I’ve been teaching shoppers how to save money with coupons for a decade, and the most common complaint I hear is that it takes too much time to clip, organize, sort and find coupons when you need them.  Most shoppers give up in frustration after just a few weeks of trying to use coupons.  It’s no wonder that 99% of grocery coupons are thrown away each year!

If you’d like to get your share of the over $300 billion worth of grocery coupons thrown away annually, then I suggest you take advantage of easy tools on the Internet to simplify using coupons.  Last year we saw the greatest annual increase in coupon usage–a staggering 27% increase in coupon redemption.  I believe this was partially due to the fact that more shoppers are using the Internet to find and organize coupons.

In addition to the Coupon Mom site, most grocery deals blogs reference what I call the ”no-clip” system of using newspaper grocery coupons.  In my opinion, this is the easiest and most efficient system for using coupons if you are crunched for time.

The system is based on the strategy of  waiting until the item goes on sale before using its coupon.  You might not be saving the most if you use the coupon the first week it comes out.  Therefore, this system will tell you where to find the coupons you need and when to use your coupons to save the most.

Here’s how the “No Clip” System works:

• Save the Sunday newspaper grocery coupon circulars each week.  Because 75 to 80% of grocery coupons come from the Sunday newspaper, you will want to get the paper to maximize your savings.  You do not necessarily need to use coupons every week, but you do need to save each week’s circulars to have a full inventory of available grocery coupons.  Write that Sunday’s date on the cover of the circular and save your circulars in a box or a file.  I save mine in a plastic box that is slightly larger than a shoebox.
• When you use the Coupon Mom’s “Grocery Deals by State” section, look for your store’s list of deals.  The list will always reference the coupons you need by the date it came out and the specific coupon company name.  There are generally two coupon circulars: one is SmartSource and one is RedPlum.  For example, coupons that came out on April 5th would be noted as 4/5S or 4/5RP.  You will also find monthly circulars for Procter & Gamble that the system codes as “PG” and occasional circulars from specific companies such as General Mills, Kroger, Kelloggs, etc.  If you use any other grocery savings site, it will most likely use this same coupon coding system as it has become a standard for coupon sites across the web.
• When you review your store’s deals list, you can select the items you like and print a customized list of deals for your shopping. You’ll be able to print a list of coupons needed for your shopping list .
• If a printable or electronic coupon is available for your item, there will be a link next to its listing so that you can print free coupons to go with your list.  Last year the number of available printable grocery coupons doubled and is expected to climb even  higher in 2010.  Electronic coupons are easy to select and load right on your store’s discount card with no clipping required at all.  The value of the coupon comes off your bill automatically when you buy the item.
• Cutting out only the coupons you need when you make your shopping list will take 15 minutes or less per week, as compared to the hours it could take to figure out each stores’ grocery deals and cut out and organize all of the coupons.  You won’t lose the coupons because you cut them out right before you shop, and you won’t have to spend time sorting out expired coupons later.  And you’ll probably save more money than you would if you figured it out yourself because the shopping experts have already scanned your stores’ deals for you.
• If you can’t find your store’s list of deals on the Coupon Mom site or on other grocery savings sites, then go to Google and type in the name of your store and the word “deals” to find local blogs updated by expert shoppers in your city.

Once you land on a simple system that works for you, then saving with grocery coupons will become automatic and can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars in real savings each year.

The gift: Schwinn 2010 Voyageur Tandem Bike
Price: $1,099.99

The lower priced alternative: 26” Kulana Lua Tandem Bike
Price: $239.97

The gift: Bialetti Hot Chocolate Maker
Price: $99.99

The lower priced alternative: Bonjour Hot Chocolate Maker
Price: $19.99

The gift: Explorer Globe by National Geographic
Price: $179.99

The lower priced alternative: Replogle Livingston World Globe
Price: $74.99

The gift: Comfy Ultra Plush Blanket with Sleeves
Price: $39.95

The lower priced alternative: The Snuggie
Price: $14.99

The gift: Jellyfish Art Desktop Jellyfish Tank
Price: $249

The lower priced alternative: LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp
Price: $34.99

The gift: Commemorative seat from the original Yankee Stadium
Price: $799.99

The lower priced alternative: Yankee Stadium Ballpark Cufflinks
Price: $150

The gift: J Schatz Egg Banks
Price: $95

The lower priced alternative: Ceramic Nest Egg Bank
Price: $29.95

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I bring up this segment again because I love some of the tips Redbook collected from its readers, and I wanted to share:

“I buy sets of things and break them up. Last year on QVC, Valerie Parr Hill was selling sets of holiday candles that came with gift bags, tissue, and tags. I bought a set of five and broke them up into five individual gifts.”  —Denise Gaylord, 55, New Bern, NC

“Board games make great family gifts: one gift for four people! I once gave Scrabble to a family, and they loved it because they began spending a lot more time together. Monopoly is another classic.”  —La’Tonya Hocker, 34, Bowling Green, KY

You can read the rest of the Redbook piece here.

