The Lazy Couponer: How to Save $25,000 Per Year in Just 45 Minutes Per Week with No Stockpiling, No Item Tracking, and No Sales Chasing!

by Jamie Chase

"Have you ever received a standing ovation at the cash register? I have." -- Jamie Chase

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the world of coupons -- and guilty that you can't seem to nail the "system" to save money -- kick back with Jamie Chase, couponing teacher and savvy shopper whom Brian Williams of NBC's Nightly News dubbed "the Master."

The system is there's no chasing all over town on a single shopping trip; no stockpiling of items you don't need; no weekly tracking of item prices, driving you to buy what you don't need simply because there's a sale.

Chase instructs readers on where to find coupons, how to use them, where to get the most bang for your buck, and how to start thinking like a couponer every time you make a purchase. Sound too easy? With a little practice, you'll see the savings rolling in while you live your life -- stress-free and thousands of dollars per year richer!

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Adult

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a basic couponer for years. There were some interesting tips in this book that I had not previously considered. I was fairly impressed by some of the author's couponing scenarios but doubt I'll ever get to the level of her accomplishment. We just don't buy a lot of the things that one can stack coupons against. Still, useful information and I did gain a few new sources for coupons that I was previously unaware of.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just don't understand couponing at all. Still dont.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for someone who hasn't been couponing for long. I was grateful to see a book on couponing that doesn't advocate stockpiling! The book does outline some good strategies for the beginner that don't require lots of time. If you've seen people on TV who spend 40hrs a week dealing with coupons - don't worry, that's not what this book is about. If you're been couponing for a while, there may not be a lot of useful information in this book. What I got out of it was a nicely summarized section on a handful of stores and their coupon policies, as well as various blogs/websites, some of which I hadn't heard of before. Overall a decent book and a quick read.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought with lazy in the title this might be a couponing book I could get behind. But she's still checking multiple sites, shopping multiple stores and carrying around a coupon binder. Maybe I'm more lazy than her version of lazy - because that still sounds like a LOT of work to me.

[Melyssa Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of the principles are simple and easy to follow, but a lot of the resources are outdated/obsolete. Hopefully she’ll either update the book or someone else will write a book with more up-to-date resources.

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book but I am still struggling to get couponning down.

[Ricardo Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Money Saving Book

Thank You, Jamie, I walked in CVS full of confidence and soon realized, that my sills are not up to par. jamie you are skilled and talented.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sub-title of this book is How to save over $25,000 per year in just 45 minutes each week. I had to read it. To start with I don't spend that much in a year on things that you would use a coupon when buying. I did get a few ideas but there were some things that Ms. Chase suggests that I felt were a little shady. For instance, if you are buying something that is Buy One Get One Free she suggests that you can use 2 coupons one for the one that you are buying and one toward the free one. She reasons that there are two items so you should be able to use cents off coupons toward each item. I don't agree with that. The second one is FREE so how can you legitimately use a coupon for let's say 50 cents off that will be doubled (so $1.00 off) something that is free???

And I have noticed that all the "extreme" couponers talk about getting money toward the groceries that you buy that don't have coupons by using a coupon that will be more than the product sells for. (An example: you have a product that is on sale for 88 cents and you have a $1.00 off coupon. She suggests that you buy as many of those 88 cent items that you have dollar coupons for and the store will give you the 12 cents overage times however many coupons you have--let's say 5 so the store will give you 60 cents toward your other groceries.) No store I shop at does that. The cash register doesn't allow it in today's stores. If you give the cashier a $1.00 coupon on an 88 cent item the cash register will give you 88 cents off period.

I did get a few ideas but saving $25,000 a year, I don't think so.

However if you are looking for ways to save money (and who isn't today) you might get some fresh ideas for saving using coupons.

