COUPON CLIPPERS: SAVINGS STILL POPULAR IN TODAY'S BUSY WORLD

Many stores offer coupon savings right on the shelves

Schnuck's checker Heather Morton, right, added Pam Wrucke's food bill and subtracked $8 for coupons. Wrucke has been using coupons for 10 years.

Thousands of Cape Girardeau newspaper subscribers throw their coupon inserts aside with nary a glance.

Faye Hixson knows. She has friends who dig the inserts out of recycling bins at the Department of Public Works.

Hixson hasn't done that, but she has learned to turn what most people consider trash into a fair amount of cash. Her carefully kept records prove it.

In 1994, she saved $1,104.35 with coupons and refund offers. In 1995, the amount was $976.94. This year, it is $572.62 so far, a drop she attributes to a new diet and buying fewer processed foods. She also got rid of her cat, so she isn't saving on cat food anymore.

"I was taught to make my money work for me instead of me working for it," Hixson said. "I always try to save at least 10 percent on our food bill."

She learned how much she could save and started coupon clipping in 1982. Since then, she has devised a method to make saving easy.

Hixson works a full-time job. She takes 30 minutes before going to work and cuts out coupons, sorting the ones she needs alphabetically and by expiration date. The rest she puts in boxes.

When she goes to Red Star Baptist Church, Hixson takes her coupons with her to trade with the other ladies. She takes other coupons to work. Still others she uses to buy food for the church food pantry.

As a result of her hard work, she gets big rewards at the grocery store. For example, one Cape Girardeau supermarket offered four boxes of Jello for $1. The market also tripled the value of coupons for one day. Hixson managed to get four boxes of Jello for a dime, made possible by one 30-cent coupon.

She also buys shampoo for 19 cents a bottle and name-brand, heavy-duty garbage bags for $1.40 a box.

When Hixson did more refunding -- mailing in labels and proofs of purchase for cash and merchandise -- she deposited all the checks she received into a special savings account. In less than two years, she had enough for a down payment on a car and guttering for her house.

The use of coupons is either stable or decreasing, depending on who is asked. Dennis Marchi, manager of Schnucks in Cape Girardeau, said coupons are used as often as ever at his two stores. Both double the value of coupons up to a certain amount.

He said customers particularly like the coupons dispensed in the aisle through ACT Media machines. The little red machines with blinking lights dispense coupons right next to the appropriate products.

Schnucks stores also offer checkout coupons, a service provided by Catalina Inc. Various companies pay to have their coupons print out when a customer buys a competitor's brand.

For example, if a shopper purchases a package of Kraft fat-free cheese, a Borden fat-free cheese coupon prints out. The cashier gives the coupon to the shopper, who may use it next time.

"Instead of putting a blanket coupon out and getting a small number of redemptions, the companies are targeting specific customers," Marchi said.

Joe Bollinger, manager of Schapers IGA in Jackson, said coupon usage is down despite his store's doubling policy. Part of the reason is that some large companies aren't printing coupons anymore. Instead, they are offering more money off on their products.

Stores also may be reimbursed by companies by putting the companies' products in the stores' hometown advertising. For example, Schapers may advertise 10 cents off on a particular brand of green beans. The company that produces the beans then pays Schapers 10 cents for each can sold.

Bollinger, a 14-year veteran of the grocery business, said fewer young people clip coupons today than ever before.

"It's like seeing a penny on the ground," he said. "Is it worth your effort to pick it up? Some people don't think so."

He said people still can save lots of money by clipping coupons. He has seen Schapers customers pay $40 for $100 worth of groceries before.

People who want to learn more about making the most of refunding and coupon clipping can subscribe to "Refunding Makes Cents" magazine at Box 969, Bountiful, Utah 84011.

Hixson swears by it.