I met a group of women this week who have a common passion: couponing.

But these women are not your average couponers.

Nationally, last year there were $286 billion coupons distributed by manufacturers, according to CMS, one of two major players in the industry that processes coupons.

Of that number, only $2.6 billion coupons were actually redeemed while a large number, still a minuscule one compared to the amount of coupons out there.

These ladies don't just clip a few coupons from the Sunday paper and squirrel them away in a dainty coupon wallet or envelope with hopes that they'll get used before they expire.

Some of these ladies have elaborate filing systems and stacks of coupons for the same item, so they can stock up on something when it's on sale and use a coupon for every single purchase. (One lady, Jeny Francis of Mantua, carries a large duffel bag with all of her organized coupons in a box inside the bag in her grocery cart when she goes shopping.)

They also buy multiple copies of newspapers and some from other parts of the state or country just so they can have different coupons. They go to multiple stores to shop the sales, armed with coupons for every item.

Over the top?

Some may say so.

But these ladies say they're saving a bundle.

They tell of grocery store trips where they walk out with a cart full of groceries for free, thanks to coupons and sales.

Sometimes they have to grab a candy bar just so they can get their grocery bill to zero. If they get an item they don't use because it's free with their coupon use then they donate it to an area service project.

And almost all of them said they only buy items if they're on sale and they have a coupon for them. You won't find impulse buys in their grocery carts as they travel among stores shopping the sales.

They also don't shop like the typical shopper.

''We stock up and don't only buy (items) to get us through this week,'' Francis said. ''I bet each of us could make food for the next few weeks just from our pantry.''

The women were meeting one day last week at an area library to swap coupons they weren't going to use.

They call sharing coupons they can't use ''random acts of couponing.'' After all, it's free money.

Anything was fair game but the rules of courtesy also applied. Take only what you will use and save the rest for others who might need them.

There have always been coupon groups, or groups of neighbors who get together or give each other coupons they may not use but know others can.

These ladies were part of the Northeast Ohio Couponers, an online community of 2,100-plus members co-founded by two Akron-area women seven years ago. On the bulletin boards (http://www.neocouponers.com or http://www. northeastohiocouponers.com), you can find online conversations about the latest deals at a grocery store and tips on how to use coupons effectively.

But while the members mostly converse online, they've also broken off into regional swap groups, whose members meet every few months to trade coupons. There's also a lot of trading or sending of coupons via mail as members post messages online seeking certain coupons or get to know each other and learn their fellow members' buying habits.

One rule on the bulletin board: There is no selling of coupons.

The founders of the group, Debbie Young and Debbie Taylor, met on a national coupon bulletin board and decided to start a free Northeast Ohio group.

The group also recently became grass-roots advocates, launching a campaign to threaten Giant Eagle with a boycott when the company announced last month that it would stop doubling coupons in Northeast Ohio. (Giant Eagle eventually changed its mind; officials said they listened to customers.)

The group also doesn't consist just of women. In fact, the guru of the group is probably Joe Daugirdas, known as ''Joe, the Coupon Guy.'' Daugirdas knows so much about couponing that he teaches classes around Northeast Ohio.

He acknowledges that only about 10 percent of participants in the classes are men.

Daugirdas said he typically saves 70 percent to 80 percent on his grocery bill using coupons and sales, and last year, he saved $4,500 using coupons alone. He also donated more than 450 pounds of food to charity, he said.

Debu Talukdar, an associate professor of marketing in the University of Buffalo School of Management, was fascinated by the group of diehard couponers when I told him about it.

Talukdar, who co-authored a study that will be published in the Journal of Marketing Research on ''extreme cherry pickers'' at the grocery store, specializes in retail marketing.

Talukdar said that for what he called ''dedicated'' couponers and ''extreme cherry pickers'' (shoppers who over the course of a year cost stores money by purchasing only heavily discounted items), saving money is not the only motivator.

''They just like the thrill of getting a bargain. It's a combination of money saving and this thrill,'' he said. Then once they get a great deal, they want to share the news on the bulletin board or by telling a friend.

Interestingly, Talukdar's study found that ''extreme cherry pickers'' (56 percent of whom used coupons) barely affect profits of grocery stores. That's because extreme cherry pickers account for only 1.2 percent of grocery store customers and reduce profits by less than 1 percent.

The majority of consumers will still get enticed by sale items, but will also do their regular weekly grocery shopping, including impulse buys, and not use coupons, Talukdar said.

''It's like the lottery. Somebody wins the lottery and that person makes a lot of money and the lottery organizers are losing money on that particular person, but making money overall,'' he said.

Talukdar said coupon usage often depends on whether someone is inclined to spend the time to collect coupons and use them. Research often shows that usage is higher in homes where there are two parents and one does not work outside the house, Talukdar said.

''Fundamentally, it comes under a broad economic trade-off,'' Talukdar said. ''You have lesser incentive to engage in this thing unless you are one of those totally driven by the thrill.''

The Northeast Ohio Couponers has a mix of stay-at-home moms, working moms, singles, retirees and some men, organizers said. Members said that once a person gets the coupon bug, it's hard to stop. But they do acknowledge that it can take time.

For some, like co-founder Debbie Young, using coupons is a monetary necessity.

''There are those who love to come out of the store and see they saved 80 percent with coupons. But there are not just those who love it, but have to do it,'' said Young, a mother of two.