In advance, we thought we'd get to know Ivanovsky and learn her secrets to saving big.
What is your advice to someone who is just getting started on how to start small and expand their savings?
Ivanovsky: I think if you are younger and you are just a little tech savvy, there are plenty of options out there as far as mobile apps and the app from your grocery store. You can just go in and download digital coupons to do that. It makes it very easy that way, and you can save money. If you are more serious and you really want, or need, to save money as a couponer, you definitely need to go the old-school route of cutting out coupons and couponing that way. When you think of couponing and you think of maybe your grandma or just kind of that old woman with all the coupons everywhere... it doesn't have to be that way to save a significant amount of money. It probably just takes an hour or two a week and that includes going to the grocery store.
Are there any benefits to using the newspaper instead of using apps?
Ivanovsky: The coupons would typically be a higher value from your newspaper. You can also have multiple of them. You need more than one coupon because you want to shop the sale cycles at your grocery store. The sale cycle typically goes through a three-month rotation. Within a three-month period, you're going to use more than one box of cereal, or you are going to use more than one box of crackers, or you are going buy more than one bottle of toothpaste for your whole family. You want to have multiple coupons for things that you buy the most for your family so that when you get a great deal, you can use a coupon at the next store sale and purchase a few of them so that it will last until that item is on sale again.
What is the best way to stay up on coupons?
Ivanovsky: That is exactly why we wrote our site, so that there is one place that people can go to just check that. If you'd rather sit at a laptop, you can just check MyLitter.com, or if you'd rather be on Facebook, you can check the group page on there, or if you are on Instagram or whatever, you can just check that and throughout the day we are just kind of updating that with the hot deals around.
Is there a way to have too many coupons?
Ivanovsky: You can have too much of anything. Yes, if you had 100 coupons for a product, you're not going to need 100 of anything to get through that billing cycle. A lot of stores are not going to let you use 100 coupons at one time. A lot of times you can use anywhere from five to 10, which is a good rule of thumb. We always joke around about the show that comes on after "Extreme Couponing," which is "Hoarders." We joke around about how there is no need to shop like that or to have 100 tubes of toothpaste. You are going to be able to get that same deal again about every three months.
Explain the time factor.
Ivanovsky: I think the one thing that keeps people from couponing is the time issue. I think that it does take up a lot of time. Typically the way that people coupon, it can take a lot of time. Our point and why we come to teach coupon classes is that we are showing you how you can do this more efficiently and how you can get your coupons organized, how you can make a grocery shopping list and how you can get everything together in about 45 minutes a week — and then however long it's going to take you in the grocery store. We are making it more efficient.
Talk about your event coming up on Feb. 23 and 24. What are people going to get out of it?
Ivanovsky: First of all, it's free for them to come to. The class is about 90 minutes long. What they are going to get out of it? They should typically be able to save about $400 a month. We really like them to save anywhere between $4,000-$6,000 dollars a year by just coming to a free class that's 90 minutes long. We are going to teach them how to organize their coupons, we are going to give them that free website that's actually going to do all the work for them. We show them how to read a coupon matchup, which is what will change their life. And then we just show them how to be very efficient about it.
Want to go?
WHAT: Tiffany Ivanovsky Extreme Couponing Event
WHERE: Tuesday, Feb. 23: Clarion Inn Dayton Airport, 10 Rockridge Road, Englewood' Wednesday, Feb. 24: Hilton Garden Inn Dayton Beavercreek, 520 Pentagon Blvd, Dayton
HOURS: Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 2, 5 and 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 2, 5 and 7:30 p.m.
INFO: grocerysmarts.com
Space is limited and you must RSVP to attend.
The event will also include door prizes and giveaways.
For more info and to RSVP, visit DaytonDailyNews.com/coupons.
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