An Associated Press article in yesterday's print edition says that Americans last year halted a 16-year trend of declining redemptions by turning in 2.6 billion manufacturers' coupons, amid soaring fuel costs and a housing and credit crisis.

Here is more:

Stephanie Nelson, an Atlanta-area woman behind the "The Coupon Mom" Web site that offers coupons, information and advice, said daily visits to her site have more than tripled this year, to some 25,000 a day.

"People are seeking out ways to save money," she said. "Coupons are free money, if it's something you would buy anyway."

"You can't really cut the price of gas, but you can cut the cost of food in half," said Teri Gault, founder and CEO of TheGroceryGame.com, a site that helps users coordinate coupon use with supermarket and drug store sales to maximize savings.

With the rising use of coupons by consumers, do you think any grocery chains will return to the practice of doubling the face value of manufacturers' coupons? It seems like they all used to do it, at least once a week. But, one by one, they stopped, and now I don't know of any that still do.

(Associated Press photo: Coupon clipper Stephanie Nelson of Marietta, Ga., has a Web site devoted to the use of coupons. )