Get some tricky tips for saving big at coupon parties.
The tips get trickier — and more lucrative — from there. For example, if a coupon is good for an entire line of products, match up the bar code, not the picture.
"A lot of people take that coupon in and they match up the picture," Pate said. "The manufacturers know that and they put the most expensive item on there."
By matching up the bar codes, you will often find the coupon is good for less expensive items, and thus represents a larger percentage savings off the price.
If something is buy-one-get-one-free, you can still use two coupons because technically you're buying two products.
"And, if you have a buy-one-get-one-free coupon, and it's a buy-one-get-one-free sale, cha ching! -- you can get them both free," Pate said.
Her favorite example is that she once got six big bottles of Pantene shampoo for free using this trick.
Here's a fun one: Say you have a store coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase and you also have some individual product coupons.
Hand over the $5 off coupon first while your total is more than $20, then use the other coupons to lower the total even more.
"If I gave them all of my other coupons first, they'd say, 'You can't do that,'" Pate said.
Taking notes in the audience were Tiffany and Adam Speck of Raytown, Mo. The Specks have four kids under age 6, two with severe food allergies. Even though Adam works three jobs and they live in a tiny 900-square-foot house, they are struggling.
"I've certainly gone without food a night or two so my kids could eat," Adam Speck said. "It is a struggle, in this economy, to try to make ends meet."
Tiffany Speck, a registered nurse, added, "I do worry. These are their formative years, their critical growth period, and I want to provide them with the best nutrition, but I don't always feel that we're able to do that."
After listening to the Be CentsAble presentation, the Specks agreed it would make a difference for them.
"I think so," Tiffany Speck said.
"Absolutely," said Adam Speck.
The Specks and the rest of the participants all questioned whether they would have to spend a lot of time in order to save a lot of money.
Pate and McKee said they get that question all the time and that they have developed savings systems for people with limited time to plan. They suggest doing what you can and adding new strategies as shopping this way becomes second nature.
Pate said that, at first, learning how to layer her savings was time consuming. But now, she spends just four hours a month and saves $400.
Plus, she and McKee save other people time by sharing the best deals they find on their Web site, www.becentsable.net.
"We just saved our families so much money that we felt we had to share it," McKee said.
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