony we begged for after watching Wild Hearts Cant be Broken.

To our readers, thanks for your support and for checking TheKrazyCouponLady.com
more times in a day than you check your kids diaper.

Oprah and Donald, when this coupon thing catches on and
you want a private lesson, have your people call our people
and well see if we can squeeze you onto our calendar.

Are we the only people touting coupons as an easy way to save money? Are we deep-pocketed VIPs straight from the Ivy League who have uncovered some exclusive secret? Are we scarily smart or especially eloquent? Nope, nope, nope. Were just two motivated, hard-working, stay-at-home moms with a knack for saving piles of cash, here to offer you some tried and true tips that will change the way you do just about everything. The two of us have saved thousands of dollars by using coupons, and were ready to help you do the same for your family. Weve got this down to a science: an addicting, rewarding, entertaining science. In this book well share with you our experiences: sometimes awful, sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, so that you, too, can learn to enjoy paying mere pennies of the retail price on just about everything. Were bold, sassy, and ready to tell it like it is so youll be prepared for the real deal. Ready? With our help, youre about to save a ton of money.

Keep in mind, anything worthwhile takes effort. Think of couponing a little like surfing. Theres a definite learning curve, some new lingo to master, and a bit of practice before youre riding the waves like its second nature. You never just jump on your board, catch a wave, and bust out a few fat 360s. It takes some practice and a little work before youre enjoying the highs of those awesome rides. Youll never learn to surf waiting idly for the perfect wave to carry your lazy rump to shore. Youve got to paddle hard and catch the waves as they come. And so it is with couponing. To learn, youve got to jump right in and be willing to work hard. Be patient with yourself as you learn the coupon lingo, find the coupons, and crunch the numbers. After just a few shopping trips youll become competent, comfortable, and krazy as you enjoy the high from saving big. No need to be an expert math whiz or to spend every second of your free time with store ads and scissors. Our methods are simple and can be used by anyone willing to give it a whirl. If you have this book in hand, youre almost ready to go. First, simply commit to some steady paddling and a little hard work, and soon youll find yourself walking the aisles confidently, smiling as cashiers and people in line behind you gasp in amazement as your total plummets. Before you know it, these couponing methods will come naturally to you, and youll find yourself up at dawn, itching to go to the store for the next krazy bargain.

One word about the textthroughout this book, we will use I to refer to one of our particular experiences or to refer to experiences weve both had. With the exception of a couple of places where we refer to one of us in particular, the stories and savings we describe have typically happened to both of us. We decided to write as if we were one person because we want Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey to be a down-to-earth, personal book that makes you feel as though you are learning from a friend and actually in the grocery store shopping with us.

If you apply what we teach you, you will easily save at least 50% off your entire grocery bill each month. If youre interested in getting more for less in all aspects of your shopping life, lets do this. Ready to ride this krazy couponing wave with us? Here we go. Visualize success. Picture yourself coupon-confident, with all the skills and tools you need, proudly shopping those grocery aislesoh, and dont forget a pair of heels.

Frugally yours,

Heather and Joanie

Sometimes I wear high heels to the grocery store. I strut down the produce aisle and smile at the sharp clickety-clack they make on the cold, square tiles. My coupon binder weighs more than my firstborn (literally!), and it teeters precariously on my shopping cart. As I make my way through the grocery store, a sense of empowerment fills me. I feel comfortable and wiseat ease in this all too familiar place. I get closer to the checkout counter and an odd sort of excited anxiety swells within because Im about to check out with a basketful of groceries and pay just a few dollars. The grocery store has become my arena! Its where I work my magic. Its where I save my family hundreds of dollars a month. It holds the secret to my success.

With coupons, miracles really DO happen! Like the time I purchased a years worth of dishwasher detergent for the price of one box! Or the trip when the drugstore paid me $25 in rebates plus a free movie ticket for purchasing over $100 worth of name-brand products! And then there was the time I went shopping at the last minute for Halloween candy and realized I had left my wallet at home. With coupons, the $2.00 in change I scrounged from my car and an eight cent loan from a kind cashier, I toted over $20 of Halloween candy home with a smile on my face! And you know I paid that cashier back!

As a Krazy Coupon Lady, Ive discovered how to slash my grocery budget by 70-80%. I never pay for toothpaste, body wash or deodorant, (and NO, Im not smelly)! I never pay more than a dollar for a box of cereal. A quarter is all it costs for cake mix, shampoo, fruit snacks and pasta sauce. In fact, I sometimes go to the store and walk away with extra money in my pocket. Thats right. Ive made money shopping. Most recently on TLCs show, Extreme Couponing, I showed the world I could take a $600 grocery bill and walk out the door paying only $2. I had four basketfuls of food for only $2. Its all possible. I know because I do it every single time I go to the store. Okay, okay, if Im being completely honest, I dont usually save 99%. That trip was extreme, even for me! It would be unrealistic for me to expect results like that every trip! But Im completely proud and satisfied when my savings are right around 70%!