[Kmchamplin]

Congrats to vrtuoswmn on being a FAMOUS AFC person!

St Pete Times Article

http://www.tampabay.com/features/con...icle892977.ece

The same article ran today in the TBT Friday Edition of the St Pete Times and will run again NEXT Sunday in the St Pete Times Floridian section (most likely with more details and pics!)

The NEWS Broadcast is tonight. Tampa Bay Channel 10 News. 11pm EST on Channel 10 in Tampa Bay...

Website:

10connects.com | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater | Home | 10connects.com | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater

Also, the reporter and camera man are passing her name on to the person who runs the mom-to-mom portion to see if there is interest in a Weekly Column!!!! So Cool!!!

Her Kmart Doubles picture made it into the St Pete Times!

Parenting | tampabay.com - St. Petersburg Times and tbt*

That was over $1900 and OOP was $170 including tax! 6 trips!

[twinkie23]

Karen....how fabulous of you to Post this important day in vrtuosmn life!

[Kmchamplin]

I am extrememly proud of her and I wish that I could see it live on TV. Now I know how all of you felt when I did mine and couldn't watch it right away. This is so hard to wait!

[Kmchamplin]

<object classid='clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000' codebase='http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0' width='320' height='305' id='embeddedplayer'><param name='movie' value='http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-wtsp-3313-pub01-live/current/immersiveplayer/immersive/client/embedded/embedded.swf'/><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'/><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='always'/><param name='scale' value='noscale'/><param name='salign' value='LT'/><param name='bgcolor' value='#000000'/><param name='wmode' value='window'/><param name='FlashVars' value='playerId=immersiveplayer&referralObject=922 884954&referralPlaylistId=19ef553b178cf268ca5e9bb8 e1ee73b5d0832d01&adServerBasePath=http://gcirm.gannett-tv.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads&adPositionId=x25&adSiteId=video.wt sp.com/news&gpaperCode=gntbcstwtsp&marketName=Tampa Bay, FL&division=broadcast&pageContentCategory=immersiv eplayer&pageContentSubcategory=immersiveplayer'/><embed type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-wtsp-3313-pub01-live/current/immersiveplayer/immersive/client/embedded/embedded.swf' id='embeddedplayer' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' menu='false' quality='high' play='false' name='immersiveplayer' height='305' width='320' allowFullScreen='true' allowScriptAccess='always' scale='noscale' salign='LT' bgcolor='#000000' wmode='window' flashvars='playerId=immersiveplayer&referralObject =922884954&referralPlaylistId=19ef553b178cf268ca5e 9bb8e1ee73b5d0832d01&adServerBasePath=http://gcirm.gannett-tv.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads&adPositionId=x25&adSiteId=video.wt sp.com/news&gpaperCode=gntbcstwtsp&marketName=Tampa Bay, FL&division=broadcast&pageContentCategory=immersiv eplayer&pageContentSubcategory=immersiveplayer'' /></object>

[vrtuoswmn]

CLICK HERE to watch me over and over and over again.

[vrtuoswmn]

Here is the written article:

Coupon queen | 10connects.com | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater

[Kmchamplin]

Great job and here you were nervous last night. You got a bunch of stuff for CHEAP!

[SophiesMommy]

you did so great i love seeing you ladies on tv!!!

[justfluffyme]

Seeing ya'll keeps me inspired to keep going. Karen you should be AFC's press agent!

How do ya'll end up on TV anyway? I'd be scared to deat!

[thekains]

yeah!! You guys are really getting the word out there!

[DeannaJoy]

Wow! way to go!!!! That's awesome!

[30good]

Oh, how inspiring...........You have set the mark, and I wish I had a Publix

[starbasset]

Yea, this girl is good! .... notice how organized and neat her cart was!?

She deserve some bling.

[lorinlucy]

Wow!! I enjoyed watching that - man, I want to be like you

[maybaby]

Wow! That was great!!! Wish I could do that well!!

[VintageTink]

I am soooo inspired by you even more than i already am haha. I love publix by the way i wish we had them here haha. You go girl

[Little J's Mom]

Great job!

