Think coupons are confusing, overwhelming, not worth it, or just don’t know where to begin? All of the above? That was me, and I’ve read a lot about coupons! It wasn’t until I was invited to a Be Centsable coupon party/workshop last week and got a real soup to nuts education that I realized how simple it is to use coupons effectively for unbelievable savings.

This was not a seminar for well seasoned diehards looking for obscure sources. Our educator, Amy D’Agrosa—a 27 year old single woman with a full time job and a need to save—was both practical and passionate about couponing, calling it an empowering tool at every woman’s disposal to take back financial control in an economy where so much is out of our hands. And the evening was not only fun (hors d’oeuvres and wine were served, and stories swapped) it was seriously eye opening. None of us had any idea how accessible such huge savings were– that with just a little bit of know how, it’s possible to walk out of a store with money in your pocket and a bag of groceries. I don’t even have a stash of excellent coupons, but my first time shopping, I saved $24 at CVS! Now that I’ve started culling coupons and plotting out this week’s sales in the circulars, I have a feeling this week’s will be the cheapest grocery bill in my household ever.

If you’re not already saving near 60 percent on pharmaceuticals and 40 percent on groceries, consider attending one of these workshops. They’re available all over the country, and even online. Borrowing on the concept of home parties, you pay $25 (for a single person or a couple), and what you get is an education that pays — in the form of an evening jam-packed with valuable money-saving skills as well as an online membership to the becentsable blog, which lists weekly grocery and pharmacy deals all over the country, tips and tricks for savings, printable coupons, an outline of the lesson you learned at your meeting, reader comments and tips and more money saving resources. Amy insisted that we’d make our $25 back in the first couple of shopping trips, and I can already attest that it’s true. Go to BeCentsable.net to sign up or find out more information.

Here are some of the tips I learned:

* Start culling coupons. The major manufacturers place coupons in most Sunday papers—look for inserts by Red Plum, Smart Source, Procter & Gamble & General Mills.

* Print online coupons. First make sure your grocery store accepts them, and then find a wealth of coupons on Web sites. You have to download software to get them, and then there’s a limit to how many coupons you can print (usually 3). Amy vouched for coupons.com, and I know couponmountain.com.

* Never use a coupon alone. Save it until the item is on sale, so you can get more than the value printed on the front of it. From buy one get one free deals to coupon doubling to clearance and sale items to rebates to combined store and manufacturers coupons, always use your coupon in conjunction with another way to save.

* Use circulars in the Sunday paper to get the sales for the week at your local stores, and pull out the coupons to use with those sale items. Make your shopping list based on as many of those items as possible.

* Don’t be fooled by the picture. Sometimes a coupon will have a photo of a brand’s most expensive line, say Dijon mustard instead of the plain yellow. But usually, you can use that same coupon to buy the cheaper mustard – that isn’t even pictured! Buy the mustard you want, and scan the coupon — more often than not, it will be accepted.

* If it scans, it’s good. If you’re not sure whether a coupon will be accepted, try to scan it, rather than involving the cashier, who may not know. If it’s not accepted but you think it should be, ask to speak with the store’s manager.

* Combine manufacturers and store coupons for one item. The savings could be so good that the store pays you for buying the item, not the other way around (you could actually get a refund if both of the coupons total more than the cost of the item.)

* Use the self-checkout. When you become an expert couponer, you can save so much that it may raise the eyebrows of a cranky clerk—even though it’s completely legal. You can avoid this by scanning the groceries and coupons yourself. If the scanner beeps when you wave the coupon’s bar code over the scanner, it’s accepted by the store. No argument necessary.

* Bring out your coupons at end of a sale, rather than presenting one with each item, again, to avoid raising eyebrows about how much money you’re savings in some cases.

* Be your own advocate. If you’re having trouble with a confused cashier (what? I’m paying you money to buy this item?), it helps to speak with the manager, who has some power. As long as you’re respectful and kind, you’re likely to have success. Remember it’s a negotiation, and more often than not, they’ll work with you.

* Take advantage of rebates. They’re no longer a hassle, now that all you have to do is to go to the store’s online site and punch in some numbers from your receipt. You can make a lot of money this way.