Happy Holidays!!

Shop online. “Shopping for gifts online is a stress-free way to shop for the holidays because you avoid traffic and crowds, and you can get a lot done in one sitting,” says Nelson. According to Nelson, the web is a great place to save thanks to things such as coupon codes, free shipping offers and printable mail in rebates. “For example, Amazon.com notes in the item description if there are any “special offers” that go with item, so pay attention. The Special Offer section will list specific coupon codes, free shipping, or rebate details,” she adds.

Search for printable coupons. “When I go out to local stores, I always search for a printable coupon by entering the name of the retailer and the term “printable coupon” in a search engine,” says Nelson. She also makes a habit of scoring her newspaper flyers for department store coupons.

Change it up. According to Nelson, many people don’t realize that some coupons are interchangeable between different stores. “Craft stores tend to accept each others coupons so you can save more by saving all of them. Since craft stores have toys, craft kits, picture frames, vases, books and more, they are a great place to get gifts,” she says.

Get creative. According to Nelson, making gift baskets for those on your list is a creative way to save money during the holiday season. “I create gift baskets with bargains I’ve bought at the drugstore with coupons and rebates such as a spa basket with body wash, shampoo, nail tools, and scented candles that I bought for 80% off or more.” And don’t forget to include the chocolate. “Drugstores are also a great place to buy boxed chocolates. This week I bought big boxes of chocolates usually priced at $9 for only $3 each,” adds Nelson.

Discounted gift certificates. “I’m a big fan of Restaurant.com for discounted restaurant gift certificates.” According to Nelson, the sit offers $25 gift certificates for just $10. Additionally, if you visit CouponMom.com before your purchase you can net a savings of an extra 60-80% off your purchase. “For example, a 70% off code allows you to buy a $25 certificate for only $3, or a $100 certificate for only $12,” says Nelson.

Want more of Nelson’s money-saving tips? Click here, enter “Coupon Mom” into the message box and you could win a copy of her new book “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bill in Half.”

Well, for the record, I like this movie. It’s one of those — like the American President or Serendipity — I  watch every time it’s on TV. But the embarrassment factor?  I don’t think so.

And neither does the randomly-selected, not scientifically-valid, sample of folks I’ve been asking a similar question: Would you rather have your debit card turned down at checkout for insufficient funds or fork over $35 to $39 in overdraft fees?  “Are you kidding?” is the typical response.  “Let them deny the card.”

Starting July 1, 2010 they’re going to have to.  At least unless you let them off the hook. The Federal Reserve has ruled that banks will no longer be allowed to automatically enroll their customers in overdraft protection programs for ATM and most debit card transactions. This means, unless you’ve got the money in your account, your debit transaction will be denied and you’ll have to come up with some other form of payment.  That’s great news, particularly for anyone who’s been subjected to the multiple fees overdrawing your account and then debiting freely can layer on in a single day.  It can, literally, cost hundreds.

The question is — what do you do now, until the new rule takes effect?  Well, you can hope Congress takes action.  That might put a lid on fees creeping higher, though it wouldn’t likely speed up the clock.  The more effective strategy: Tell your current bank you want to opt out NOW.  It may work.

Bank of America began allowing consumers to opt out of overdraft in mid-October and won’t charge overdraft fees if you’re less than $10 overdrawn.  Starting next June, it will also start to limit the number of overdraft fees a single account can incur in a year.

Chase will also allow opting out as well as cutting the number of overdrafts charges per day you can rack up (if you don’t opt out) to three from six.

And Wells Fargo (and Wachovia) will also let you opt out as well as eliminating fees on over drafts of $5 or less and capping fees at four per day.

If you’re assessed a fee, call and complain immediately.  The more business you do with the bank, the more likely you are to see it reversed.

Finally, how about banking online — if you’re not already — so that you can keep better tabs on the money flowing into and out of your account.  A few keystrokes and you be able to avoid the problem entirely.  No matter when your bank decides to join the parade.

