Test your coupon smarts with these 10 questions

Now that the economy is in a much less exuberant mood and food prices have skyrocketed, coupons are more important than ever.

Almost 94 percent of Americans redeem at least one coupon a year now, according to Charlie Brown at NCH Marketing Services, an Illinois coupon clearinghouse for retailers and manufacturers. And 16 percent of coupons redeemed for groceries are printed at home via the Internet.

That's up significantly from 2003, when about 80 percent of shoppers clipped coupons, and only 1 percent of coupons redeemed were printed off the Internet.

Some Americans are clipping so crazily that cable TV channel TLC recently debuted a reality show called "Extreme Couponing." In last week's show, a hard-core couponer packed more than $5,000 worth of groceries into multiple carts, but after coupons, he paid only $250.

Admirable? Crazy? You decide -- but most of us are like Hannah Lloyd of Minneapolis. She uses coupons about half the time when she's grocery shopping.

"I'll bet I save about $250 a year using coupons," she said.

No coupon queen, Lloyd frequently forgets them and wishes there were an easier, quicker way than the snip, snip, print, snip.

1 Is the Twin Cities area a strong coupon market?

Yes and no. In a 2010 survey based on the number of coupons printed at Coupons.com, Minneapolis ranked fifth in a list of 20 cities with populations above 300,000. We like to clip and print coupons, but Minneapolis ranked lower (11th) on using coupons from mobile phones.

2 Do other areas of the country get better coupons than Minnesota does?

This is a frequent complaint among serious clippers in the Twin Cities. Brown hadn't heard any clear examples of this, but he said that some areas get better offers (a $1 off coupon instead of 35 cents, for example) if manufacturers want to increase sales in a certain region. If an area's market share is strong, promotions or coupons might dry up.

3Are expiration periods getting shorter?

4 What's the most common misconception about coupons?

People think the average coupon user is low-income, but it's typically a woman with kids in a household with an annual income of $50,000 to $75,000.

5 What are the five most popular types of coupons redeemed?

In order, breakfast foods (cereal), oral hygiene products (toothpaste), pet food, household cleaners and vitamins/supplements.

6 Why don't more stores double the value of coupons as Rainbow and a few others do?

7 Why do some coupons say "not subject to doubling"?

Retailers that double coupons often work in cooperation with coupon manufacturers to limit the amounts in their area, Brown said. But it often works to a shopper's advantage, because a manufacturer might offer a $1 coupon in the Twin Cities that is "not subject to doubling," but in other areas, the coupon might be 40 cents. This arrangement makes the manufacturer foot more of the bill than the retailer.

8 Why don't warehouse clubs accept manufacturers' coupons?

Manufacturers' coupons aren't compatible with the larger multipacks offered at warehouse clubs. "I don't think we'll see traditional manufacturer coupons at most warehouse clubs," Brown said. However, BJ's does accept manufacturers' coupons, and Costco started sending out its own store coupons to members last year.

9 Are coupons-on-demand in the near future?

10 I don't have time to be an extreme couponer, but I can spend 20 minutes a week. How much will that save me, on average?

About $2,000 a year, Brown said.