[Kristie]

Great job

[spellbinded2004]

Great job! I really enjoyed watching the video!

[Carina]

The link to the Tampa article no longer works. I wanted to read it again.

[z24racerchic]

That video was awesome Carol-Ann. It would be so nice if you could do a weekly column for them

[vrtuoswmn]

Originally Posted by Carina

The link to the Tampa article no longer works. I wanted to read it again.

New Tampa shopper's cut-rate mission: clip, save with coupons - St. Petersburg Times

[vrtuoswmn]

New Tampa shopper's cut-rate mission: clip, save with coupons

By Susan Thurston, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, November 7, 2008


Carol-Ann Mendoza, 31, sits at a table of coupons in her home near New Tampa. Every Sunday, she buys 15 to 20 newspapers for the coupon inserts. It works.

Mendoza says it’s a good shopping day when she saves at least 90 percent off her total bill. How much do you save?

She talks in code, shares tips for getting free stuff and barters groceries for babysitting. When Kmart offers double coupons, she's among the first through the door.

Carol-Ann Mendoza is a professional coupon-clipper, if there were such a thing. Manufacturer coupons. BOGO deals. She's mastered them all.

Friends accuse of her having OCD: Obsessive coupon disorder.

Mendoza hits three or four stores a week — from Wal-Mart to Winn-Dixie to Walgreens — trolling for sales. She knows the latest buy-one-get-one deals at Publix and extra-bucks items at CVS. She considers it a good day when she saves at least 90 percent off the total bill. Take a recent trip to Kmart. Her purchases rang up to $319, but after sales and coupons, which Kmart doubled last week, she paid $18, which included taxes.

Mendoza's strategy centers on finding the lowest price for an item and coupling it with a high-value coupon. She pays attention to BOGO deals because most stores let you use two coupons, even though you're paying for one item. She loads up on trial sizes, which often accept coupons. (Watch for coupons that exclude trial sizes.)

Every Sunday, she buys 15 to 20 newspapers for the coupon inserts. No promotion here, but she says the St. Petersburg Times has the best ones.

She admits it's like a part-time job, only it pays in terms of money saved, not earned. Mendoza, 31, started clipping seriously about a year and a half ago. She had quit her job of 11 years to be a stay-at-home mom and was looking for ways to trim expenses.

At the time, she and her husband, Roger, had two children. Now they have four, ages 10, 9, 17 months and almost 3 months. They adopted the older two from Haiti. They live in Meadow Pointe near New Tampa.

About a year ago, she took her couponing online. She took over FloridaCouponers.com and started a Yahoo group, Frugal Mamas, which has about 60 members from Ocala to Sarasota. She also founded a coupon club at her church, which happens to meet in a former Winn Dixie.

Then the economy started to crack. For many coupon-clippers, what was once a hobby became a necessity.

• • •

Every month, usually the last Friday, Mendoza and her coupon crew meet at one of their homes to talk deals and comb through each other's reject piles. For these three hours, coupons take priority.

Over iced tea and dessert, preferably bought at a discount, the women share tips and GDAs, short for ''good deal alerts.'' Mendoza passes out tip sheets for the latest sales at Wal-Mart. Vlasic relish, free with IPC — Internet printed coupon. Endust spray, 63 cents with $2 regular coupon.

The list goes on and on and on.

Every party has a door prize tied to coupons. Last month's was 20 new coupon inserts that hadn't been poached. Winner Roxanne Arcement was thrilled. "I know what I'm going to do when I get home.''

Mendoza sends about 1,400 e-mails a month, mostly about coupon alerts and store sales, but also about prayer requests. Want coupons for Meow Mix? Mendoza will blast an ISO — in search of — asking members to bring them to the next party. Even her most faithful say keeping track of it all can be time-consuming. But it pays off. After three months of following Mendoza's lead, members save an average 50 percent on their monthly grocery bill.

And they get hooked.

"Any time I don't have a coupon just kills me,'' Katrina Sequenzia said.

