Learn how to Extreme Coupon
FHTC to offer Class
By John Giffin (Contact)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A growing hobby and money-saving activity is going to be taught as a community connections class at Flint Hills Technical College.
Extreme couponing hobbyist Lindsey Sutton will be teaching the class called Extreme Couponing. There will be two classes offered Feb. 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. and Feb. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m., with the chance of a third one being scheduled.
“The course is going to be all about specifically couponing in Emporia,” said Sutton. “I’ll be teaching about where the coupons come from. Obviously, the Gazette is one of those sources, but they’re online, and can actually be mailed to your house. I’m going to be teaching about organizing them, matching them with store ads. Then we’re going to talk about the stores that are located just in Emporia.”
The overall goal of the class is to teach consumers how to cut their grocery budget from 30 to 50 percent.
“It’s really easy to do, but really difficult sometimes to understand how all of those policies and deals match up,” said Sutton.
Sutton decided to begin teaching the class because of the questions she was getting from fellow couponers and couponer wannabes.
“The class was actually inspired by some people that were asking me about my own couponing,” said Sutton. “I put pictures up on Facebook sometimes, or I put free products in the break room. People ask, ‘How do you have 100 razors to give away?’”
Sutton’s response is simple.
“It’s really easy,” she said. “I can get them for free. I can actually make money off of them. I explain to people how they work. Some people get it right away. Some people think it’s really clever and some people are just completely confused.”
She said she had several people asking her to teach them how to be a smarter shopper, so much so that Sutton contacted FHTC to see if she could teach couponing as a class. It filled immediately.
“I thought we could have maybe 30 people in a class,” Sutton said. “Within 24 hours the class completely filled and we just set up the second date and it’s possible we may even end up with three classes by the time we’re done based on the response ... Of course if (the second class) fills up I’d be happy to do a new one.”
Sutton thought the FHTC class is the first one ever to be taught in Emporia.
“This is going to be the first time, to my knowledge, that a couponing class has ever been taught in Emporia,” she said.
There are several advantages to learning how to utilize coupons and different store policies.
“There’s nobody out there that can’t use a few extra dollars,” said Sutton. “Especially with the economy the way it is today, everybody needs to learn how to save a little bit of money.”
Sutton also said consumers coupon for different reasons.
“Some people like to coupon because it’s fun,” said Sutton. “Some people have to coupon to make ends meet. For me that’s a little bit of both.”
Couponing saves Sutton-much needed money, but she also likes the process involved in achieving savings.
“It’s like a game every week when the ads come out and the deals go up online to figure out what I need, what I want and how I can get everything within my budget,” Sutton said. “It’s definitely an advantage to my financial situation, but to me it’s also a hobby that I enjoy and it’s a hobby that pays me back at the end of the day.”
Sutton also will try to put to bed the misconception that couponing eats away at free time.
“It’s one of the biggest misconceptions and one of the misconceptions portrayed by the television shows and the media images of extreme couponers,” said Sutton. “Staying up all night, spending 60 to 80 hours a week checking blogs, clipping coupons, matching up deals and then going to the store and buying 50 bottles of mustard at a time. That is not at all what extreme couponing is ... If you have time to check your e-mail and check Facebook, you have time to coupon.”
Sutton said she has easily cut her grocery budget by 50 percent by couponing.
The class costs $3 as a community course through FHTC. To register for one of the classes visit fhtc.edu or contact the FHTC by phone or in person.
“We will continue to add new classes as we can but I would suggest registering early,” said Sutton.