Free Press
If you're in a hurry, don't stand behind Susan Samtur in a supermarket checkout line. More than likely, the cashier will spend 20 to 30 minutes before he's through with her. But if you value your money more than your time, if you'd like to learn how to cut your grocery bill in half, then there's no better place to learn than at Susan Samtur's side, as her grocery bill is being tallied. ON ONE NEW YORK CITY shopping trip, for instance, onlookers gasped when her bill for $130.18 was reduced to $7.07. In Philadelphia, shoppers were stunned when a $65 grocery bill dwindled to a $1.67 creditthe store ended up owing Samtur money. The housewife from Yonkers, N.Y., is happy to share her secret. In fact, for months, she has been touring the country coaxing consumers to do exactly what she does to clip coupons and labels, not just occasionally, when the mood strikes, but constantly, while watching TV, riding the bus, talking on the phone. Keep up a steady clip and Samtur practically guarantees you'll be able to cut your grocery bill in half, every time out, which is what she does. (Astounding savings, such as those cited earlier, are possible once in a while, if you've been banking coupons for months and if you're shopping in a store that is "doubling," offering double the saving marked on a coupon.) "People shy away from using coupons," Samtur said during a recent trip to Detroit. "They're embarrassed. They think they'll look eccentric and cheap while they dole out a wad of coupons and hold up store traffic. But not using coupons is nothing more than throwing away money." Lots of it. Of the 62 billion coupons issued in 1977, fewer than three billion were cashed in, Samtur says. And that, she says, is the equivalent of tossing more than $9 billion down the garbage disposal. It makes her want to cry. SAMTUR BEGAN TO DABBLE in coupons about seven years ago when a friend renowned for her bargain-hunting skills convinced her to give clipping a whirl. Samtur was enticed. At the time, she and her husband, both teachers, had just bought a house "and there was much more money going out than coming in." So she'd use a coupon here, a refund offer there, to save a few dollars, but her system was hardly the refined science it is now. Today, Samtur, who quit her teaching job to care for two young children, is so serious about her hobby that she has been dubbed "a professional couponeer." Five to six hours each week, she scissors her way through magazines, newspapers and direct-mail advertising. In her quest for coupons, filing labels and other proofs of purchase (POPs) from cans and boxes in an old shoebox. Mailing POPs and the proper forms to food manufacturers in return for cash refunds, although more time-consuming than clipping coupons for use in the supermarket, is where the true "found money" lies, Samtur said. The reward for her labors: She spends about $150 a month for $300 worth of groceries and, in addition, earns $1,500 a year in tax-free income through refunds. There is no better feeling, says Samtur, than the feeling she gets when she opens a mailbox stuffed with refund checks from food manufacturers. She wants everyone to feel that good. So she edits a national monthly newsletter called "Refundle Bundle," which alerts subscribers to current refunds offers and ways to exchange forms and POPs with other refunders. When the bulletin was first published, in 1973, its circulation was 13. Today there are 45,000 subscribers. And Samtur has just written a book, "Cashing in at the Checkout" (Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.; $6.95), a fast-reading guide to what she calls her "supershopping system." Cultivate the following habits and you'll be on your way to supershopping, too. Susan Samtur guarantees it. Improve your shopping habits. Take time to compare prices. Read newspaper ads before you shop. Make a list. Be willing to switch brands or stores when the price is right. Look for stores that offer "doubling." Watch for refund forms in stores, magazines and newspapers, and on products. Clip, clip, clip. Don't be tempted to purchase items you never use just because the saving is tempting. But do clip the coupons. Set up an exchange system with neighbors who are also interested in becoming super-shoppers. You may not need the dog food coupon you just clipped, but your pal Molly might, and maybe she'll have some good baby food coupons to exchange. In addition to starting your own local exchange group, subscribe to one of the more than 50 refund newsletters that are published nationwide. These guides list current cash-rebate offers and information for swapping forms andor proofs of purchase with fellow refunders. They are well worth the subscription cost, which is usually under $10 annually. A yearly subscription to Samtur's publication, Refundle Bundle (Box 141, Centuck Station, Yonkers, N.Y. 10710) costs $9. Other newsletters are listed in Samtur's book. To take advantage of future refunds, save everything labels, box tops, wrappers, plastic lids. You never can tell what part of a product a manufacturer will call for, although as you become more experienced you can make some pretty good guesses. The paraphernalia, Samtur assures, will pack neatly into a shoebox. She files her proofs of purchase by product name, alphabetically. As often as you can, try for a triple play. That means you buy an item when it's on sale, reduce that price by using a coupon and use the label as proof of purchase to obtain a refund. Congratulations! You're in the big league now! A new coupon column, beginning Sunday in the Free Press, will list special coupon and refund offers along with tips to help you make use of them. Watch for Coupons by Marcia Sloane, Sundays and Wednesdays, In The Way We Live.
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