'Joe the Coupon Guy' Shows How To Save

Clipping coupons may seem like more hassle than it's worth – until you realize you can save $100 per hour of work.

That's the lesson "Joe the Coupon Guy" Daugirdas shared Tuesday at a program. He said people stood in line for hours a few years ago for the 23-cent pizza LeBron James pizza deal, yet don't use coupons.

"You tell these same people to cut coupons and they say, 'We don't have time for that,'" Daugirdas said.

Daugirdas said he typically saves 70 percent of more on his grocery shopping trips. "The way I do it is to buy things that are half off and use 20 percent off coupons," he said. "When you use double coupons, that's when you get your biggest bang for your buck."

Stores often put items on sale on a six-week rotating cycle, so the key is to buy enough when it's cheapest to last until that item is on sale again, he said.

There also are things he will not buy unless they're at least 90 percent off or even free. "Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, I get that stuff for free," Daugirdas said.

Many times he gets those items from CVS, Rite Aid or Walgreens, buying when there's a sale and he can take advantage of Extra Bucks (CVS), Up Rewards (Rite Aid) or other customer programs, as well as store and manufacturer's coupons.

"Along with store coupons, you can use manufacturer's coupons, Extra Bucks coupons – that's called stacking," he said.

Daugirdas said he was asked to appear on the show Extreme Couponing, but he didn't want to do it unless they also showed that he donates to charity – his biggest donation was 670 pounds of food.

"Churches, food banks, they really need that stuff," he said.

But the show's producers said they weren't interested in that aspect of his coupling.

"They didn't show couponers in the best light," said Daugirdas, adding that some stores changed policies as a result of the program.

"I don't know if anyone saw Bones this week, but they killed an extreme couponer," he added.

Daugirdas said he cuts down on problems by having all of his coupons out, so that other shoppers see that and will not get in line behind him. He added that people shouldn't be concerned about using coupons.

"There's no reason to get embarrassed," he said. "To me, it's me saving money."