Learn how to save big bucks on your groceries.
Just a year ago, Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee were two Kansas City, Mo., moms struggling to reduce their grocery bills. The two friends collaborated and managed to cut those bills in half. And today, they're sharing their new-found knowledge with others — hundreds of others.
As they learned how to get groceries cheap — or even free — Pate and McKee started blogging about their biggest bargains.
Their families are similar -- husband, two kids, two dogs each. They laughingly admit that they competed with each other to see who could spend the least.
"Yeah, a little bit," Pate told "Good Morning America."
"Our husbands were more competitive about it in the end than we were, I think," McKee added.
They started telling other friends about the great deals they were getting and those friends told more friends. Soon, people were asking Pate and McKee to teach them how to save big on groceries and the coupon parties were born.
The women call them Be CentsAble Workshops. It costs $25 to attend, and they say their guests will make that money back in their first shopping trip.
How do they do it? By layering several savings strategies together.
"This is really important," Pate told about a dozen people at a coupon party in Lee's Summit, Mo. "You don't just take your coupon out of the Sunday paper and go use it because that's what the manufacturer wants you to do."
Instead, she said:
First you should look for sales. Then check to see if there are coupons for those same sale items. Better yet, go to a store that gives double coupon credit. Best of all, combine the manufacturer's coupon with a coupon offered by the store.Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
