A coupon for a free, no-strings-attached ThermoCare HeatWrap turned Shelley Bochek into a coupon queen.

Bochek says she heard about printable coupons for free products found online.

“I thought, there’s no way, you can’t get stuff for free, there’s no way. There has to be a catch,” she says. Bochek says she left the store without spending a cent, but had a free heat wrap in hand.

“It gave me a thrill,” says the Hamilton, Ont. resident.

Three and a half years later, Bochek, a mother and full-time retail worker, writes for the Canadian Free Stuff bloog. She says she blogs under the pseudonym Cheetah and is known to her readers as the resident coupon queen.

“I’ve been couponing seriously . . . and I’ve developed a lot of knowledge.”

It’s possible for Canadians to save 70 to 80 per cent on their grocery bills, according to Bochek.

“If you’re organized, it is possible to have extreme savings in Canada,” she says.

Bochek suggests prospective couponers start with a price book, which is a journal to record the various prices of products. When you know the lowest price of an item, you know if sales or coupons are actually a deal, she says.

“Coupons are tricky. Sometimes they make you spend more money when you think you are getting a deal,” says Linda Brown, a stay-at-home mom and couponer from Cambridge, Ont.

To get the best deals, you need to combine sales with a coupon or a “double whammy,” Bochek says. For example, on a recent shopping trip, Bochek bought six Old Spice antiperspirants for 99 cents each. How did she do it?

The price of Old Spice is $3.35, but it was on sale for $2.49, and with the use of three buy two save $3.00 coupons, Cheetah strikes again.

Bochek says she look for coupons in flyers, newspapers, social media sites, product packaging, and manufacturer websites.

You can also subscribe to coupon providers to receive coupons in the mail for products you buy on a regular basis, Bochek says.

Ottawa resident Jennifer Levac, creator of the Canadian Coupon Mom blog, says she started coupon-ing seriously a year ago when she was on maternity leave.
“Any way to save a bit and help stretch the money to the end of the month was my goal,” she says.

Levac says to only buy things you will use and stock up when they are on sale.

“Just because you have a coupon doesn’t mean it is a good buy.”

Bochek and Levac both say they are sent a lot of coupons from filling out consumer surveys and recommend the Shopper’s Voice survey, which is online.
Bochek says she believes there is a stigma in Canada that only poor people use coupons.

Eric Dolansky, assistant professor of marketing at Brock University, says studies have shown the average couponer is a middle-aged women, with a moderate education.

“They are not necessarily lower class and need the savings, but they have the time and the inclination [to coupon].”

Many stay-at-home moms use coupons because they believe by saving money they are taking better care of their families, he says.
“This may be societal or cultural.”

Dolansky says Americans have access to more coupons and they make more of an effort to redeem them.

On Bochek’s latest shopping trip, she used 28 coupons and spent $35 for $123 worth of goods. That’s 72 per cent savings.

“I personally feel great pride when I use 28 coupons. When I left the cashier, she was applauding me."

“I bought 36 items for $35. It’s better than the dollar store.”