PORTLAND, Ore. - Savvy shoppers know they can bring just about any coupon to Albertsons and save tons of money on their grocery bills but all that is about to end.

Starting Wednesday, the grocery store chain will no longer accept competitor coupons, a move that is already beginning to send  coupon clippers into a tailspin.

Julie Parrish, who runs www.hotcouponworld.com out of her home in West Linn, said consumers are writing in and complaining about the move.  Many of them were saving hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year by taking all their coupons to Albertsons.

“I think on average you could easily cut 50 percent of your grocery bill,” she said.

According to a company spokesperson, the big change in strategy is meant to avoid problems like running out of inventory for items that other stores are offering big savings on.  But when we called the regular customer service number, a representative said it’s simply that more people are using coupons these days and they are just losing too much money.

Albertsons said it does still have several ways for customers to save money, like its preferred savings card and gas rewards program.

By Angelica Thornton KATU News and KATU.com Staff