The Daily Oklahoma
If you were to peek inside the shoeboxes in Susan Samtur's home, you'd find thousands of coupons, carefully grouped according to categories. Samtur, who makes her home in New York, is a coupon expert who's become a regular guest on such shows as Hour Magazine. Samtur frequently demonstrates how to buy more than $100 in groceries, paying for all but just a few dollars of that total with coupons. She brought some of her coupons and her food shopping expertise to Oklahoma City recently to teach consumers how to stretch food dollars. Armed with a categorized shopping list, Samtur pushed a grocery cart up and down the aisles of Pratt's grocery store, showing reporters, photographers and even store customers, how she makes the coupons work for her. Samtur eased into this unusual occupation out of economic necessity, she said. She'd send off forms for rebates, and the companies would send back more coupons, many of them free for another product of the same size she'd originally purchased. The more rebates she submitted, the more coupons she received. Now she's accumulated a stash of coupons that allows her to keep her weekly food bills to a few dollars, despite the fact she has four sons. "There isn't an item on the shelf today a national brand that doesn't have a coupon," she said. "In 1973 when I started this, there were 23 million coupons issued. This year there will be 200 billion coupons issued," Samtur said. "They really have increased the number issued, because there have been so many new products coming out, and food coupons is one of the best ways to promote a product." She has many coupons which allow her to get products for no charge, or coupons which say "worth $l or $2 off any groceries." The latter coupons, in particular, help pay for her weekly meat and produce purchases. And she's always on the lookout for store forms, which may include $2 cash-back rebate forms. The best bargains are in the cereal and detergent departments, Samtur said, almost all boxes or containers in these two areas feature some type of savings. "It's just a matter of paying attention when you reach for an item," she noted. Often, she explained, containers with "cents off" specials will be pushed to the back of the shelf, so consumers have to search for the bargains. Samtur always is on the lookout for special sales in the supermarket. As she wheeled her cart down the jams and jelly section of the supermarket, she located an example. "This Welch's grape jelly is on special. The 32-ounce jar is $.99, while the 18-ounce jar is $1.29. So for 30 cents less, you get 14 ounces more," she said. Does she buy a product simply because it's on special or she has a coupon for it? "I don't buy what I don't use, simply because I have a coupon. I try to pick out products I normally use," Samtur emphasized, adding, "If there's a product I dislike, I won't buy it." For consumers who are too embarrassed to watch the checkout clerk and challenge a price she may have rung up wrong, Samtur had a suggestion. "I put all the items on special together in the cart, and when I get to the checkout, I ask 'Is this the item that is 30 cents off?' or 'Is this the item on sale?' I bring the fact to their attention, to avoid a possible conflict on the price." she said. Samtur began Refundle Bundle, a couponing newsletter, in 1973, and sold it to 13 of her friends for 75 cents each. When the subscriptions reached 1,000 in 1976, she left her part-time job as an elementary teacher. She first appeared on New York City television shows in 1978, showing how to take home $130 worth of groceries, while paying only $7.07 for them. Soon afterward, she was asked to appear on the Today show, and that appearance brought a flood of 150,000 Inquiries. From that point, she was asked to write a book, which came out in 1980. The book Cashing In at the Checkout sold more than 400,000 copies. Samtur conducts coupon seminars whenever possible, and continues to put out her Refundle Bundle newsletter. For more information on couponing, write: Refundle Bundle, Box 141, Centuck Station, Yonkers, N.Y. 10710. For a reply, you must send a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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