WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Consumers urged to "Be Centsable"

Consumers urged to "Be Centsable"

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By Andre Moreau - bio | email

PRAIRIEVILLE, LA (WAFB) - A woman shows how she turns a $169 grocery bill into just $11 as she kicks off a brand new trend to help others save money.

Maggie Howes knows how to stretch a dollar. "I personally have three daughters," she said. "One of them is still in diapers, which is pretty costly." In a time when a monthly grocery bill of $650 is not out of the question, Maggie is awakening her "shopping cents-abilities," at least that's the goal of her "Be Cents-able" seminars. "People just take for granted that groceries are something that we do have to pay a lot of money for. It's a big expense in our life."

Maggie teaches lessons on how to get the most "bang for your buck." For example, she could have paid nearly $170 for all of these everyday items, but one tiny tip amounted to big savings. "Many people don't know that you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same product." Maggie walked out of the store having paid just $11!

However, the money-saving strategies don't stop there. Maggie teaches lessons on searching the Sunday paper and combining the circulars with in-store deals. She also shows shoppers where to find the best bargains on the internet. "They can get items for very rock-bottom prices, sometimes free. Sometimes they'll even get money back on a purchase. We really can take that in our own hands and have our own destiny with our savings."

All those savings do have one small price. "You do have to sometimes plan a little more than you normally would for a regular trip to the store," she said. Maggie says it's worth the extra hour a week you might have to put into your savings search. "Once you get started saving, it is quite addictive!"