Meet the coupon queens of Eastern Jackson County

Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee were just two stay-at-home mothers who wanted to spend less at the grocery store.

Less than six months after researching different strategies online, they each cut their monthly household and personal items budgets from $800 to $350.

Earlier this year, Pate and McKee started BeCentsAble, a business that teaches men and women alike how to properly use coupons and find savings while shopping for everyday items.

Pate, a Grain Valley resident, said they created a Web site, www.becentsable.net, so others can view weekly deals at more than 60 stores.

Pate said the easiest items to save money on include personal care items like deodorant and shampoo, as well as household cleaning supplies.

“We often get all of those things for free, next-to-nothing or get money for them,” Pate said. “Most people spend about 25 percent of their budget on those things, and it’s an easy way to cut back. The store is never going to hand cash back, but we can earn it sometimes in cash credit or in rebates back, and you can earn it to buy other items.”

McKee, a former Blue Springs resident who is now based in Phoenix, said she used to work full-time before she had her daughter.

“When I started staying home, you don’t realize how expensive things are and how much money you’re spending,” McKee said. “This whole idea of shopping differently and shopping smarter made me comfortable with staying home. Ultimately, we would like to show families and other moms like us that you really have a lot more control over your finances than you think you do. You don’t have to sacrifice quality to get the things you need.”

The free Web site has weekly features, including “Grocery Gathering.” “Grocery Gathering,” the site’s most popular feature, encompasses weekly deals at local grocery stores and national retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, Pate said.

The Web site also discusses virtual filing systems for coupons – Pate said one of the biggest challenges in starting BeCentsAble was finding time to cut out coupons.

She recommended that shoppers take entire newspaper coupon inserts, label them with the date and file them in a box. A virtual database will tell them when and where the coupons are when they are needed, Pate said.

“Literally, what used to take people hours on Sunday, we file online in a minute,” Pate said. “We don’t cut any coupons out unless I’m going to use them at the store that day.”

BeCentsAble initially started as a small 15-hour a week job, Pate said. Now, it is a full-time job that is a bit overwhelming, especially with the state of the economy, she said.

“Originally, we were working with stay-at-home moms, but it’s turned into something that everyone’s interested in,” Pate said. “We have working moms and dads coming to our workshops.”

Pate will lead a two-hour workshop at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Timothy Lutheran Church, 425 N.W. R.D. Mize Road in Blue Springs. The workshop costs $25, which includes supplies for the workshop and enrollment in the online workshop. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Timothy Lutheran Schools. To register, e-mail becentsable@gmail.com

“Most people save at least $25 that first week that they go shopping,” Pate said. 

In the future, the two women also hope to present their saving methods to local food banks, United Way and social organizations so they can extend their limited resources, McKee said. Pate said she wants others to also cut their household budgets in half and spend the savings on other items like their house payments.

“I used to think that this was just a fixed expense like a house payment,” she said, “but now we know it’s just about education, and you just need to learn how to become a smart consumer.”