Jill Cataldo

The Northwest Herald has a story today with tips from me about saving on school supplies and back-to-school shopping:

Shoppers can take advantage of sales, rebates, and price-matching policies to save money, said Jill Cataldo, a coupon expert and mother of three from Huntley.

“Some people dread back-to-school shopping and don’t want to drag it out,” she said. “But the worst thing you can do is buy everything at one store. If you go in for one deal, you’ll be overpaying for everything else.”

Shopping around to get the best prices on various items at different stores is one of the suggestions that Cataldo offers on her website, www.jillcataldo.com.

She recommends parents keep a supply list handy and buy at steep discounts where possible. This year, Cataldo estimated she has spent between $5 and $10 per kid to purchase 90 percent of the supplies on their lists.

For those who must do it in a single trip, Cataldo recommends they go prepared with competitors’ coupons to stores that have price-match guarantees, such as Walmart and Target.

When it comes to electronics, such as graphing calculators, the best bet may be a rebate. Backpacks often can be had for free through loyalty programs. And Cataldo said clothing purchases should be staggered.

“They don’t need entire new wardrobes,” she said. “Let them see what their friends are wearing at school and buy later. The sales get better after Labor Day.”

Read the full article here.

The Times has an article about my pair of Super-Couponing workshops this past weekend in Indiana:

Thoughts of home improvement and summer gardens were on the minds of the more than 4,000 people who perused Home and Garden Show booths this weekend at the Lake County Fairgrounds...

One of the biggest draws was a pair of educational workshops given by Jill Cataldo, author of Super Couponing Tips, a syndicated column read by more than 20 million people nationwide in 130 publications, including The Times.

Cataldo tell beginners: "First get rid of any preconceived notions you have about couponing, especially that it is going to take too much time."

She said an hour a week can save 50 to 70 percent on grocery bills. For those who missed her workshop this weekend, it is available on DVD at supercouponing.com.

Cataldo was happy with the attendance at the workshops and said people were standing in the aisles listening to her talks.

Cataldo began couponing at this level about five years ago. She said her friends and family saw how much money she was saving and asked her to share her secret.

Her first public seminar was at a local library with about 130 in attendance. Cataldo said things just "skyrocketed from there." She started blogging and then came the column opportunity.

Patch.com has a story about my Yorkville Super-Couponing workshop last night:

“Super-Couponing” workshop founder Jill Cataldo began strategizing how to best use coupons when she was pregnant with her third child – and realized she’d have two in diapers at the same time.

“Honestly, it was the diapers,” she said. “They’re very expensive.”

And, really, why pay $8.99 for a package of Luv’s when you can plop down a $3.50 store coupon, a $5 manufacturer’s coupon and a few dimes?

About five years later, Cataldo is sharing her coupon strategies through workshops, a nationally syndicated column, a blog and video series. She gave her introductory workshop Wednesday at the Yorkville Public Library.

Read more

This week's issue of Supermarket News, an industry trade publication, features a story about how mothers who blog (including yours truly!) are influencing everything from sales to packaging to pricing changes at the grocery store:

Their online discussions of parenting, family and home have created tight-knit, passionate and vocal communities that have the power to alter ingredient lists, simplify packaging and even lower prices.

“The consumer has a lot of power now and they are very connected. In the blogging world, they share information constantly,” said Jill Cataldo, a coupon expert and blogger in Chicago. “It’s a very different place for retailers to be working in.”

... stores find the real voice behind the blogs is the most effective advertising of all, and worth the risk. “Their readers will believe them 10 times quicker than they’ll believe anything the supermarket says...”

Read the entire article

Thursday's Courier-News has a story about me, Dominick's, coupons, and saving.

We also went shopping this week to Meijer so that the reporter could see how we do "what we do" -- stacking coupons and following sales -- to cut over $48 off this week's grocery bill:

She may not be a comic book novel hero, but Jill Cataldo of Huntley does save the world — money, actually — with her coupon-related website, blog and classes.

