LYNN NEARY, host:
Lazy Sunday mornings, time to catch up on some sleep, sip coffee, read the paper and maybe…
(Soundbite of paper tearing)
NEARY: …clip a few coupons. Well, that might've been the case some years ago, but now in the digital day and age, when everyone's moving faster than a tweet on Twitter, who has time to sleep, sip and snip? Coupons are now available electronically via Web sites and cell phones, and they're becoming increasingly popular, especially with the younger generation.
Thirty-year-old accountant April Englebert is here to tell us how she's using e-coupons to help save money in this ailing economy. She joins us from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Good to have you with us, April.
Ms. APRIL ENGLEBERT (Accountant): Hello.
NEARY: So tell me, April, as an accountant, do you consider yourself to be a thrifty person?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: I think so. By nature I am, yes.
NEARY: How exactly do you get these kind of coupons? Maybe you can explain it to those of us who are challenged in this way?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: There are different avenues, anywhere from Twitter to Facebook, sometimes on the manufacturer's Web site itself, also eBay. Sometimes I buy physical coupons when there's something that I need to buy a large quantity of in order to get a deal. Several avenues.
NEARY: So, do you have to have a sort of printout or can you do this digitally, as well?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Not necessarily. Grocery stores: yes, you do, because they physically have to scan the bar code. Usually it's like a coupon code. Sometimes you'll get, like, specifically with the fast food chains, you can text a code to this number and they'll send you via a text message a coupon code for, you know, any certain item. And all's you have to do is go into the restaurant and show your cell phone to them.
NEARY: So have you figured out how much money you've saved?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Typically, when I go to the grocery store, I don't pay any more than 50 percent of my bill. On a good day, I'll probably pay 20 percent of the bill.
NEARY: Wow, that's great.
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Yeah.
NEARY: How much time do you have to spend doing this, though, on an average, would you say?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: I spend probably a few hours a week. Luckily, there are two sites that I go to that they pretty much do all the legwork for you. It's crazycouponlady.com and here in the Northwest it's Frugal Living Northwest. They'll match up the coupons with the store that's having the sale and tell you, you know, exactly what you need to go, to which store, what to buy to get the best deals. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: "crazycouponlady.com" is an incorrect URL. Sites are TheCrazyCouponLady.com or http://krazycouponlady.blogspot.com/]
(Soundbite of music)
NEARY: What are you doing with all the money you're saving?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Just putting it away in a savings of course.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NEARY: You're saving it?
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Yeah.
(Soundbite of laughter)
(Soundbite of song, "We're in the Money")
Ms. GINGER ROGERS (Actress): (Singing) The long lost dollar has back to the fold.
NEARY: April Englebert joined us from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Good talking with you, April.
Ms. ENGLEBERT: Thank you.
(Soundbite of song, "We're in the Money")
Ms. ROGERS: (Singing) We're in the money, we're in the money. We've got a lot of what it takes to get along. We're in the money. The sky is sunny. Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong. Oh, we never see a headline about breadlines today...
NEARY: This is NPR News.
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