Wherever Jill Cataldo goes she often finds herself greeted with hugs, autograph requests and treatment befitting royalty. This probably explains why her new weekly column making its debut today in The Times is titled "The Coupon Queen."

Cataldo's method of "super-couponing" has resonated with people looking to save money during dire economic times. It began in 2006 when Cataldo was pregnant with her third child and realized she'd be dealing with a toddler and a baby in diapers at the same time.

"It was the diapers," Cataldo said. "They're very expensive and around that time, I was hearing about all these other 'coupon queens' on the news buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff for pennies.

"I wanted to be one of those people doing it." The Huntley, Ill., resident soon lost count of the thousands of dollars she saved on groceries using coupons. In response to everyone asking her "how can I do that?" she developed the super-couponing class, which teaches shoppers how to track sales and use coupons to their fullest potential.

Earlier this month, Cataldo presented her workshop to a full house at the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library.

"Super-couponing combines buying items when they're at their lowest prices with efficient couponing to further reduce the price," Cataldo told her audience.

Cataldo showed the class what she calls "anatomy of a cereal deal," in which it's explained how she bought 58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars for $5.15.

"Then we 'shop' at home from the pantry instead of running back to the store," she said.

In her column, Cataldo plans to teach the same things she does in her workshops broken down week by week, step by step.

"I'm going to introduce you to all these different concepts -- stacking coupons, how to combine discounts and how to watch for those 12-week-cycle drops in prices, so we can move in and pick things up very inexpensively," she said.

Cataldo's couponing habits have drawn the attention of local media outlets throughout the Chicago area, including a recurring segment on Jonathon Brandmeier's WLUP-FM morning radio show. She has a Web site at supercouponing.com.

People assume coupon queen Jill Cataldo must "live in the grocery store" when in fact she typically only shops one day a week -- as long it's between Sunday and Wednesday when the sale cycle prices are at their lowest.

It takes Cataldo about 30 minutes a week to prepare her coupons at home.

Newbies can expect to spend an hour or so a week couponing.

"It's not a terribly long time commitment for the amount of money you're saving in the end," she said.