Jordon Cox is 6ft 5in, stick thin, with size 15 feet and a granite-strong handshake. Over the past few days, his life — always a bit unusual — has become increasingly bizarre. 'Mental crazy' is how he describes it.

The 18-year-old from Essex has been invited to be interviewed for TV programmes all over the world in his very sensible specs and terrible haircut. His name even cropped up on BBC1's Question Time on Thursday night.

'They were debating me! It was crazy. Everyone was clapping,' he says, all pink and pleased. The reason? He'd posted a blog on a savings advice website in which he explained how he had made a journey from Sheffield (where he'd been advising members of a local WI group how to save money on their supermarket bill) to his home town, Shenfield in Essex.

Rather than go direct, he took a 1,017-mile detour via Berlin. It meant a day's more travel — but it cost him £7.72 less than the train equivalent.

Jordon Cox is 6ft 5in, stick thin, with size 15 feet and a granite-strong handshake. Over the past few days, his life — always a bit unusual — has become increasingly bizarre

Jordon recently hit the headlines after travelling from Sheffield to Shenfield via Berlin

Apart from giving him extensive sight-seeing in Berlin (a visit to the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, a free tour of the Reichstag and a 'lovely' lunch of currywurst sausage), it turned Jordon into a national consumers' champion for exposing the scandal of rip-off rail prices.

'All I wanted to do was to show people how they can save money,' he says.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it went global. What began as what he calls a 'fun blog' seems set to take off into a major campaign to educate all of us money-wasting fools how we can save pounds and stick two fingers up at over-priced firms such as the rail companies.

Jordon, who works three days a week as a 'deals and coupon blogger' for Moneysaving-expert.com, says that while the news always seems full of stories about price hikes, consumers are not often given enough tips to avoid being ripped off.

'I decided that I could help because I can't bear to see people struggle when they don't have to,' he says.

This isn't the first time his cost-cutting has hit the headlines.

A couple of years ago, by ingeniously juggling money-off vouchers, he reduced his mum's grocery bill from £106 to just £1.62. Just 16 at the time, he was quickly dubbed the Coupon Kid.

Six months later, he trumped himself by scouring the internet and magazines to collect 470 money-off and cashback vouchers for dozens of products. The result? He bought Christmas groceries worth £572.16 for just 4p. And then gave away all the goods to the poor.

This isn't the first time that bargain hunter Jordon Cox's outstanding cost-cutting has hit the headlines

A couple of years ago, by ingeniously juggling money-off vouchers, he reduced his mum's grocery bill from £106 to just £1.62

Now he blogs for his hero Martin Lewis's website and travels the country giving couponing seminars to various groups. He also wanders around supermarkets offering free advice.

'I'm forever looking in people's shopping baskets and thinking: 'There's a coupon for that online that could have saved you some money.' '

Sometimes he'll approach shoppers as they select an item and tell them there is a £1 money-off coupon in the free in-store magazine.

His sudden fame is one in the eye for his school classmates who bullied him because he wasn't sporty.

'I was called names because I was tall with goofy teeth. I was punched a lot,' he says.

Growing up as an only child, Jordon — who's the first to admit he was 'always a bit different' — had no real interest in money or saving.

But when he was 15, his parents split up and he became worried that his mother, an NHS worker, might not be able to cope financially. So he decided to help out — with what he'd learned on his favourite American TV programme, Extreme Couponing.

Just 16 at the time, he was quickly dubbed the Coupon Kid. Six months later, he trumped himself by scouring the internet and magazines to collect 470 money-off and cashback vouchers for dozens of products

He bought Christmas groceries worth £572.16 for just 4p. And then gave away all the goods to the poor

Extreme couponing is where you combine money off-vouchers, special offers and other promotions to get the maximum discount.

The Holy Grail is 'overage' — when the discount is more than the price, so the shop pays you to take the product away.

Jordon was a natural and, within weeks, he'd reduced his mum's shopping bill by hundreds of pounds.

Some bargains involved having to buy on a large scale — thus ending up with a wall of packets of loo roll ('four for 20p!'), ten years' supply of toothbrushes and dozens of hair removal sachets (where the discount was £1 and the sachets cost 80p — thus meaning a 20p 'overage').

Jordon couldn't resist the deal, even though his mum didn't have any unwanted excess hair!

Today, they take turns to do the grocery shopping, but always heavily supervised by Jordon.

'If I'm busy, I'll give her the coupons and say: 'ONLY get these items, please. Do not get anything else.' '

For her part, mum Debbie is immensely proud of her son.

'I don't know where it all came from — he's not like me or his dad,' she says. 'He's always been older than his age, but he's the kindest, loveliest boy in the world.'

