In the past year, companies choosing to offer couponing classes as an employee perk have kept the phone ringing for Faye Prosser -- when everybody's stressed about money and jobs, might as well help the staff get more out of their paychecks.

Now, the frugal spending consultant who gave her first class a decade ago at a parks and recreation department near her Clayton, N.C., home figures she teaches between two and five classes a week at churches, businesses and other gathering spots (usually about $15 per person), in addition to keeping her Web page current, working on a second edition of her self-published book, producing a DVD and doing a round of media tours in such places as Syracuse, N.Y.; Newark, Ohio; and Pittsburgh.

That last assignment came this summer when Dad's Pet Foods went looking for someone who could talk about smart shopping as well as promote such products as the Meadville company's that are made in the United States and sourced regionally.

The idea worked for Ms. Prosser: her dog, Taz, likes the food; she's got Westmoreland County family ties (a mother from Derry, plus other assorted relatives in Pennsylvania); and getting out more would raise her profile.

"They allow us to go around and talk about being frugal," said a smiling Ms. Prosser, whose growing media experience showed in a recent interview at the Shop 'n Save grocery in Kennedy as she wove comments about Dad's through her message of buying well. A big bag of dry dog food was one of the first items in her cart, followed quickly by cat food.

Recessions are good times to be knowledgeable about finding deals. Entrepreneurs who have developed systems and built niche brands in saving money have been finding their calls to the media well-received this year.

Like the best of them, Ms. Prosser -- a former human resources manager who turned herself into a shopping expert as a way to be a mostly stay-at-home mom -- has that knack for making people feel as if, with just a little more effort, they could be saving bundles and free themselves of financial worries.

It sounds so easy when she talks about how she learned in the early years to drop her weekly food budget from $145 a week to $65 a week. How she tries not to buy meat for more than $2.50 a pound, which may mean waiting for sales and then stocking the freezer. And how she gets so much free stuff that she donates the extras.

"They all say, 'Wow, I'm spending too much money,' " she reported in her description of the sessions at businesses, which can draw 50 to 200 employees. She said those who come are at all levels of the pay scale, including professionals with six-figure salaries.

"It gives folks that 'Aha!' "

Ms. Prosser tends to concentrate her time and efforts in the Southern states near her base -- she still wants to be home with her two girls a lot -- but the fact that so many grocery and drugstore chains operate across the country, and offer similar products, makes it easy to use her tips anywhere.

On a recent Pittsburgh visit, she and the public relations representative hired by Dad's reported they had lined up appearances on KDKA and on PCNC's "Night Talk," in addition to an interview with a Post-Gazette reporter in which she also explained her techniques for the video camera.

The Shop 'n Save provided a colorful setting for demonstrations of using her coupon-organizer system -- including tips to use the extra discounts in conjunction with a sale, taking advantage of double-couponing policies and watching for unadvertised specials.

Not a couponer until her first daughter, now 10, arrived, Ms. Prosser's initial efforts involved an accordion file system. It didn't work for her. Either she couldn't find the right coupons or the file filled up with expired coupons.

Now she advocates a binder system with tabs (yes, the tabs are available for purchase on her Web site) to separate coupons by grocery departments. Coupons are tucked into clear, plastic baseball card-style holders. She says a once-a-week session of clipping and filing can be done while watching an hour-long TV show. Once a month, cull expired coupons.

The 41-year-old mother may be a latecomer to this, but she's developed a few soap box issues.

She sees frugal living -- defined as a good use of one's resources -- as a responsible way to go. Her $12.99 book, which she's had reprinted twice for a total inventory of 3,000 copies -- is about being frugal but, "It's not like 'foraging for edible plants along the roadside' frugal."

Coupon etiquette also gets her going.

"You don't want to clear the shelves," she admonishes those who see a good deal and dive in.

Other don'ts: No trying to use expired coupons, no photocopying coupons and please don't try to get away with buying a different item that's the same brand as the one in the coupon.

"That's called manipulating family bar codes. It's not legitimate and it's not cool," Ms. Prosser said firmly, warning that even if the cash register accepts the coupon, the manufacturer sometimes won't pay the grocer. "It really ruins it for everybody."

But she believes that most people follow the rules and that most people could do better, especially now. She's certainly doing better than she expected back when the first baby came and dollars were tight.

While Ms. Prosser didn't detail her income and said she has no drive to do media tours in all 50 states -- "There are lots of other people doing this in other states" -- she concedes that it's become a business for her and that it's nice to be able to make a living helping shoppers save money.

The only drawback? Bad news can be good news for an enterprise like this one. "Sometimes there's this mixed feeling about it," she said thoughtfully. "Obviously, my business does better when the economy doesn't."

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