Book Review: "Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey"

Do you think you know everything about couponing? Do you find couponing too confusing, too much work, boring? Do you fall anywhere in between those extremes? Then, “Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey” is the book for you! Joanie Demer & Heather Wheeler have debunked the myths about couponing and taken it to superstar heights, while talking to you like your best friend. They teach you to make the grocery aisles your catwalk!

There’s a lot I know (or think I know) about couponing. I’ve been doing it off and on for nearly 5 years, but “Pick Another Checkout Lane,Honey” has taught me a few more things. It’s a very in-depth look at couponing with some great ideas for what to do with all the money you save as well!

If you’re a newbie, they cover all the basics. From building your coupon binder, to building your stockpile, to building your savings account, these ladies have it covered. Both Joanie & Heather give their personal stories about how and why they started couponing and how it has changed their lives. The entire book is conversational in tone and makes you wish you knew these girls in person.

If you’re seasoned you might learn something you didn’t already know, and you’re likely to find the humorous drawings spot on! For me, it was nice to have the monthly sales cycles and the price list laid out. I’ve made a copy of the price list to use as a guide and then adjust to the best prices I can get. I plan on making a copy of the sales cycles to keep in my binder as well.

The biggest thing I learned is that I need to obtain official coupon policies on company letterhead for every store I shop at, as well as talk to the general manager of each store. This sounds downright terrifying to me, but makes complete sense. My husband said he would go with me, so that makes me feel more confident! It’s true that as the couponer, I probably know more about the store’s coupon policy than my cashier and maybe even the manager. Being able to prove that I’m playing by the rules may come in handy one day!

These fabulous ladies also run this fantastic website called TheKrazyCouponLady.com. It’s where I go to find all my coupon match-ups. I probably check everyday because I’m a little obsessed, but I definitely look before I head out to the stores to make sure there aren’t any great new deals that have popped up. They list the weekly sales with the corresponding coupons for all the major super centers and drugstores, plus many large grocery stores around the country. They recently started doing the match-ups for Winn-Dixie, so they are my go-to site for all my major stores (Publix, Winn-Dixie, CVS, Walgreens, Target & Wal-Mart) now. I occasionally shop at BJ’s and Save-A-Lot, and infrequently at Whole Foods & Aldi because they are so far away. Oh, how I miss Aldi…

I highly recommend “Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey” to ANYONE! Young, old, spender, saver, you can learn something from this book and be entertained at the same time. I’m sure you can find something to relate to. Everybody likes saving money, right?

P.S. I made this coupon sorting mat a couple years ago that makes organizing all those little pieces of paper so much easier! Sadly, over the last 3 moves in a 12-month period I’ve lost track of it. If I don’t find it soon, I will need to make another one so the kids can help more too!

*All opinions expressed are my own! I was not compensated in any way for this review.