Stacey Neet beams when she shows the photo on her cell phone.

It's a receipt with a long list of items. At the bottom is the total, with tax: $4.13.

That's what she paid for $63 worth of groceries.

"I feel like I'm beating the system," Neet said on Thursday.

Her sister, Lisa Honnell, in the same shopping trip, forked over only $6.81 for $99 worth of groceries.

"Every time we go shopping, we get people's attention," Honnell said with a laugh. "The man behind us couldn't believe what she got for $4 and what I got for $6."

Their secret is both simple, they said, and complicated.

Couponing.

Well, more than couponing.

It's their own custom technique, actually, that took months to perfect and which the Post Falls sisters are teaching at weekly classes, with the promise that students can save 50 to 95 percent on their groceries.

"Once you see the savings, it's like having an additional part-time job," said Honnell, 44. "This is something people need to know. Everybody is hurting right now."

Since February when they started their class, The Coupon Clippin' Housewives, their students have regaled them with their own success.

The class' Facebook page is fraught with photos of the bounty that students picked up, and receipts flaunting the savings.

"It frees up that money so they can put that toward something else," said Neet, 35. "We know it's going to take the pressure off them in a big way."

They don't want to reveal the secret outside class - and it would be too difficult anyway, Honnell said.

The sisters teach their method in a two-hour class, with a 60-slide PowerPoint presentation.

"There's so much more to it than clipping coupons," Honnell said. "Every time I've ever tried coupon clipping in the past, I'd save, if I was lucky, $5 or $6."

It's a matter of knowing where to search for coupons - the newspaper, though a great source, isn't the sole one - as well as how and where to use them, when to bulk shop, and relying on meticulous organization in sorting it all out.

"You need to be well organized, which doesn't come naturally to most people," Honnell said.

The inspiration to start clipping hit Honnell last September, she said, when she heard a TV news anchor mention that folks could save thousands a year on their grocery shopping.

It hit a nerve for both her and her sister. Honnell, a licensed Realtor and mother, has been working as a substitute teacher during the sluggish housing market and seen her income drop.

Neet, who still has two children living at home, was laid off from her job with a hydraulics company last August, she said.

"I knew I needed to do something to make an immediate change in my bank account," Neet said.

For several months they researched. They dug through oceans of newspapers and ad inserts and clicked their way across the Internet for tips.

Everyone said something different, Honnell said. Through trial and error, they learned what worked.

When Honnell thought they had it perfected, she said, she went out for a test run.

Armed with her coupons and her list of exactly what she would purchase, she filled up a cart.

Then called her husband from across the store.

"I need you to come get this cart," she said. "I need to get another one."

"Oh my God," he responded.

Despite his trepidation, Honnell assured him that if they didn't try, they would never know.

"I was nervous, testing for the first time with big purchases," she admitted.

Once the second cart was full, they rolled all the booty to the cash register. When all had been totaled and the coupons counted, they had spent $136 on $424 worth of groceries.

"My husband was blown away," she said. "The people behind us were in shock. The lady was squealing."

She should teach a class, her husband suggested.

Amber Blanchette, who took the class over a month ago, said it has helped her and her husband feed their three children.

"It's actually cut my grocery bill in half at the least," the 33-year-old said, adding that she used to drive to WinCo in Spokane to buy cheaper groceries. "It's huge, you know? Our freezer's always full, our pantries are always stocked, and my cleaning supplies, let's just say I probably won't need to buy those for three, maybe four months."

Desiree Hoots, a Realtor who had to seek out a lower-paying job because of the economy, said the class allowed her to save enough to fully stock her Hayden house with food.

"We had got behind on our bills and it was a huge struggle. I have two teenagers to feed," she said. "We have not run out of food since we took the class."

The weekly classes cost $20, with $2 off for every friend brought along.

Folks only need to take one class.

The next class is from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 24 at Templin's Resort, 414 E. First Ave. in Post Falls.

Ongoing classes will be announced in Wednesday and Sunday editions of The Press.

The sisters are also partnering with The Press to offer an exclusive newspaper subscription in which individuals can get four Sunday papers with the trove of coupons inside.

For such subscriptions, contact Neet at 661-4142, or Honnell at 755-8185.

Folks can also visit their blog: www.thecouponclippinhousewives.blogspot.com.

The sisters hope to improve their neighbors' lives, Honnell said.

"We're changing the way people look at coupons," she said.

"And couponers," Neet added.