Did You Know September is National Coupon Month

You've probably noticed a lot of coupons because of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

But it's also National Coupon Month a time to celebrate the coupon clipper. These days it's more than just a past-time for many people.

It's been a banner year for coupon usage.

"What's the most you've ever saved?" I asked.

"I would say I saved about $30 or more," said Dauree Coleman, of Charleston, as she shopped at the Bigley Foodland.

"Probably about $10," Joyce Caruthers, of Roane County, said.

According to a coupon industry report, the number of coupons distributed in the first half of this year rose more than 11 percent.

That's building on a record-breaking 311 billion coupons distributed last year in the U.S.

The rise in coupon use started back in 2008, when bailouts and layoffs consumed the country, frustrating many households and prompted people to look for ways to make ends meet.

The number of people using them increased nearly 8 percent from a year ago and today, coupons have become a staple of the modern family budget -- complete with a road map.

"I get the Sunday paper, take all the ads and I go to the stores that will honor the other peoples' ads. And that saves me the gas from running to four or five stores," Caruthers said.

The heart of coupons are still the Sunday paper, but the Internet is making it even easier.

Leading coupon websites report record traffic with more than a million visitors and they're spilling over onto social networking sites and smart phones.

"And I'm going to start using them even more," Caruthers said.

"It takes time, but it's worth it," Coleman said.

Worth every cent.

According to one survey, 91 percent of shoppers would walk away from the "perfect sweater" if it wasn't on sale. But that 73 percent would come back later during a sale with a store coupon.