Cameras roll on second season of Zions' 'Cheapster' series

Zions Bank on Tuesday began filming season two of its "Cheapster" online reality series in which 13 college students from Utah and Idaho are competing for a $10,000 prize by taking on extreme budgeting challenges.

The 13 penny-pinchers, who were narrowed from a group of 1,000 video applications in which entrants tried to impress judges with their creative ways to save, faced an entirely new set of tests presented by Zions and filmed by a video crew at the Murray Theater.

From tackling tasks such as sifting through a wall of coupons in 90 seconds in hopes of finding one with the most value to pricing out a frugal meal, contestants spent much of Tuesday in front of the camera.

The field was reduced by judges to 10. To determine a winner, the finalists will be asked to submit to a special challenge that will involve viewer participation at www.facebook.com/cheapstertv, where the three- or four-part "Cheapster" series will air online beginning in late October or early November.

In addition to their prize, the winning contestant also stands to win $10,000 for the individual's school. The bank, which hopes to make clients of students enrolled at Utah and Idaho colleges and universities, was able to generate 800 more applications in this, the contest's second year.