Landi Ray had a chance to be on the show “Extreme Couponing” – a

reality type program where people slash their grocery bills by hundreds

of dollars.

She said no.

“They emailed me and I didn’t respond,” said Ray, who lives in Fruitland, Idaho.

She saves lots of money by using coupons, and even offers classes to teach others how to save money at the grocery store.

But she doesn’t like the portrayal on “Extreme Couponing.”

“I don’t think it promotes what I teach in my classes,” she said of

the TV show. “I’m anti-clearing shelves, and I don’t like hoarding.”

Ray is coming west to give a class on couponing at 6 p.m. Friday at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, 2020 Auburn Ave.

Cost to attend is $1, which will cover Ray’s gas costs. To register,

call the Baker City Herald, 541-523-3673. (The newspaper is sponsoring

the class.)

She’ll also offer a class in La Grande on Sept. 23. The class will be at 7 p.m. at Curt’s RV, 62851 Philynda Loop

Her class will last between 90 minutes and two hours. She will share tips on how to save major money at the grocery store, and stock up for those months when money is a bit tight.

She suggests having six months worth of pasta, pasta sauce, canned vegetables and other non-perishable items.

“So if they have a bump in the road in life, they have a cushion. Couponing makes that possible,” she said. “I teach people how to take care of their families.”

Her grocery budget is $60 a week for her family of five.

The first task to saving money is to gather coupons. She recommends buying at least five Sunday papers, which are generally stuffed with manufacturer coupons to clip. You can also print coupons off the Internet, or order from a coupon-clipping service.

Then you shop the sales, matching up those manufacturer coupons with items on sale, or items featured in store coupons.

You can save even more if the store offers “doubler” coupons, which can increase manufacturer coupons by 50 cents or $1, depending on store policies.

Last week, Ray paired her coupons with an Albertson’s sale to buy 60 boxes of Hamburger Helper. (She sent most of that with her husband, who works in a North Dakota oil field.)

She also bought a bunch of au gratin potatoes and cake mixes, all offered in a sale where you got money back if you bought a certain number of participating items.

All told, she got about $400 worth of food for $50.

One of her tricks is to pre-order what she will buy. That way everything is ready when she arrives at the store, and she doesn’t have to remove a bunch of the sale items from the shelf. (Ever made a special trip to the store only to find the sale item all sold out?)

During her class, Ray will also explain the different types of coupons, and store policies.

Once she checks the store advertisements and the available coupons, she posts her savings on her blog, www.coupons-r-fun.com. She also has a facebook page under the same name.

“That informs people so they know what’s going on,” she said.

But you’ll still need coupons, and she suggests filing those in a three-ring binder.

“If you’re not organized, you’ll get frustrated,” she said.

Once a month she removes the expired coupons to make room for more. She recommends donating those expired coupons to members of the military, who can use them on base up to six months past their date.

“When you have all that savings coming to you, you need to give back,” she said.

She dreads the days when she stops at the store and forgets her coupons.

“It’s scary. I don’t know how people buy food without coupons,” she said.

With three kids, she said she goes through a lot of cereal. Her rule is to never pay more than 75 cents per box.

When cereal is on sale, she stocks up.

“I’ll buy 50 boxes,” she said.

As couponing has become more popular, she said it’s brought problems, too.

“You can’t even hardly find Sunday papers down here,” she said.

She said newspapers have been moved behind customer service counters because people were stealing coupons but leaving the paper. And coupon binders are sometimes snatched from shopping carts if left unattended.

All that has given a bad name to those who use coupons.

“This is how I’m giving back – teaching people how to do it the right way,” she said.