Nothing is free - that is, unless you have the right combination of coupons, and a sense of playing the game.

When one of Kendra La Crosse's family members lost a job last fall, she began the game.

"This has been the ticket. I have literally saved hundreds to thousands of dollars. And it has been more plentiful in the house with less money," La Crosse said.

As a Portage mother of three growing boys, La Crosse studies the store ads every week and organizes them from fragrances to chain stores in her index card box.

Her best deal so far?

"One of my Target deals was 30 (single) packs of mac and cheese - which I would never buy because it's just packaging - but I got them all for 40 cents total. I would have bought more, but I bought all of them on the shelf," La Crosse said. "I can never go back to not using coupons, because how could I pay full price again?"

She has become an advocate for coupons, and knows how they work.

"If you have a $1 coupon at a store, the store gets reimbursed from the manufacturer, and then they also get a handling fee. So, the stores are covered. This is a marketing company that uses coupons to get their product into your home," La Crosse, 37, said. "I only wish I would have started this five years ago."

'Frugal all my life'

Growing up in Portage, La Crosse learned about living within a budget from her mother, Martha Mercer. The family had four girls. La Crosse is the second-oldest.

"I've been frugal all my life. With a family of six I had a garden, I made a lot of their clothes, and I couponed, but not to the extent they do. It is a lot more refined nowadays with the Internet," Mercer said.

However, La Crosse's passion for the hunt of saving has rubbed off on her sisters and mother.

"My mom's boyfriend jokes that they pay her to take things out of the stores," La Crosse said.

Mercer went to Target with a $5 gift card. She left with eight brand-name items and money on the card. She bought four bottles of soap, two bags of chips, a package of frozen peas, and a package of frozen biscuits.

"It was four cents per soap because they were $2.04 on sale, and I had a coupon for $2. You get a shopper's high, almost like the next time you go, you want to beat that deal. The adrenaline flows when you walk out of the store," said Mercer, of Waunakee.

The money saved from Mercer's savvy shopping goes toward traveling, she said, while her daughters use the extra cash to pay off bills and support financial goals. However, La Crosse has "perfected" the coupon game, according to younger sister Jenny Cramer, 34.

"I was going to the store at least three days a week at $50 to $60 per trip. And now, my budget is $70 for the week, and I could spend less. If something is really on sale, I really stock up. I'm one of those crazy women that has 10 things of juice because they cost a quarter. My cupboards are bursting," said Cramer, of Waunakee.

Her best buy so far has been at Target, where strawberries were on sale for $1.29 per pound, and Cramer had an in-store coupon for $1. She bought 10 pounds of the berries for 29 cents each.

Cramer is challenging herself not to spend any money on groceries for one month, except for perishables such as milk or fruit. She said she has enough meat, noodles, soups and frozen vegetables in her home from coupons to do it.

"It has made such a huge difference. We've met more financial goals in six months than in our whole marriage of 10 years. Our car payment had four years left on it, and we wanted to take it down to two years. But, in the first six months, we already met the two-year amount, and now we would never get a car loan," Cramer said.

Beyond the coupons, Cramer has a garden, a hen and a share on an organic farm. La Crosse has a vegetable garden and fruit trees in her yard.

Fighting a stigma

After seeing the big savings from coupons, La Crosse said she wonders why there is a "stigma" by using them.

"I don't know if there's a stigma because of the Depression era, or what. It's like, I could afford to spend full price, but I have coupons," La Crosse said. "When stores agree to take coupons, there shouldn't be that feeling (of embarassment). It's my money, and I don't have to give you my money. A coupon is as good as money."

Dave, La Crosse's husband, agrees that there can be attitudes among other customers and store employees.

"It's almost like it's taboo (to use coupons)," Dave said.

Even though the La Crosse children are young, they understand coupons and saving. Twins Andrew and Sam are 5, and Nathan is 4.

La Crosse asked Andrew why the family uses coupons.

"To save money," Andrew said.

The boys get allowances. Half is put into savings, and half is meant for spending. Nathan pointed to an ad on the table.

"There's a sale on! Blueberries," Nathan said.

Sam cut out savings for Chuck E. Cheese, where he wants to go for his birthday.

The La Crosse family went from spending $350 a month on groceries to $280 a month, plus stops at the store for milk and other items.

"If we run out of ketchup, we can just grab another one from the pantry. We don't have to run out to the store," La Crosse said.

La Crosse has a monthly meal plan based on her pantry and coupons, she said, so the family does not eat out a lot.

"When we do go to McDonald's they (my kids) ask, 'Can we have a Happy Meal, or an un-Happy Meal today?' Meaning, the meal with the toy," La Crosse said, laughing.

More than for family

Beyond saving for her family, La Crosse also clips coupons for others. She doesn't own a pet, but coupons for cat and dog food will be used to help the Columbia County Humane Society. And this March, La Crosse took a "Pay it Forward" challenge from the Summit Credit Union where she received $10, and bought supplies for River Haven Homeless Shelter.

"I had two months to combine coupons, and out of that $10 I got $160.64 worth of items. Seventy-five percent of it was free (because of coupons)," La Crosse said.

La Crosse has a Web site about her savings at area stores, www.kendrascashcampaign.blogspot.com, for those interested in her techniques, and hot deals. La Crosse's favorite coupon blogs are linked on her Web site.

"Start with baby steps. Clip items for brands of food that you know you'll use, and when it's on sale, buy another until you feel more comfortable with it," La Crosse said.

Coupon tips

Kendra La Crosse has a few key points for beginning coupon clippers.

• Items go on sale in a rotation of 10 to 12 weeks.

• Use money saved from coupons to pay off debt.

• If a coupon expires, remember that there will be another one.

• Stockpile nonperishable items.

• Print coupons from the Internet.

• Make a monthly meal plan.

• Organize coupons for easy access.

• Clip all coupons for things that may go on sale or may be free in order to try new items.

• Know your stores' coupon policies.

• Keep coupons that come with receipts.

• Inform the cashier and other customers that you have coupons, and that your order may take more time.

• Let someone with fewer items go before you in line.

jmccoy@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3519