With all the hoopla about TLC's first season of "Extreme Couponing," it's no wonder Season Two is eagerly awaited by many fans.  Starting Wednesday, the maniacs of the supermarket aisles take to American TV screens once again to show shoppers how it's done.

Thanks to a bit of a sneak peak, Coupon Sherpa offers practical advice based on a selection of Season Two topics.

1. Shelf Clearing

No matter what the extremists say, clearing a shelf of every item is just plain rude. Sure it's okay to go for big bargains, but it's also important to remember the lesson we all learned about "sharing" in nursery school.

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More people than ever are clipping coupons for their supermarket trips, but they’re often not saving as much as they could, says Toni House, author of How to Reduce Your Weekly Grocery Bill to $85 Per Week – Or Less!.  "You can easily shave $5 to $20 off your weekly grocery budget with a minimal investment of time," says House. "Cutting your bill just $10 a week will save you $520 over the course of a year.

"Taking a couple of extra steps to ensure you can use all the coupons you clip will save you more money – and protect your investment of time in clipping them."  How can consumers take advantage of coupons without becoming consumed by them?  Let us count the ways!

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Looking for a custom invitation without spending upwards of $700? The average cost of wedding invitations and reply cards is $659, according to 2010 data from The Bridal Association of America.

Here are some ways to trim costs for your 2012 wedding. When using these tips, expect to pay around $200 for 100-150 invitations.

1. Establish the Look

Use Pinterest to browse for invitations from which to draw your inspiration. Start a board and "pin" examples. Once you find a direction you'd like to go in, you're ready to start on your very own. There are several options for today's budget bride including free online templates, designing it from scratch or ordering at a discount.

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Thanks to steadily increasing cotton and labor costs, fashion manufacturers are cutting back on both quality and extras. Instead, they're using inexpensive tweaks to con shoppers into believing they're actually getting more for their money -- thus the new slang term "con-flation." It looks like parents aren't buying it, however. The National Retail Foundation released a study in late July indicating back-to-school shoppers plan to spend less this year across the board.

According to the study, "Parents are actually taking inventory of last year's items, asking kids to...try on those 'old' jeans, and check if the tennis shoes still fit."

The Labor Department reported clothing prices rose 1.2 percent in July, the third straight increase in the last year. In 12 months, clothing costs rose 3.1 percent, the biggest yearly increase since July 1992.

Shopper pragmatism is one way to beat the system; another is to use cost-saving methods to reduce back-to-school budgets. Here are six recommendations.

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Return policies for some merchants are more complex than income tax laws. Buy online and you'll spend umpteen hours working your way through phone trees and waiting on hold to talk to a customer "service" representative. If you're lucky, you'll get a refund. Otherwise, it's a store credit from a store you may not wish to patronize again.

Humorously, many of these merchants claim to offer "hassle free" returns. Some retailers, on the other hand, genuinely believe in making the process as pain-free as possible. FreeShipping did some research and came up with the following top 10 online return policies.

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It's always a good time to review some basic tricks that coupon pros use. Read on for six ways you can save like an extreme couponer.

1. Start Small

Don't try to go extreme all at once. Take it step by step, rather than show up at a checkout with 50 coupons and little idea what you're doing.

2. Never Pay For Coupons

There are some things in this life you just shouldn't pay for, and a coupon is one of them. Paying someone to clip or organize your coupons defeats the purpose of living frugally. Instead, surf Sunday newspaper ad supplements for coupon savings; ask your neighbors for their unwanted papers; or dive inside a recycled dumpster or two. Also, free online coupon sites like CouponSherpa.com give consumers access to a multitude of coupon codes and printable coupons for thousands of merchants.

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