Workshop's aim is cutting food bill

A coupon workshop Saturday will arm attendees with knowledge to cut back on hundreds of dollars per month at the grocery store.

Nashville, Tenn., native Kelly Hancock will travel nearly 500 miles to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church to share money-saving secrets with Lowcountry shoppers at her Grocery Saving Workshop.

The first hour and a half of the Piggly Wiggly-sponsored workshop from 9 a.m. to noon will focus on general money-saving grocery shopping tips, and the second hour and a half will concentrate on coupon clipping.

Hancock gained her expertise due to family struggles.

She abandoned her high- paying job at Johnson & Johnson four years ago, cutting the household income in half to be a stay-at-home mom to her newborn daughter, Ainsley.

Solely relying on her husband's income to fill the refrigerator, she clung to her faith in God and the words of Luke 12:22-24 to ease her fears.

Through faith and determination, she used strategic planning and coupons to alter her grocery-shopping lifestyle and cut down the family food budget from $1,100 per month to under $250 per month.

"And we don't eat rice and beans," she added. "We eat well."

She said those who attend her workshop will learn to save anywhere from 50 to 70 percent off their grocery bills.

With the help of her husband, Bradford, Hancock launched a Web site, www.faithfulprovisions.com, in September 2008 that offers tips, information and a social networking blog to its visitors about saving money and clipping coupons. It also includes links to Web sites with printable coupons.