MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Grocery shopper takes stock of her savings

Gerri Flint of Brocton, Mass., has been using grocery coupons since she got married 31 years ago, and she is an expert at playing The Great Grocery Game. "I got serious about coupons 15 years ago when supermarkets in my area began offering double coupon savings. Each week, I spend several hours clipping and filing coupons and matching coupons with store sales. I make up a coupon envelope for each store." Gerri shops several times each week, each time at a different supermarket. In addition to the coupon envelopes, she brings her shoebox full of more coupons. Her one big weekly stock-up trip is usually to Stop & amp; Shop or Shaw's. As you will see, Gerri doesn't have to make all these shopping trips. She rarely "needs" groceries. She does it because she plays The Game and loves it!
Gerri plays with lots of coupons. "I have a group of local friends who are also couponers, and we exchange coupons. I have other friends with whom I exchange coupons by mail. I send them envelopes full of coupons, and they send similar envelopes to me. I also have relatives who give me their unwanted coupons." Three years ago Gerri got a computer. The first thing she did was go on the Internet and search for grocery coupons. "Wow, it was unbelievable. I found them on eBay auctions. I found coupon clippers on Yahoo in the Coupon Co-op group. I also find coupons in the Rockin' Robin auctions." With dozens of coupons for the products she uses, when Gerri finds a bargain, she stocks up.
Reaching her goal
"At the start of this year my goal was saving $2,000. As of Nov. 15, my savings at just one supermarket, Stop & amp; Shop add up to $2,188. I am now trying to reach the $2,500 mark. I do believe I will be close.
"My great deal today was Butterball stuffing on sale for 99 cents. I had 40-cent Butterball coupons that the store doubled. I bought 60 boxes for just 19 cents each.
"I found Boboli pizza shells on sale for $1.99. I had 10 75-cent coupons that the store doubled. On each package was a "use now" coupon for $1 off soda with two Boboli purchases. My store had Pepsi 2-liters on sale for $1. So, for $4.90, I bought 10 pizza shells and received five 2-liter Pepsi-Colas, free!
"I recently bought 40 four-packs of Northern bath tissue on sale for 99 cents. I had Northern 50-cent coupons that the store doubled. They were all free and the register gave me a credit of 40 cents.
Gerri recently found cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes with mushrooms. With a buy one get one free offer, two cans cost 99 cents. I had Hunt's 35-cent coupons, and my store takes two on each "buy one, get one free." I bought 22 cans for $3.19.
Couldn't resist
Gerri's friends tease her about the 125 boxes of nine-count Brillo she purchased for 9 cents a box. "It was such a great deal, I just couldn't resist it."
If there are not enough packages on the shelf, Gerri asks for a rain check. Pillsbury cookies were on sale for $2, and she had 75-cent coupons that the store would double. But, the store was out of stock. At the customer service desk, she produced 25 Pillsbury coupons and was given a rain check for 25 at the sale price. A recent out-of-stock item resulted in her getting rain checks for three cases. She then went to the online auctions and bought all the coupons she needed.
"As you can see, when I find a great buy, I really stock up. Some people call my house a Stop & amp; Shop annex."
Gerri is a stocker, and she has the same problems many stockers have -- where to put it all. In fact, the "annex" is in various parts of Gerri's house.
Shelves have been built in several out-of-site locations. Because her stock of groceries is constantly increasing, she says she needs more. She is also looking for another freezer. Gerri points out that she often shares her stock of groceries with family and friends.
Each week Gerri Flint keeps score of her savings. Each week the money she saves on groceries is money in her pocket, available for other things. For Marie D'Errico, a school teacher in Schenectady, N.Y., keeping score is measured by the savings she places in her bank account. "I have been a couponer and refunder for almost 30 years," says Marie. "In 1974, I decided to set aside all the money I saved. Someday I would use it to buy something really special."
In 1974, Marie saved $25. In 1975, she saved $32. "Keep in mind that in those days coupons were just a nickel or a dime off. Each week, Marie clips the coupons out of the Sunday inserts. She shares coupons with friends. In the teacher's lunchroom at Draper Middle School, she helps maintain a big coupon exchange box. When Marie goes to the supermarket, she takes her coupons with her in a lunch box arranged by product categories. Her favorite supermarket is Price Chopper. "When Price Chopper offers triple coupons, I am really in my glory!"
Secret savings
Over the years, Marie took some of the coupon savings and invested it in interest-bearing certificates of deposit and mutual funds. "That helped my savings grow considerably," she says. A few years ago she decided on that something special she would purchase with her coupon money, and she kept it a secret.
Early in November, Marie used her coupon savings to buy it: a 2003 Cadillac DeVille! "The color is white diamond and it has a sunroof. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it in the dealer's showroom."
United Feature Syndicate