Last week, Jordon cannily switched his mum's energy provider (yet again) and will save more than £250 over the next year

Jordon studied for nine months at Peter Jones's (of TV's Dragons' Den fame) Enterprise Academy, set up a company, disbanded it when he fell out with his two partners and started blogging for Moneysavingexpert.com

Until Jordon Cox discovered the joys of couponing and money-saving, his parents assumed that with his sharp brain he'd go to university. But he was turned off the idea

He has also travelled extensively, usually with his mum — to Barcelona, Pisa, Florence, Paris, Washington DC, North Carolina, New York, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Florida and now Berlin

JORDON'S MONEY-SAVING SHEFFIELD TO ESSEX VIA BERLIN TRIP ISN'T HIS ONLY MONEY-SAVING TRICK... Leeds to Bristol (via Dublin) Even the cheapest advance train ticket for March 1 — setting off before 8am and without any station changes — will cost £98.70. The alternative: Fly via Dublin. The 6.30am flight from Leeds airport costs £9.99. It arrives at 7.35am, in plenty of time for the 12.30pm flight (£14.99) to Bristol, arriving at 1.35pm. Add a quick £7.50 trip into Dublin city centre on the Airlink bus and the trip will cost you £32.48 — a saving of £66.22. Aberdeen to Milton Keynes (via Copenhagen) Planning this trip on Monday? The cheapest rail ticket is £136.60. Instead, jump on an early-morning Megabus to Edinburgh Airport (£22.50), fly to Copenhagen on the 9am Ryanair flight (£22.49), arriving at 11.50am. Then take the 2.15pm flight to Luton (£12). The last leg involves a 99 bus to Milton Keynes (£4). You’ll have spent £60.99 — saving £75.61. Stoke-on-Trent to Edinburgh (via Norway) The cheapest advance train ticket for a journey on February 18 is £95. But you can save 51p and have a night in Oslo, too. Just take a National Express bus from Stoke to Manchester Airport for £7.50 the day before, then catch the 8.05pm flight to Oslo, arriving at 11pm — for £19.99. A return train ticket from the airport into the city centre is 180 Kr (£14). A night at the Anker Hostel is available through Booking.com for £20. The return flight to Edinburgh at 6.10pm the next day will cost 422 Kr (£33) — making a total of £94.49. Cambridge to Liverpool (via Cork) THE bargain advance rail ticket on February 24, via London, is £26.49, compared with an on-the-day price of £101.60. Yet it’s still cheaper to fly via Cork. Take a National Express coach to Stansted (£8), catch the 12.30pm flight to Cork for £9.99. Take the 6.15pm flight to Liverpool for 9.99 Euros (£7.50). Total cost by air: £25.49 — saving £1. Advertisement

Until he discovered the joys of couponing and money-saving, they'd assumed that with his sharp brain he'd go to university. But he was turned off the idea.

'I didn't fancy going out and getting drunk. I don't drink, though I once had a tiny bit of wine and it was 'euggh!'.' Instead, he says he was 'desperate to jump right into the working world'.

He studied for nine months at Peter Jones's (of TV's Dragons' Den fame) Enterprise Academy, set up a company, disbanded it when he fell out with his two partners and started blogging for Moneysavingexpert.com.

He's saved enough to be thinking about putting a deposit on a house.

He has also travelled extensively, usually with his mum — to Barcelona, Pisa, Florence, Paris, Washington DC, North Carolina, New York, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Florida and now Berlin.

All on cut-price tickets, obviously.

But there is far more to Jordon than scrimping. He writes poems and songs, taught himself the piano, is a champ at Trivial Pursuit, adores quiz shows and recently won £1,000 on ITV game show Pick Me.

He also loves amateur dramatics and won a National Operatic and Dramatic Association award for his role as Bud Frump in a stage version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. 'That was cool!'

It goes without saying, he's bursting with money-saving tips.

Such as the best time to pick up a cheap flight is between two and three weeks before you fly — he calls it 'the golden zone', where the price dips right down, before going up again to catch out last-minute bookers.

He also loves amateur dramatics and won a National Operatic and Dramatic Association award for his role as Bud Frump in a stage version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Jordon writes poems and songs, taught himself the piano, is a champ at Trivial Pursuit, adores quiz shows and recently won £1,000 on ITV game show Pick Me

And, apparently, Tuesday is the cheapest day to fly.

Last week, Jordon cannily switched his mum's energy provider (yet again) and will save more than £250 over the next year.

He also negotiated with a friend's mobile provider and secured a £5-a-month discount. He can't remember the last time he paid full-price for anything.

He is also constantly engaged in correspondence with manufacturers.

'I email them all the time — not to moan or complain, but just to tell them how great their product is.'

Seven out of ten times, they are so pleased that they reward him with a money-off voucher or free samples.

'The more effort you put in, the more successful you are,' he says. 'I wrote a 20-line poem about how much I love Innocent drinks and they sent me £20 of vouchers.'

Alternatively, he might send them a daft photo of himself alongside the product, or a birthday card to a manufacturer if he's spotted they are celebrating an anniversary.

'I do that a lot for cereals —– cereal and cheese are my favourite foods. I often get £5 vouchers back.'

While it might take a lot of confidence to hold up a supermarket checkout as the cashier tots up scores of separate coupons, Jordon insists the stigma is fading.

'The trend of couponing has been growing the past few years. It's not as embarrassing as it used to be. More people are doing it because saving is the new cool.'

There is no girlfriend. 'Unfortunately not,' he says with a shy grin. But any future date will benefit from his skills with restaurant vouchers.

'There's so much money to be saved! I just want people to know how to do it.'

Maybe Jordon should be snapped up and be appointed the Government's new saving Tsar.

'My local MP is Sir Eric Pickles — maybe I'll offer my services, but just something small to start with.'

Sir Eric would be wise to answer his call because Train Boy really knows what he's talking about.

So, finally, what's his best bargain ever? He looks stricken: 'That's like asking someone which is their favourite child.'

OK, let's put it another way: of which bargain is he most proud? 'I think probably the hair removal sachets — even though we've never used any of them!