More people than ever are clipping coupons for their supermarket trips, but they're often not saving as much as they could, says Toni House, author of How to Reduce Your Weekly Grocery Bill to $85 Per Week - Or Less!.

"You can easily shave $5 to $20 off your weekly grocery budget with a minimal investment of time," says House. "Cutting your bill just $10 a week will save you $520 over the course of a year.

"Taking a couple of extra steps to ensure you can use all the coupons you clip will save you more money - and protect your investment of time in clipping them."

How can consumers take advantage of coupons without becoming consumed by them?

Let us count the ways!

• Learn different stores' rules. Call the grocery stores that are convenient to you (near home OR work), ask these questions and write down the answers: Do you have double or triple coupon days? (If so, what are they?) Do you accept other stores' coupons? Do you allow "stacking" coupons - using them on sale items?

• Seek coupons far and wide. The Sunday paper is always a good place to start, but most households also get coupons through direct mail. And you can find coupon deals at SaveYourMoneySaveYourFamily.com, Coupon-Lady.com and a host of other sites. If there are brand-name products you just have to have, try Googling the name and "coupon."

• Plan meals around your coupons. Say you have coupons for 30 cents off a box of pasta, half-off spaghetti sauce (a type you normally buy - not a pricey splurge!), buy-one, get-one canned mushrooms and $1 off a pound of ground chuck. Can you smell dinner simmering? For less than $4?

• Organize your coupons. An expandable folder, like you might use for taxes, is a convenient place to store coupons at home. You might organize it by product - frozen foods, snacks, meats, or by expiration date. If you're going to do some meal planning around coupons, you might want a section for those. As you clip, sort the coupons immediately so you don't end up with a big pile that never gets sorted or used. Clip the meal coupons together and drop them in either the meals section or, if you're organizing by date, the date the first one is set to expire

• Save up to 30 to 50 percent with "shopping club" cards. Many supermarkets now offer "shopping clubs" that provide members with special in-store discounts. These are no-clipping-required coupons that never expire! Sign up for free and get a "membership" card that clips to your key ring. When the cashier swipes it, the discounts are applied to your grocery bill. Some stores have an associated website where you can log in while you're planning your shopping list and see what discounts are available that week.

• Upload coupons directly onto your shopping club card. Stores that have a shopping club website may also post manufacturer and brand coupons there. Log into the site with your card ID number, then click on the coupons you want and they'll load right onto your card! Instead of carrying coupons to the grocery story, you get your discounts when the cashier swipes your card.

• Organize your shopping club cards and coupons with your smart phone. If you shop at a lot of stores, you may be carrying around a lot of shopping club cards. Ditch the cards by loading them on a free club card organizer app available soon at saveyourmoneysaveyourfamily.com. You'll also soon find a free coupon organizing app there. It will allow you to click on coupons online and load them onto your phone for the trip to the grocery store.

Planning ahead is the most effective way to use coupons. Since we know you would never dream of heading to the supermarket without a list -- because that's a huge money waster - just match your coupons to your shopping list before you head out the door.

Be sure to check expiration dates, brand names and quantities on the coupon (if it says "8-ounce tub of lard," don't grab the 24-ounce tub of lard!)

Imagine, if you save just $1 a week with coupons, you'll have $52 extra at the end of the year. And then you can get that splurge spaghetti sauce - and the 24-ounce tub of lard!

About Toni House

WASHINGTON - Senators Chuck Grassley, Mark Udall, Scott Brown, Tom Harkin, Dean Heller, Ron Wyden, and Michael Bennet today proposed a two-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

The bipartisan proposal would prevent a lapse in the credit.  Without an extension, as many as 37,000 jobs nationwide could be lost.  The senators hope to have the extension passed as quickly as possible in order to provide tax certainty for the renewable energy sector.

"Tax reform efforts might modify or address this incentive in the near future, but the jobs and opportunities provided by wind energy should not be abandoned in the meantime.  And limiting the bill's impact on the deficit can be addressed," Grassley said.  "Tax relief has succeeded in developing this clean, renewable and innovative energy source, and it ought to be continued with the degree of certainty that encourages continued investment.  Unemployment remains high at 8.3 percent and energy costs are on the rise.  Congress should renew the wind energy tax credit to develop clean energy alternatives and good paying jobs."

"Extending the wind energy tax credit is a move that can give Coloradans and Americans a great return on investment - a stronger economy, more local jobs and more affordable power for our homes," Udall said.  "With employers like Vestas willing to invest in Colorado, Congress needs to act well before the deadline and give these employers certainty to plan ahead - otherwise those jobs will move to other countries.  Failing to extend the production tax credit for wind energy will threaten the industry's growth and Colorado jobs, and I'll continue to push my colleagues for a better solution where Colorado keeps our jobs."

"I believe in an all of the above approach to America's energy challenges.  The extension of these tax credits will help make sure that we continue to diversify our energy supplies over the long term," Brown said.

"Congress must extend the production tax credit for wind, which is essential for continuing the expansion of one of Iowa's most exciting sectors and creating and preserving jobs in our state," Harkin said.   "I am pleased to partner with Senator Grassley on this focused bill and will do everything I can to see it approved by Congress."

"Nevada has vast potential for renewable energy development.  Not only is it a clean source of energy, but it can also create thousands of jobs in the process.   The growing energy demand in our country requires that we find innovative solutions for our nation's energy needs.  Renewable energy development as a part of a broader energy strategy will ensure our nation has a diverse and secure energy future," Heller said.

"Wind energy is one of the fastest growing and most promising sectors of the energy industry providing for thousands of jobs in Oregon and nationwide," Wyden said. "The existing production tax credit has given the renewable energy industry an important tool to grow and its expiration could put the future innovation of wind resources and other forms of renewable energy at risk.  Companies on the cutting edge deserve to have some certainty in their tax treatment and extending this tax credit will help them to compete against non-renewable energy sources and continue the success we've seen over the last decade."

"The wind energy tax credit has been a huge plus for Colorado.  It has helped create jobs and advance a diversified energy portfolio," Bennet said.  "This tax credit has bipartisan support, and Colorado companies are counting on us to get it across the finish line.  Congress should act now."

Today, the wind industry supports 75,000 American jobs and drives as much as $20 billion in private investment.  During the last five years, 35 percent of all new electric generation in the United States was wind.  This expansion has directly led to the growth in domestic wind manufacturing.  There are nearly 400 manufacturing facilities today, compared with just 30 in 2004.

Grassley authored and won enactment of the first-ever wind production tax credit in 1992.  The incentive was designed to give wind energy the ability to compete against coal-fired and nuclear energy and helped to launch the wind energy industry.

The bill introduced today is titled the American Energy and Job Promotion Act.

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