Bow down and kiss the ring of the coupon queen of New York.
Smart and savvy Emily Shetler, 27, has used her love of clipping store coupons to save $24,000 on her groceries.
She sometimes spends two to three hours a week scavenging online for the best coupons saved to her phone shopping apps.
The Buffalo resident started her hobby of cutting coupons from newspapers and saving online discounts when she got married five years ago, according to South West News Service.
Shetler, a home insurance rep, moved to the Empire State from Texas with her husband and she became the sole breadwinner of the family.
She said she cut her shopping bills by about $400 to $500 a month and claimed she now only spends around $50 every 30 days.
One of Shetler’s biggest bargains included buying $69 worth of much-needed beauty essentials from CVS — which in fact wound up earning her 73 cents.
She had scored coupons that astonishingly reduced the cost to $8.27, and then she additionally used $9 in CVS ExtraCare cash-back rewards — resulting in her 73-cent profit.
“When I started, couponing was literally how I got by; without it, I wouldn’t have been able to afford my own bills,” she told SWNS. “It’s like a high — I love watching the numbers as they smoothly go down! It’s a thrill, really.”
While she noted that many people can get “overwhelmed by couponing as they picture the old-fashioned way of cutting them out from newspapers,” she said it’s much easier now, as one can just download them to their phone.
For first-timers, Shetler advised: “Start off small. Don’t try and do big coupon shops straight away, as you can often be left spending more than you mean to. [One should also] frequently check the sales that the stores are having as you can stack your coupons on top of them.”
The frequent shopper explained that while she’s more “financially stable,” she still finds fun in searching out coupons.
“I just love it and can’t even fathom having to buy something for full price,” she quipped.
Shetler added that she and her husband use their extra money to go on family vacations to places such as the Bahamas and Martha’s Vineyard.
She also goes by CouponQueenEm on her social media platforms and often shares her saving secrets with her 21,000 Instagram followers.
“I get a lot of people thanking me online, saying that they wouldn’t have been able to afford their shops if it wasn’t for my help. Another reason why I still coupon is to help people,” the discount maven said.
However, Shetler stated that many of her coupons offer “buy one, get one free” savings — and she winds up getting more products than she actually needs.
The solution? She donates between 80% and 85% of the items to local charities. “I’m still saving money and am keeping the household going, so there’s no need to hoard unnecessary items,” she said.
Shetler additionally is a frequent user of the cash-back rebate app Ibotta and has now entered into a partnership with them that even produces income for her.
When customers use her referral code, they get a $10 coupon — and Ibotta then pays Emily $10 — meaning most of her shopping is done for free, according to SWNS.
