No. 6 Extreme Couponing

Shannon Shaffer takes five hours to plan her shopping trips and another two to complete them. The long hours are worth it. She has cut the weekly shopping budget for her family of three from $250 to $50. In 2009, consumers saved $3.5 billion redeeming 3.3 billion coupons–a 27% leap from 2008. “When the financial markets collapsed, people suddenly became very interested in coupons,” says Todd Hale, senior VP of consumer and shopper insights at the Nielsen Co. What started out as a cost-saving measure has spiraled into a craze, thanks in part to TLC’s Extreme Couponing; housewives have been seen stealing newspapers and dumpster diving in pursuit of good deals. Shaffer, who runs a couponing site called For the Mommas, says any family can use coupons to reduce their tab by 25% to 50%. “I can’t figure out why people wouldn’t,” she says.

1 TONY’S PIZZA

Using manufacturer’s coupons, Shaffer was able to get 13 frozen pizzas, originally $2.89 each, for free. Packaged processed foods like these are often the easiest items to find huge discounts on.

2 DRISCOLL’S STRAWBERRIES

While perusing the aisles, Shaffer noticed an in-store deal in which shoppers could instantly get $3 back for every seven produce items purchased. It wasn’t a huge discount, but she used it to pick up healthy foods like a pint of strawberries for $2.99.

3 EGGLAND’S BEST EGGS

A dozen Eggland’s Best eggs usually go for $2.45, but Shaffer paid only $1. To get the discount, she paired a manufacturer’s coupon with an in-store–a common method extreme couponers use to get large savings. “Shopping is like poker,” she says. “You have to know when to hold and when to strike.”

4 MUSHROOMS

Saving money is not without its costs. Shaffer says she used to buy whatever she wanted. Now she has to stick to store brands and what’s on sale. “I’m not going to lie and say you don’t make sacrifices,” she says. “I used to buy filet mignon. Now I buy ground beef.”

5 VIVA PAPER TOWELS

Shaffer got four rolls of paper towels for free. The drawback: the more you buy, the more you use. “Coupon enthusiasts are big users,” says Nielsen’s Todd Hale. “They purchase a lot with the idea that they will take a long time to use them, but you use products much faster if you have many on hand.”

6 CHIPS AHOY! COOKIES

The majority of couponers are–like Shaffer, 35–women 34 to 44 years old. Shaffer sometimes uses coupons to get treats for her son, for whom she quit her job. She says couponing has helped her fill the hole left in the family budget when she stopped working.

7 SUAVE BODY WASH

According to Inmar, a coupon processor that issues an annual report on coupon usage, nonfood items, like this Suave body wash that Shaffer got for free, accounted for 35% of the 3.3 billion coupons redeemed in 2010.

8 KRAFT SALAD DRESSING

A coupon took $1 off the price of this salad dressing. The stigma attached to clipping coupons has faded. More than half of coupon users are from households with annual incomes above $50,000, and 23% make more than $100,000.

9 HOT DOGS

Shaffer got these hot dogs, originally $3.19 a pack, for 60¢. She also got two packages of chicken breasts for the price of one. But meat is not always easy to find discounts on. “If you want hamburger but you don’t have any left and it’s not on sale, you’re having chicken,” she says.

10 HONEST ADE

Nonperishable items, such as this fruit-flavored drink as well as household products, will end up in Shaffer’s stockpile, which she estimates has a retail value of $2,500. She houses the products in a spare room and says her family could live off it for four months.

11 KRAFT SHREDDED CHEESE

This package of cheese should have cost $3.29, but Shaffer picked it up for nothing. While dairy products are among the harder items to coupon, she got good deals on two types of cheese, coffee creamer and yogurt.

12 STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS

Shaffer doesn’t like her son to have sugary snacks, so she planned to give away these Pop-Tarts, which she snagged at no cost. Many couponers donate to charity much of what they get for free but cannot use.

13 DRISCOLL’S BLUEBERRIES

According to Inmar, on average, Americans were offered $1,677 per person in coupon savings last year; however, they took advantage of only $10.57 each.

14 LOW-FAT MILK

It was time for a second cart when Shaffer picked up six gallons of milk, all free (a savings of $3.96 per gallon). She planned to freeze some and give some to her mom and sister, since her family couldn’t drink all of it quickly enough.

15 ORAL-B TOOTH-BRUSHES

Toothbrushes are one of the things that extreme couponers say they never pay for–along with toothpaste, shampoo, razors and deodorant. The only catch is that you cannot be brand-loyal.

16 CARROTS

Vegetables were among the five most commonly couponed items in 2010, according to the digital coupon issuer CouponsInc.com The other four were ready-to-eat cereal, yogurt, refrigerated dough and portable snacks.