News American
When Susan Samtur goes grocery shopping, she saves more money than she spends. Samtur was in Baltimore recently with her husband and their two children. And as she's done in cities from New York to Colorado, Mrs. Samtur went on a media grocery shopping trip. After the cash register rang $96.11 worth of groceries, she smiled and then proceeded to whittle the bill down to 48 cents. It was all very legal, even simple, just awe-inspiring, to say the least. Mrs. Samtur cuts coupons, of course, but using the refund offers from manufacturers is what really saves money. National companies frequently offer to send a check for the total price of their product if you send in a label as proof of purchase, Samtur explained. Most people don't know about all the offers available. And the prizes aren't just cash companies will offer t-shirts, hamburger cookers or popcorn gadgets. And Samtur has plenty of all these gadgets and then some. As the preeminent coupon clipper, the Coupon Queen, the Regal Refunder, Samtur publishes a monthly newsletter. "Refundle Bundle." In a few months, her first book, "Cashing in at the Checkout," also will be available. "Anyone can become a refunder," she said modestly. "You just have to switch habits. You combine store sales and then save the packages and get the refunds. The good thing is the offers are repetitive. And you can get free gifts, too. When my sons have a party, I give out hand puppets or pencil sets I've gotten as free gifts. It's a lot of fun, and a lot of work." Every two weeks, Samtur saves about $120 on groceries. Saving money at the checkout counter also is a business for Samtur and her husband, Steven, who took a leave of absence from his teaching job to travel with Susan, promoting "Refundle Bundle" and "Cashing in at the Checkout." Oops! I wrote about Little Italy last week, and omitted the newest restaurant Manna's that opened in February, the week of the snow storm. Actually the small restaurant on Eastern Avenue is called Manna's II, because the restaurant had been opened before, closed and is now reopened under new ownership. In fact, it was the same restaurant that, according to rumor, was going to be converted into a Chinese eaterie. But, bravo, it's still Italian. The pastas are homemade, and the cook, Mary Manna, specializes in tortelinni pastas filled with veal, chicken and pork. The crouton soup is also supposed to be excellent, as is the saltimbocca, and the brodetto ala Vestese (a seafood dish), and so on. There's also a wholesale grocery. Sole d'Italia, High and Stile streets. The block long building used to be a church and then a synagogue, before Joseph T. Vaccarino took it over in 1935 and turned it into a grocery. It now supplies area groceries with Italian products pastas, cheeses, olive oils, to name but a few. The Baltimore Environmental Center is sponsoring Food Day 1979 Sunday with workshops, exhibits and demonstrations about nutrition and the world food crisis. To dramatize Food Day, "No Honey," a comedy will be performed. And afterwards, "a wholesome meal" will be served. All activities will be held Sunday, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Huntingdon, Greenmount Avenue and Old York Road. There is no admission charge, except to the dinner, which costs $2. Day care facilities will be available.
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