Money-off coupons, discount vouchers and competitions feature in Channel 4’s Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching, due to air tonight (Thursday December 1 2011).

Described in the TV channel’s promotional material as “an entertaining and revealing look at the lives of some of the country's thriftiest people,” the program will include interviews with a “voucher-loving midwife who can slash her supermarket bill from £50 to less than five pounds.”

A Channel 4 spokeswoman explains that coupons are only one of the cost-cutting measures the midwife uses: “the camera follows her around a store as she explains a range of ways you can save money, like bulk buying and using cash-back websites.”

Annie Swift, chief executive of the IPM, says: “I’m sure everyone featured in the program is acting perfectly legitimately, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using money-off coupons to cut the cost of your weekly shop, stocking up on multibuys or searching out bargains – we all do it. In fact, money-off coupons saved UK consumers £500 million on their grocery bills in 2010.”

But, Swift warns, “a small group of people are abusing money-off coupons, which hurts the brands that issue them and consumers in general. Coupons should not be used as if they were cash. They will have terms and conditions attached, and the major retailers have all told their checkout staff not to accept coupons which aren’t valid – for example, where the shopper hasn’t bought the relevant item or where you can only use one coupon at a time.”

Brands have in the past been presented with massive bills by retailers for coupons which should never have been accepted – in one case, a company was asked for nearly £1m, when it should only have been charged £32,000.

The IPM has successfully worked with brand owners and retailers over the past two years to reduce the misuse of coupons, and will soon be publishing updated guidance for coupon issuers.