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Chicago Sun-Times
Sunday June 15, 2008

Readers were both captivated and skeptical of coupon clipper Jill Cataldo's savings, which included buying 58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars for $5.15 total. (You can see her receipts at suntimes.com) After the story was published Thursday, we received many comments, and Jill responded to some of them herself.

  Everybody may use coupons, but this lady without a doubt is excessive. $65 bucks a week -- come on she is using a lot of coupons, which is good for HER, BUT a nuisance for the people behind her in line who have to wait while she makes sure she got her 10 cents off on every item - crooked politician

Wow, I raise two boys alone and I'm frugal, another word for cheap.Good job young lady the people in line behind you need the xtra time in line to meditate on patience and tolerance so they don't grow up to be like this crooked politician guy.Of course being nice is challenging to many but not to most.Imagine the money you would save if you weren't in a hurry.Easy does it!!!You go girl and your kids won't wind up in some gang. Family first. - hamuu

I am a coupon queen too! Hey crooked guy, you have no idea what coupons are worth these days. 10 cents? Youre missing out. Try $1, $2, $5 off things and more. Jewel has Purina dog food right now for $3.99. With a $3 off coupon, that's only 99 cents. Coupons are just like CASH. You are behind the times!! You better get used to waiting because the way prices are, people are going to be using MORE coupons not less..... - jessicap

Hi, I'm Jill from the article. I'd be happy to answer questions about what I do.

Our family, honestly, is eating better than we did before I started doing this. We do not eat a lot of processed foods at all -- I only buy organic milk, no foods with high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial sweeteners (no Splenda, Nutrasweet, Acesulfame K.) So yes, you can still eat healthy and do this.

To say you cannot get coupons for produce, dairy, and the foods we should be eating is not true -at all-. This time of year, because it's grilling season, there are a lot of coupons out for various meats. I buy lots and freeze them to eat later when the price goes back up.

Do you know about Jewel's Avenu web discounts? Just for logging in and viewing the Avenu page (avenu.jewelosco.com) you get 24 automatic discounts on things that day. These are over and above your Preferred discounts. Produce is on there all the time - example, an extra $1.25 off a bag of potatoes, when the potatoes are $2.25/bag, makes them just $1. You don't even need a paper coupon.

This week, organic milk is on Avenu for $1.50 off a half gallon. The milk is $3. You can print a 50-cent off coupon from the milk's website, and the milk is now just $1 with those discounts combined - an excellent price for organic.

Anytime you can combine several discounts on the same item, your potential to save grows even more. - jillcat

What was that $10 "GM Savings" coupon on the receipt? It wasn't mentioned in the article. How does one get a $10 coupon? - john kuczaj

The $10 General Mills savings was part of the promotion Jewel was running in May. Certain brands of cereal and granola bars were on sale for $2 each. If you bought 10 boxes in one transaction, the register automatically took an additional $10 off your total at the end, no coupon needed. - jillcat

(photo caption: Jill Cataldo is a coupon queen.)