Several southeast Michigan frugal living and bargain-shopping bloggers had a get-together Friday in Lathrup Village near Southfield. We were chatting away for about two hours – long enough to close down Panera Bread for the night!

One of the ladies I met was Courtney Bellanti of Brighton, who hosts 1-2-3Save. She was one of the shoppers recently featured in the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus with this article: Coupon queens shop for free.

A snippet:

In this depressed economy, coupon queens said they’ve seen more people using the discounts, but they’re still surprised even more aren’t doing it. They said it doesn’t take a lot of time, and it’s relatively easy. Probably the biggest hurdles are getting started and figuring out a system to organize the coupons.

Brighton Township resident Courtney Bellanti said coupons have helped her family avoid hard times.

“If it wasn’t for couponing, I’d probably be the one going to Gleaners (Community Food Bank),” said Bellanti, who is married with two daughters and is pregnant with her third child. She clips coupons, blogs about good deals at 123save. blogspot.com and even gives away coupons.

Here are some of the points I make at my grocery classes and public appearances:

• It does takes more time to shop with coupons, sales fliers and rebates than if you pick up whatever you feel like eating for dinner that day or week. But a lot of Michigan and Ohio residents do have more time than money these days. (I usually see heads nodding when I make that point at public appearances.)
• Grocery expenses are one of the fastest ways to cut your family expenses. Some of the other cost-cutting steps that are very effective for working class and middle-class families will take months, maybe even a year, before you notice a difference in cash flow.
• Be patient. Even if you jump right into grocery savings, it will take several weeks before you notice a difference in your spending. There is a well-known system that relies on matching coupons to sales at the national supermarkets. While that program does work for many people, it can take 12 weeks to notice a difference in your grocery bill with that method. My grocery shopping on a budget system takes only 8 weeks work through the cycle — but that’s because I teach other tricks in addition to coupons.