[Nichole · Rating 2 out of 5]

There wasn't a whole lot in this book that I didn't already know, but I still enjoyed it. For the person just starting out I think this book would be overwhelming and maybe hard to follow. The book begins with learning the coupon language and there is a somewhat complicated table rightaway on page 14 of the book. There is a abbreviation and key term cheat sheet which would have been nice in a format that you could easily tear out of the book and/or photocopy. Starting on/around page 130 I do like that the author mentions a few important points about each store (grocery, drug, other) and their coupon policy. I also liked chapter 10 about coupon storage complete with photos. I think some extra tables and graphs at the end may have been helpful. For example creating a pricebook and what sections to use for coupon binders. A little history behind coupons and the author would have been a nice touch. The book didn't really encourage the reader to want to visit the author's website and I didn't.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a lot of these books, and this is the most practical and accessible. She preaches a few techniques that can save you money off your grocery bill, while only spending an hour a week. She's very refreshing in the sense that she's against stockpiling, focusing only on buying what you'll need or use within six months. And she's very relaxed as far as monitoring sale cycles - while you may not want to stockpile just because there's a sale, if you're out of something and know there will be a sale in two weeks, can you wait? Things like that.

She loses me with her math; also, driving around to all the drugstores would make me crazy. But this is worth checking out as a couponing primer. While I never can save like the author, since I've been using some basic techniques (and spending no extra time) I've been able to shave at least $20-$30 off my grocery bill each week.

[Mulligatawney Thursdays · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have rated this slightly higher but for the story about how she randomly needed toilet paper and trash bags at CVS and off the cuff put together a shopping list IN STORE and got a portable DVD player for free. Maybe good luck type things can happen, but the tone throughout this book is that they can happen every time (omgyay!) and just no. No, that cannot happen every shopping trip, no. Up until then I felt this was a good book as a refresher. The advice is available for free on various blogs, but having everything worth knowing in one place is a value. That is still true, as long as the newbie doesn't get overwhelmed with excitement about all the free electronics they'll be getting now that they're couponing.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book was amazing. I have been reading several. This one walked you through the terminology that you can find on different websites. I had no idea how important that was. I had seen them list how to coupon but it did not entirely make sense. This was a very informative book that will defenitely help. She talks about not clipping anything until right before you shop and then only clipping the ones that you will use that day. I love that idea. I spent almost two hours this week clipping coupons. What a great book for anyone trying to learn about couponing.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This women is seemingly local to MA which is fun, but overall I didn't learn much from this book - that is not to say there isn't value in this read but if you've read enough blogs about couponing etc, that this is probably well tread territory. If you are looking to start using coupons this is a great place to start.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this was like the quick read-through version of a "couponing for beginners" class. I found the explanations of all the couponing terms to be simple & easy to understand, and the real-life examples she used to illustrate different types of deals she got were equally understandable and easy to follow.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Very simple and informative! I appreciate the way she breaks it down for you to understand. However, I beg to differ her referring to herself as lazy! Couponing is still a lot of work!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think there is some useful information in here but like much of the information I've read on couponing, I think there is an element of just doing it to completely understand what the author is using for examples. It's a worthwhile read.

[Alyssa Heller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to coupon big, until Extreme Couponing show on TLC forces most of the stores to change their coupon policies dramatically. SO this book is good for newbies, but I already knew everyting this book offered.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this couponing book more than others I have read and I think it would become a reread in a few months if I ever need a little refresher course on stacking coupons, etc. I really liked the chapter on drugstores which is why I chose to read the book to begin with.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have used coupons for year, but I am learning new things by reading this. I checked this book out from the library and it is due so I need to turn it in, but I will be checking it out again to go over the ideas again.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was easy enough to read and understand... the jury is still out on whether her method works for someone who's never had the patience for couponing before. I'm going to give it a serious try though. TBD.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this I seriously spent 45 minutes and then saved 50% on my next grocery shopping trip. I always thought couponing was for crazies, but it seriously is fun and easy, especially if you do it like this.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the world of couponing. She gives some good tips to help you save time and energy.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information. I don't think I learned anything that I didn't already know from reading Mashup Mom's book, but a good book to check out if you love a good deal.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can read my full review here http://hopewellmomschoolreborn.blogsp...

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are new to couponing or just looking for additional tips and suggestions, you should check out this book. I learned many new things and got some great ideas for ways to improve saving money.

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have never used a coupon before, it is OK...

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for someone who is just getting into coupons. But for someone like myself who has been couponing, there really wasn't any new information.

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was full of good advice....but mostly stuff I already knew....kind of a bummer thought it would help me save more money!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very concise and a great reference! Explains how to coupon without being a total freak/hoarder. I think I will refer to it weekly!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found most of the info to be valid but I did not find much that was new to me. The concept of stacking coupons might be new to others.