Couponing 'just different way of shopping'

When Jill Cataldo presents a workshop in Yuma on how people can save significant dollars on their grocery bills, she will have an international audience.

A French news crew will be in Yuma while Cataldo is here to interview her and film some footage from her workshop Nov. 10. The interview and workshop footage are for a program being produced for France's largest television news provider on the couponing phenomenon in America.

And what better source than the “Coupon Queen” herself?

It will be her first appearance in European news, Cataldo said during a recent telephone interview.

It's also an indication of how her new career “has taken off like a rocket.”

Cataldo said she had always used coupons but got really serious about it when she found she was expecting her third child in 2007 and faced the prospects of having two boys in diapers.

“It started out of necessity. It was really about diapers at first. Then it extended to other groceries.”

Cataldo said she saves upwards of $10,000 a year on groceries for her family of five through what she has learned about couponing and cycles of store sales, but she remains modest about the process.

“There's no surprise to what I do. I could take credit for being brilliant, but there's no magic to it. It's just a different way of shopping.”

She began using the Internet to track store sales, finding that grocery stores have cycles during which the price of a product can vary substantially. Websites are available that match coupons to the best sales and from that she puts together her shopping list for the week.

“It takes maybe 30 to 50 minutes a week to review the spreadsheets for a major grocery stores and clip the coupons. It's fun to do and it doesn't take a lot of time. But it does change the way you think about shopping.”

The payoff is the savings on groceries that can mount up, she said. For example, the price of a jar of pasta sauce might vary from 99 cents to more than $2 during a 12-week cycle. By buying it at 99 cents and using a coupon for 49 cents, she gets it half price; double couponing means she gets it for free. If she intends to serve pasta once a week, she gets 12 jars, but then doesn't buy it again for three months.

“I'm buying to stock my pantry, not what I need or want at the moment.

“It's not totally about couponing. Prices fluctuate greatly from week to week. You can save substantially just by buying at the low end of the cycle.”

In 2008, Cataldo was invited to share what she had learned during a workshop at her community's library and thought maybe it would draw 20 or 30 people; 168 signed up.

Soon Cataldo was sharing what she's learned with others through blogs, workshops, TV appearances and her nationally syndicated newspaper column, “Super-Couponing Tips,” published in the Yuma Sun on Mondays.

Cataldo recalled that when she first started writing her column, she was offered $5 a week. Now in her third year, more than 130 newspapers carry “Super-Couponing Tips” with an estimated 20 million weekly readers.

It's those readers who inspire her each week, she said. “I get a thousand emails on a slow week. I get so many questions. There's a steady stream of material to the amazement of the syndicator. I'm called the ‘Dear Abby with coupons.'”

And she doesn't expect it to slow down. Even when the economy recovers, she said, she figures people will be so pleased by the money they can save, it will become a permanent way of life.

Cataldo related a story about a family of five who attended her first workshop. Due to a job loss, for five months the family had been eating out of a food pantry where Cataldo volunteered.

Three months later, they were back and told Cataldo that by the first month, they no longer were dependent on the food pantry and by the second month were able to take food to the pantry.

After hearing that story, “I was in the parking lot crying. It's incredible how things can change.”

Through the sponsorship of the Yuma Sun, Cataldo will present a couponing workshop in Yuma on Nov. 10 at the Gila Ridge High School auditorium, 7150 E. 24th St. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and Cataldo will begin her presentation at 6:30 p.m.

Advance tickets are available at the Yuma Sun, 2055 S. Arizona Ave. Cost is $15 for VIP seats, $12 for premium seats and $10 for general seating. For more information, visit yumasun.com/couponevent.

Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.