Alright, Triangle coupon shoppers, here is your official notice: I hear some pretty deep rumblings that Harris Teeter may hold a triple coupon event this week.

I also hear that it may start on Wednesday (coincidentally, my birthday... happy birthday to me!)

And I also hear that it could last for a whole week this time around. Hang onto your hats if that one is true!

Keep your eyes here for a confirmation post AND a list of good deals later this week...

If you participated in the Procter & Gamble "Year of Savings" promotion last year, the promised coupon books have started arriving. When you get yours, you'll see it's divided into thirds. In general, there's one copy of each coupon in each third of the book. The ones in the first third expire first (in a few months). The coupons in the second third expire a few months after that. And the coupons in the final section of the book expire at the end of the year ... hence the "Year of Savings" title.

There are two things I want to mention about this book:

1) You can use the coupons any time you like during the year, but obviously it makes sense to use the ones in the front of the book first because they expire first. But if you wanted to use all three of the Tide coupons on a really good sale, you could totally do that.

2) Be careful ripping the coupons out of the book. They're on thick paper and there is a perforated edge. But even if you fold the coupon on that perforated edge first, they can still rip if you pull too hard in the wrong direction.

There's a TV commercial for Walt Disney World that makes me laugh every time I see it. The commercial has nothing to do with coupons but is set in a grocery store check-out aisle. There's a woman who is checking out but is rifling through an envelope of coupons. She eventually finds one for Disney World that magically results in fireworks and fun visions of her family on vacation. But it's the three seconds before the fireworks that make me laugh. As she searches through her coupons, the guy behind her in line looks like he just wants to kill her. One day, I told my husband, "Oh, he's a coupon hater." I didn't say it to be funny, but my husband thought the phrase was hysterical.

So here's my question for you this Monday morning: have you run into a coupon hater in line? What happened? How did you handle it?

Nowadays, more people are trying to learn how to save with coupons. So I thought I'd dig up an oldie but a goodie this Monday morning... A long, long time ago (ie. 2006), I ran a little experiment where I contacted 100 companies and asked them to send me coupons. In the end, nearly half of them sent me something, and all of my coupons totaled $242.57 in value. (Or more, if I used them at stores that double!)

So... if you are interested, here's the link to my story. There's a link at the bottom to a second smaller story that ran along with the main story.

And I thought I'd invite you to share. Have you contacted any companies to ask for coupons? Which ones sent you something? If you all post enough responses, I just might be convinced to share my list...

I've written before about shopping at warehouse clubs. It is my firm belief that there are definitely deals to be had. But I also believe that you still need to comparison shop, calculating the price per ounce or gram or pound. That way you can compare the deals at the warehouse with the ones you can get at the regular food store. Sometimes, with a coupon and a good sale, you can beat the warehouse club price on some items.

Anyway, I thought this story was interesting about how people are buying more food at warehouse clubs, but less of other items. To me that says folks are really focused on the essentials right now and not much else.

So what do you buy at the warehouse club? And what do you buy somewhere else? If you can offer details about how much you pay, that would be great...

Many of you have probably noticed a phenomenon that some people call the grocery "shrink ray." Food manufacturers are including less food in the package while still charging the same amount, justifying the downsizing as a way to cover rising commodity costs. The shrink ray has hit a wide variety of products, from ice cream to peanut butter. And unfortunately, this has become pretty common.

So I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail from Ben & Jerry's this week declaring that at least for B&J's, a pint is still a pint. The e-mail read in part: "One of our competitors (think funny sounding European name) recently announced they will be downsizing their pints from 16 to 14 ounces to cover increased ingredient & manufacturing costs and help improve their bottom line. At Ben & Jerry’s we think downsizing pints is downright wrong. We understand that in today’s hard economic times businesses are feeling the pinch. We also understand that many of you are also feeling the same, & think now more than ever you deserve your full pint of ice cream."

I realize, of course, that this e-mail is part of a marketing blitz. But I can't help but give B&Js some credit. After all, a girl's got to have her ice cream...

Over my years of teaching people how to save with coupons, I've found that folks who are new to couponing really find it helpful to know that even the pros make mistakes or do things that don't make sense sometimes. It's a little bit of comfort in a very confusing world. And so with that in mind, I offer the following story for all you newbies (and you pros, too):

Last night I was at Target and I noticed that the store had a bunch of Scotch packing and mailing supplies on clearance. I had a coupon to get a free roll of packing tape when you buy one of those wrapping paper cutter tools. I don't NEED the cutting tool. I don't even really want it. But I've been waiting to use this coupon forever because the allure of FREE packing tape was just so strong.

So I bought the cutter and the packing tape. I used my coupon and was really pleased with myself. It was only after I got home that I actually thought about the transaction and realized that it would have been cheaper for me to just buy the tape (clearance price $2.23) rather than buying the cutter I didn't really want (clearance price $2.37) and using my coupon. Now I have to figure out what to do with this cutter and I feel like I overspent by 14 cents. But c'est la vie... The bottom line: there's always a better deal tomorrow.

With so many people getting into coupons, I thought it might be a good time to talk about organizing coupons. Whatever system you use, the key is to find one that works for you. Because if it doesn't work for you and make sense in your head, chances are that you won't use it. And that kind of defeats the purpose!

Those of you who have been to my classes will know that I use a pretty advanced system that involves a three-ring binder. (You can view a video of me talking about my binder here.) You can also read my general post about organizing coupons here.

But what I'm really interested in is hearing about the systems that you use. Maybe you will inspire someone with your idea! Share away... 

Every now and then, I ask you guys what you are in search of (or ISO). Feel free to post items you are having a difficult time locating, and maybe one of your fellow savvy shoppers can help you out.

For people posting ISO items, be as specific as possible... describe the package, where you used to find the item and any other relevant details.

If you are responding to an ISO query, be sure to say which product you are talking about, since we will likely have a couple of topics going at once.

Let's see if we can help each other out! 

OK, Ikea fans... the Charlotte store has been officially open for all of six hours, but I know some of you have already been there. Share your opening day stories and triumphs here...