The day is all about embracing, planning for and diving into reinvention, whether that means launching your second career, retiring or moving to a new city.  So it’s fitting that Mika Brzezinski, of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, is in the role of emcee.  During breakfast, she told our crowd of women of her own reinvention after she was let go from CBS several years ago.   In the time that followed, she went on interview after interview.  She worked the phones, knocked on doors, and begged – her words, not mine – for a new position.  Finally, she was a signature away from taking a job in public relations when she realized that she wasn’t being true to herself.  So what did Mika do?  She got back on the phone, went back to knocking on doors, and landed a freelance gig for MSNBC, reading 30-second news updates between the network’s shows.  It didn’t pay well, it wasn’t her dream job, but it was on track to get her where she wanted to go.

Barbara Corcoran, who lead one of the first sessions of the day, has a similar story.  After selling her real estate company the Corcoran Group for $70 million in 2001, she sank into what can only be described as a depression.  Sure, she had lots of money.  But she’d lost the sense of community that went with going to work each day, she missed her daily calls from the media looking for quotes, she hated not having an answer when people reliably asked, “What are you doing now?”   Bottom line – she was rich, but she’d lost her sense of self.

One day she decided to make a list.  She wrote down every single thing that she liked about being president of the Corcoran Group.  She repeated the process for the twenty-something other jobs she’s held, everything from hot dog vendor to waitress.  And she found that the one thing they had in common, the one thing she loved about them all, was the grand-standing, the attention.  And so she, too, considered a career in public relations, but ultimately decided that she was more suited to TV.

And so – like Mika – she worked the phones.  She knocked on doors.  And she finally landed a job as a political consultant on Fox News.  It wasn’t in her line of expertise – in fact, she says prior to it, she’d only read the New York Times when she was quoted in it – but it was on track to get her where she wanted to go.

Are you – like me – sensing a pattern here? Both of these inspiring women took their reinventions in stages.  They took time to figure out how, exactly, they wanted to reinvent themselves, and once they’d zeroed in on that end goal, they didn’t waver.  Sure, they accepted positions that weren’t ideal – you have to start somewhere – but they did it not because they were settling, but because they had faith that those jobs would get them where they wanted to be.

I don’t need to tell you how Mika and Barbara’s stories turned out, but I will.  Mika is co-host of not only Morning Joe, but also The Joe Scarborough Show on ABC Radio.  Barbara is the real estate contributor on the Today show, as well as the only woman on Shark Tank, a reality show on ABC that lets entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to her and four other possible investors.

-Janet, New York

Coupons, it seems, are everywhere these days. One look at today’s New York Times piece about the “Clip and Save Renaissance,” and you’ll see that in the past year using coupons has become, dare I say it, the cool thing to do.

According to the Promotions Marketing Association, consumers are saving $3 billion per year by using coupons. But how can you get your slice of the pie? You’re on the right track clipping the coupons you find in your Sunday paper (that’s where 90% of coupons are found, according to the PMA). But, according to Charlie Brown, co-chair of the PMA Coupon Council, there are lots of other places you could be looking. “One of the largest sources of coupons is in the store itself. About 5% of coupons are distributed there. Some stores have them where they’ll print it with the deli meat or cheese. You’ll see them on the package themselves,” says Brown. Surprisingly, Brown says that only 30% of these in-store coupons are ever cashed in.

Scouring the web for coupons can also net you some great deals. “The Internet is a huge growing source. There are very legitimate sites that are set up only for distribution of coupons,” says Brown. Sites such as RedPlum.com, Coupons.com, and CouponShack.com all offer coupons on everything from groceries to apparel. One of my favorite tricks to get discounts or coupons when shopping online is Googling the item I want to purchase along with the words “promotion code,” or “discount.” If you don’t have a specific product in mind and are just looking for the discounts in general, PromotionCode.org is a great place to start.

If you want to get the most out of coupons you’re going to have to put in a little bit of legwork. “Our studies show that if you spend less than 10 minutes a week, you can save about 7% on your grocery bill. Those that invest 20 minutes a week can save up to 20%,” says Brown. Say you spend about $80 a week in groceries. By spending twenty minutes a week couponing you could save $16 a week. That’s $64 a month. Even better, it’s $768 a year.

Once you’ve got the coupons, don’t forget to implement a little bit of strategy. “I recommend organizing your coupons according to the way that you shop the store. Within that segment put the ones that expire first at the beginning of the group,” suggests Brown.

Lastly, coupon stacking is also a great tactic. When you stack your coupons, you’re using more than one coupon on an item to multiply your savings. The rules on this will vary by store, but I’ve found that most retailers will allow you to do so