And she recently became a reluctant shopper’s champion, too, outing grocery store chain Dominick’s for the amount of out-of-date goods it had on its shelves.

“I have no desire to become the expired-food crusader for all of our stores. Dominick’s has long had a problem of not rotating any of their stock,” Cataldo said. “I’m not the activist type, but sometimes we have to raise our voices.”

The issue came to a head last week when Chicago news media — some members of whom follow Cataldo online — picked up on postings concerning the issue with the Safeway-owned Chicago chain.

Continue reading...

The new issue of West Suburban Living has a three-page interview with me discussing my Super-Couponing career, shopping tactics and life in the 'burbs:

Couponing — an activity once practiced by a relatively small percentage of frugal shoppers — has become downright trendy. Perhaps that’s not surprising in the current economy, which has made saving money a more noble — and necessary — pursuit than ever. But another key contributing factor to the coupon craze is the Internet, which has made finding discounts easier and less time consuming, while also multiplying the potential savings. Few understand the burgeoning new world of couponing better than Huntley resident Jill Cataldo. What started nearly five years ago as a way to save a little money has blossomed into big business and made her a nationally recognized couponing expert. Through her workshops, DVDs, blog, television appearances and syndicated column, Cataldo shares couponing tips that can help shoppers cut their grocery bills in half.

Read the full story online

Tomorrow night, TLC's airing a new one-hour special called "Extreme Couponing." For a few weeks now, I've been receiving emails from readers asking if I was going to be a part of it, or what I thought of it.

I really wrestled with addressing this topic publicly on the blog, but I've decided to share it with my readers, in part to give you an idea of just how many things go on "behind the scenes" that I don't blog about, and also to share how much time and preparation goes into a show like this one.

On April 26th of this year, I received an email from a production company, Sharp Entertainment, who was working on a new television show about couponing:

I'm writing to you because we've taken notice of your incredible "Super Couponing" work--both in the Wall Street Journal and on Nightline. I know one of your purposes behind your classes, website and DVDs is to reach other people and help them apply your tips to their lifestyle so that they, too, can get the most out of their shopping trips and coupons. That being said, we're working on a few TV show ideas on this very topic--hoping to bring these budget-boosting ways to an even greater audience. The foundation of the show is getting these tricks of the trade out there so that people can use these tips to their benefit--and save serious money! It's universally difficult times for everyone right now--and everyone is looking for a way to save a buck. We think this TV show would help a lot of people and I'd love to talk further with you about it and hear your ideas.

I appeared on ChicagoNow's "Ay Mama!" radio show on Thursday! Ay Mama! is hosted by Ana Belaval, who's well-known to Chicago audiences as the host of "Around Town" on WGN News. In addition to her job as reporter, Ana maintains a blog about motherhood, and the radio show is her weekly counterpart to the blog. Ana and I have worked together on a couple of money-saving segments for WGN TV, and we and the Ay Mama! crew discussed Super-Couponing and other ways to save!

Listen to the clip online!

Numerous readers wrote today to send me a link to this Investopedia article currently on Yahoo: 8 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Use Coupons. The only reason I hadn't responded to this earlier today is that I spent the day in Chicago filming yet another coupon-related segment, which I'll share with you later.

But now that I'm back and have digested the article thoroughly, my reactions have ranged from incredulous to irritated.

First, in the middle of the worst recession most of us have seen in our entire lifetimes, exactly what is the author's intent here? To get people out of the mindset of wanting to save more? To convince them that spending money to save time is more worthwhile than spending time to save money?

Not surprisingly, this article's heating up the coupon blogosphere like mad.

I'm featured in the new issue of Consumer Reports' ShopSmart magazine! The September 2010 issue has a big section on saving on groceries, and the magazine asked me for department-by-department tips to saving at the supermarket (many of which are things my regular readers already know and put into practice!)

ShopSmart is available at Borders, Barnes and Noble, and pretty much anywhere that has a large magazine selection, or you can read the article, "Save at the store: Aisle-by-aisle tips to use next time you shop" online (story starts on page 35!)