Sahuarita coupon queen Amber Flores says grocery store employees know her by name. She comes armed with stacks of coupons, printed from websites and clipped from newspapers. Her checkouts often involve long - but friendly - chats with customer service managers.
Producers from the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" took notice of Flores, a 30-year-old hospice nurse and married mother of four who shares her techniques on YouTube (username: shadylane2121) and her website, cutclipsave.com.
The show, which follows shoppers who accumulate coupons and pounce on special deals to save incredible amounts of money and to stockpile items, will feature Flores tonight.
Flores, who hasn't seen the episode, said she has been couponing off and on for years, but she shifted into high gear in December.
She and her husband, Clavon, stock their 2,800-square-foot house with trophies from her successes, filling their four refrigerators and two deep freezes with food, and storing non-perishables in under-stairs storage and garage shelves.
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The score she's proudest of was the time she got 100 pints of Breyers ice cream from Albertsons for free, thanks to a $1 off coupon combined with a 10-pints-for-$10 deal.
Here are some key points to Flores' couponing philosophy:
• Know when to hold 'em.
Flores likens couponing to a card game. You not only need the right cards, as in coupons, but you need to know when to play them. She recommends waiting to use the best coupons until they can be paired with a sale.
"Some people get a coupon and think 'Let me go use it!' I say hold onto it until you can get the item at a deep discount," Flores said. "Playing your hands the best that you can."
• Don't be evil. Some couponers pride themselves on wiping out entire store shelves of cheap items, only to hoard them.
"I don't shop huge trips very often," she said. "I don't make very extravagant trips, and I'll go to different stores when I'm buying a lot of one item. I make sure there's enough stock left for everybody."
• Spread the bounty.
"We have lots and lots of family, and we have become our family's grocery store," Flores said. "When anyone needs anything, they know to come to us."
Flores said she regularly donates to charities that accept food donations, including the National Association of Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger program.
Clipping coupons
According to TLC, more than 367 billion coupons are printed each year; more than $57 billion worth of coupons are thrown away annually.
If you watch
"Extreme Couponing"
When: Tonight, 6:30 p.m. (TLC HD) and 9:30 p.m. (TLC)
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal pvillarreal@azstarnet.com or 573-4130.
