Couponing columnist focuses on advantages of using coupons


By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

SALEM

Family circumstances led Rachel Krych into the world of couponing.

“I live, breathe and dream coupons,” she told a group of about 25 who attended a “Couponing with Rachel,” program recently at Salem Public Library, 821 E. State. St.

Married at 20, she and her husband spent the next eight years as a carefree couple with two incomes. Then their family expanded with the births of three sons in four years – all 10 and younger. She became a stay-at-home mom and realized couponing would help the family budget.

“I love to save money, and love helping other people save, too,” she said. Though the family income had changed, Krych said she saw how couponing would help the family of five “take vacations, go to the movies and do other fun things.”

Krych became so immersed in couponing that she created a website and Facebook page devoted to using coupons and deals offered by stores. The Elyria resident also writes a couponing column for The Chronicle-Telegram in Lorain County.

“You don’t have to be an extreme couponer to save money,” Krych said. “People in every socioeconomic level can coupon. Whether you are rich, poor or somewhere in between, they’re beneficial. ” (In a TV commercial, retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is shown browsing a supermarket aisle on a Sunday morning and as the cashier rings up his order, Manning fishes out a coupon.)

Krych said regular sources of coupons are Sunday newspapers (including The Vindicator), Smart Source monthly publication, P&G (only Procter and Gamble product coupons published monthly) and Red Plum that comes in newspapers and in the mail. Coupons are offered regularly, she said, with an exception being around Christmas.

Stores of all kinds take coupons, national or their own, but grocery stores are by far “the most-popular place” for using coupons, Krych said. “I think it’s fun to find ways to save money,” she said.

If you investigate, she continued, there also are deals and discounts for vacations, movies, amusement parks and restaurants. And, on her webiste, www.couponingwithrachel.com, there is a travel tab.

On her website, Krych lists sale items at Giant Eagle and matches them with available coupons. Her website also has a tab on coupons available online (two may be printed per computer), and offers at retail stores and restaurants.

Krych said she doesn’t “stockpile” products. That’s because she knows every four to six weeks, coupons are repeated.

She said if you do overbuy by using coupons, donate extra products to a food pantry, which can always use nonperishable food products, or an animal shelter that can use paper and cleaning products. “Share your good fortune,” she said.

The avid couponer also noted that at some grocery stories, catalinas print out as you check out. These are long strips of white paper with red printing and offer discounts on products. “Don’t toss them,” she advised.

Deana Rudy of Salem, who attended the presentation, said she’s “new to couponing” and wanted to learn something. “She had good information,” Rudy said.

Barb Cronin of Salineville, who has used coupons for 40 years, said there’s always new information to be learned. “I’ve saved thousands of dollars,” she said.