• • •

The coupon clipping goes beyond saving money. When one of Mendoza's friends fell on hard times, she took her shopping and reduced the family of six's grocery bill from $1,000 to $700 a month. When a mother was diagnosed with cancer, the group brought groceries to the monthly party.

Mendoza is a sucker for RAOK (random acts of kindness).

She's known to hang out in store baby aisles, peeking into people's carts and giving them coupons for the items. Stand next to her in the checkout line, and she's bound to save you some money. The majority of people are receptive, even grateful for the help. Every once in a while, a clerk gives her an attitude. Once, a customer in line behind her grumbled about having coupons outlawed.

Mendoza just smiled. Her sales receipt got the last word.

Tips to save

• Look for BOGO (buy one, get one) deals and couple them with two manufacturer coupons.

• Don't be embarrassed to ask your friends for their extra coupons. They are like money.

• Price shop. Wal-Mart will match any price if you bring in a competitor's ad.

• Stick to your shopping list so you aren't tempted to buy full-priced items.

• Check out Sweetbay and Winn-Dixie for discounted meat. The stores usually cut prices in the mornings on meat about to expire.

• Leave the kids and husband at home when you shop. They often sneak noncoupon items into the cart.

• Give your two cents about a product by calling the manufacturer. They'll often send you coupons or free stuff.

•If a store is out of a sale item, ask for a raincheck.

• Never try to pass an expired coupon. That's cheating.

Useful Web sites

• afullcup.com

You can e-mail Carol-Ann Mendoza through www.frugal-mamas.com.

[vrtuoswmn]

CHANNEL 10 Article...

Coupon queen
Posted By: Hetal Gandhi

Wesley Chapel, Fla. - Carol Ann Mendoza is a mother of four who says she has to cut coupons to support her family.

"On average I save about 90 percent," said Mendoza.

She says that 95 percent of her coupons come from the Sunday paper, but she doesn't stop there.

"You can often get online coupons, there are coupons from books like the entertainment book, there are coupons from Blinky machines, from peelies off of products, in product coupons," she explained.

She also writes into companies with comments about their products and says regardless of whether they're negative or positive, the company will usually send her free product coupons.

The idea caught on quickly and soon Mendoza and other Bay area moms were sharing their coupon-cutting techniques.

"There's a coupon group of 60 women locally and they all contribute to letting one another know about good deals," she said.

Mendoza has an elaborate filing system for her coupons, separating different clippings from different stores.

"If you treat your coupons like money, you're not gonna forget them and that's one of my biggest tips. Shop with a list, don't just go in there with a handful of coupons," she said.

The savings almost sound too good to be true.

"Just last month, total groceries and all household items including formula and diapers I purchased $1,399.00 worth and I only paid $169 after tax," she said.

We followed Mendoza on a shopping trip.

"I primarily shop at Publix, they have great buy one get one deal sales," she said.

She often buys multiple products and either saves them or trades them with other members of her coupon group.

"I find that buying bulk isn't necessarily cheaper as well as buying generic is not necessarily cheaper," she explained.

With a cart full of groceries, Mendoza waited at the check out for a grand total. It came out to $284. Then she took out all her coupons.

"So I actually paid out of my pocket was $18.75 on a total purchase of $284 dollars," she said.

It took her a long time to check out, but she says she's always courteous to the customers behind her in line, warning them about the wait.

"Sometimes they want to stay there in line and they watch and they're amazed and I've met many people in my group that way. They give me their e-mail addresses and they're like I wanna learn too," she said.

Her group also uses some of the bulk items they buy to help families in need. Recently they donated groceries to a family of a cancer patient. In addition, she uses groceries to save on some of her other bills.

"For child care, someone might watch my 18 month old daughter for three hours and I'll give her four bags of groceries," she said.

She hopes her children learn the value of money through her example, and with tough economic times ahead, she doesn't plan on cutting out coupon use anytime soon.

"Hopefully the future is brighter, but it's always good to save," she said.

Click here to check out some of the latest coupons on our Moms Like Me website.
Hetal Gandhi, 10Connects