Cashing in at the Checkout

Rating:
Summary: a bit dated but the advice is right on target
Review: How would you like to save anywhere from 45% to 90% of costs on groceries on a consistent basis? How would you like to be able to walk into a grocery store with a $5.00 bill and come out with over $100.00 in groceries? Does this sound too fantastic to you? If it does, you need to read this book and practice the methods given.

Susan J. Samtur gives good advice on how one can save a tremendous amount of money on groceries and earn untaxed income through rebates. The advice she gives is nothing new but so few people follow it. Either out of laziness or skepticism, coupons are underused and misunderstood as are rebates or refunding. In her book Susan J. Samtur details how she is able to earn about $1500.00 a year through refunding and consistently saves between 30% and 45% off the regular price for groceries. She also explains how anyone can save as much or more than her through strategic couponing and refunding. She clears up many misconceptions and myths like "Discount stores are cheaper", "store brands are cheaper", "you don't really save that much on coupons".

In the age of the internet, some of the methods she mentions are more or less obsolete. On the other hand, she can and will save you a lot of money on groceries if you follow her advice. I'm living proof that her methods work because I've tried them and have been able to walk out of the grocery store paying a little over the sales tax on brand name products.

Rating:
Summary: a bit dated but the advice is right on target
Review: How would you like to save anywhere from 45% to 90% of costs on groceries on a consistent basis? How would you like to be able to walk into a grocery store with a $5.00 bill and come out with over $100.00 in groceries? Does this sound too fantastic to you? If it does, you need to read this book and practice the methods given.

Susan J. Samtur gives good advice on how one can save a tremendous amount of money on groceries and earn untaxed income through rebates. The advice she gives is nothing new but so few people follow it. Either out of laziness or skepticism, coupons are underused and misunderstood as are rebates or refunding. In her book Susan J. Samtur details how she is able to earn about $1500.00 a year through refunding and consistently saves between 30% and 45% off the regular price for groceries. She also explains how anyone can save as much or more than her through strategic couponing and refunding. She clears up many misconceptions and myths like "Discount stores are cheaper", "store brands are cheaper", "you don't really save that much on coupons".

In the age of the internet, some of the methods she mentions are more or less obsolete. On the other hand, she can and will save you a lot of money on groceries if you follow her advice. I'm living proof that her methods work because I've tried them and have been able to walk out of the grocery store paying a little over the sales tax on brand name products.

Rating:
Summary: It started my addiction
Review: It is not just saving money...it turns you into a coupon addict, a money-saving freak!! Then you try to turn your friends and family on to it. I am currently starting a coupon club because I bought this book 9 years ago, I am now buying it againt to pass on the information to my club members (my book keeps getting passed around and never returns to me!)

Rating:
Summary: 2 stars because of what was left out...
Review: Ms Samtur does not share her actual food/household bills here. An important part of living within your budget is understanding that what you actually SPEND is more important that what you save. I doubt if her carefully staged shopping trip in the beginning of the book (where Samtur pays 7.07 after coupons for her 130.18 worth of groceries) is indicative of her real grocery bill. In otherwords, it seems unlikely to me that she could feed her family for a week on 7.07. Or that she pays less than 30.00 a month on groceries. I also suspect that many of the foods she bought were junk foods or overprocessed, prepared foods. Coupons are often for foods that are hard on the body and on the environment. The list of product names on page 77 is an impressive list of overprocessed, unhealthy foods. (She saves the packaging for refunding) Making homemade window cleaner is almost always cheaper than buying windex with a coupon. (Samtur disapproves of store brands) Cooking from scratch can often beat a coupon, yet she glosses over that. Neither does she seems to care that many of the products she buys generate a lot of garbage. Overprocessed foods often do. I feed my own family of six, for under 90.00 a week, using several strategies. It is unlikely that I could save anywhere close to what Samtur "saves". I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, nor do I have to file away labels and packaging. My garbage bill is small. I don't have to buy junky magazines either. The whole system seems like a complicated way to get out of cooking.

For those folks determined to buy canned and packaged foods with coupons regardless of what it soes to your body or environment, this book could be helpful. Ms Samtur explains her system in detail, and she covers couponing, filing, rebating, refunding and how to get free stuff. If Ms Samtur practiced a little balance here, her system would be more helpful.

Rating:
Summary: It started my addiction
Review: she has some good ideas on saving money. i would remend this book for a lady to save money to feed her family