LEWISTON — Like a lot of budget-minded consumers, Megan Parks used to grimace when the cashier totaled her groceries.

“Some weeks we spent $300,” said her husband, Jason Parks.

They used to shop without a list. “We were just barreling through the store, not planning, saying 'That looks good,'” she said.

Megan has changed her shopping ways and has cut her food bill by more than half. On average, they spend a little more than $100 a week for the family of four.

She's done that in two ways.

No more wandering through the store grabbing whatever. She's turned her grocery shopping into a less frequent, highly organized, research-based event.

And she uses coupons, a lot of coupons. In her circle she's known as the coupon queen.

Megan started last year by using coupons she got from the store. Then she started clipping coupons from the Sunday newspaper.

She saved. She got excited. She wanted more.

Now, before she shops, she plans meals. She makes a list. She researches. She clips coupons, cross checking which ones she already has versus new ones.

When she's finally ready to grab a cart, Megan is armed with her little black book — her coupon binder. Her binder has small files where coupons are categorized: store, baby, pets, deli, pasta, general, pharmacy, snacks, dairy, bread, frozen, other.

All that work pays off.

She showed a receipt for a recent trip to Shaw's, where she does most of her shopping. She bought 112 items and paid $215.44 after coupon savings. Her coupon savings totaled $107.87.

Much of that is the timing, she said. She doubles up on coupons and uses them during sales.

How she does it

Megan offered up some examples.

— Airwick room fresheners: Normal price at Shaw's is $2.29. They were on sale that week for $1.79. She had several “buy-one-get-one-free” coupons. She also had more coupons offering $1.50 off any Airwick product. “I use those coupons together, and I used three sets of those coupons together,” Megan said. “I bought six for 87 cents,” about 15 cents each.

— Gillette deodorant and body wash, normal price $4.49 for deodorant, $4.79 for body wash. “The deodorant was on sale for $3.79. I used 2 coupons each. The first one was 'buy a deodorant and get a body wash free' coupon in the Sunday paper.” The second was $2.50 off any Gillette deodorant. She bought five deodorants using five of each coupon. She paid $6.45 for five deodorants and got five body washes free.

— Kielbasa: Normal price, $4.99 a pound. “They were on sale at Save-A-Lot for $1.99. I had a coupon for $1 off for two Hillshire Farms,” she said. “It worked out to $1.49 a pound. We have kielbasa coming out our ears,” Megan said, noting that she'll freeze them. “We have an extra fridge. That's where all the overstock goes.”

— Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner, usually $3.99 each. “They were on sale at Shaw's, reduced to sell at 50 percent off. I had a coupon for $1 off for any Garnier shampoo or conditioner. I used six coupons.” After the coupons she paid $5.94 for six bottles, about 99 cents each.

— Free OJ. Once in a while she'll get something for free using coupons. Recently Minute Maid orange juice went on sale for $1.49. “I had a $1.50 coupon. They gave me a penny to take their orange juice” she said with a grin. That kind of savings doesn't happen often, she said.

Megan gets coupons from several sources; one is the Sunday newspaper. “I have the paper delivered. I go in and buy extra copies for 75 each since I'm a subscriber. I make up that in one coupon.”

Another source is the stores themselves, mostly Shaw's, Megan said, showing off one that read “get $10 off your next purchase.”

She also gets coupons online. One site she recommends is www.coupon.com. Another is direct from the manufacturer online.

Shop less frequently

Another change Megan recommends is shopping less often.

“We try to do the big one once every three weeks. They make a quick trip back to the store each week for bread, milk, fresh vegetables, “things that don't last.” They used to buy a big load every Sunday. “But it seemed like it was getting higher and higher.” When they shopped every week they bought too many things they didn't need, she said.

To shop on a three-week schedule, Megan makes menus for three weeks. She makes a shopping list from the menu, and checks her list with the sale fliers and her coupons.

Her three-week menu isn't rigid, she said, but is more of a guide. “We probably have 20 meals total. I rotate them, mix it up with different vegetables.”

When she first started using coupons aggressively, “I found it annoying,” her husband said. He doesn't find it annoying anymore. “The savings is quite substantial.”

The family has cut back on snack food, but doesn't go without, he said. “She spends an hour every few weeks getting all this together,” Jason said.

She's all business about saving.

“I take my coupons very seriously,” Megan said. “When I found out my mom was throwing her coupons away every week, I got upset. I said, 'What are you doing? You can't throw coupons away!' It's throwing away money.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com