WHAT a proud mother she must be, I thought, as I read about the so-called ‘Coupon Kid’.

Sixteen-year-old Jordan Cox was pictured in a national newspaper alongside his mum Debbie, having knocked almost £100 off her grocery bill by saving money-off coupons.

Being a coupon addict myself, he’s a boy after my own heart. I reckon I save my own family quite a bit every year using coupons and other money-saving practices.

But my efforts are not appreciated. In fact, it’s quite the opposite – my husband and eldest daughter are embarrassed.

“Are you paying?” I asked my husband the other day as we queued in the supermarket. “Not if you’re using those,” he said, gesturing towards the clutch of coupons in my hand.

He said he couldn’t stand waiting around while they all got swiped, knowing that some would bring problems – expiry dates would have to be checked, and he may have to delve into the carriers to confirm we’d bought certain items.

“I’d rather just pay outright,” he said. As we left, I thrust the receipt in front of him, having had £7 deducted. I also thoroughly check receipts which annoys my family, because if it’s wrong, I have to queue at customer services. It’s surprising how often two-for-one or BOGOF deals are not honoured. Only last weekend, and despite objections from my waiting family, I returned to Sainsbury’s to claim back the price of a jelly.

“Every little helps,” I tell them, as I raid the shelves of reduced items. My daughter despairs, bypassing yellow stickers in the fridge, and if she spots a ‘finest’ product, she asks suspiciously: “Was this reduced?” I suspect that when she’s older she will rebel and buy only luxury goods from Fortnum & Mason.

She should be thankful that I’m not an ‘extreme couponer’, whose life revolves around collecting and using hundreds of coupons. It’s all the rage in the US – there’s even a TV show on the subject.

Being a canny shopper isn’t easy though. I’m so disorganised I end up going through my coupons at the till, which can be stressful if there’s a queue, and – disturbingly – it plays on my mind if I’ve forgotten to use one before the expiry date.

My youngest daughter is more in tune with my money-saving, actively seeking out bargains herself. She doesn’t mind the yellow labels and end-of-day sales: that’s another tip, get the timing right and you’ll grab the bargains. The other night in Tesco sandwiches were selling for 24p – I bought two packs for school lunches, but made sure I peeled off the sticker before alerting my eldest.