Cole Ledford’s Couponing Tips
1. Get organized. Make sure you separate the coupons for each store. You don’t want to hold up a line searching your pockets for a coupon or lose out on a low price because you couldn’t keep it straight.
2. Know each store’s policy.
3. Don’t get too big too fast. Don’t try to extreme coupon on your first day. Just start with a few coupons or deals and work your way up from there.
LEBANON — When Cole Ledford’s parents lost their jobs 18 months ago, the 17-year-old went to extreme measures to help his parents through the economic hardship.
Extreme deal-hunting, that is.
Ledford, who graduated from Lebanon High School this weekend, will be featured on TLC’s “Extreme Couponing” television show at 10 p.m. Monday. The show follows the habits, strategies and successes of individuals who raid their newspapers for coupons, combining the best deals with individual store policies to receive a plethora of goods for basically zero cost.
“Every deal I get goes to my parents or my host family,” said Ledford, who has been living with a friend’s family in Lebanon to finish school while his parents had to relocate to find work.
Ledford said he was first introduced to the phenomenon of extreme couponing by watching the show.
“I saw what the people on ‘Extreme Couponing’ were doing and realized it was a way to help my family out,” said Ledford, who routinely pays next to nothing for groceries and health supplies through his tireless pursuit of the ultimate deal. Ledford said he spends three to four hours a week plowing through coupon sections to get the best deals. Ledford said some of his favorite spots to get deals are Kroger, Walmart and Target.
“At first, my friend’s thought I was odd,” Ledford said. “But now, as they’re getting ready for college, a lot of them want to work with me so they can get good deals on stuff, too.”
Ledford became so adept at couponing that he decided late last year to send in an audition tape to TLC and was picked to be featured on their show.
A television crew spent two days following Ledford around, interviewing him, friends and family. The show also will be available on TLC’s On-Demand channel the following week.
Ledford will attend The Ohio State University in the fall and plans on majoring in international business and political science.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
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