hoarders and extreme coupons

[MinnieVanMom]

Now that I have seen both shows I kinda wonder if there is a connection between the two? One is plain junk but still, both seem to be about keeping things to excess.

What do you think?

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I think the extreme couponers do have a touch of hoarder in them. I don't get their obsession with their stockpile. I could never manage to use 50 boxes of cake mix before they all expire

 

[mhawk4]

yes, they are the same thing. On Hoarders they are hoarding trash and some treasures but the hoarder often cannot tell the difference between the two. With Extreme Couponing they are hoarding something that is "acceptable" but it is a hoarding behavior. Hoarding food is what animals do to get ready for the winter.

 

[laura.anne]

I don't think stockpiling qualifies as hoarding. I don't understand the purpose in buying 50 boxes of something you won't use, but as someone who is a stockpiler (well, as much as my student apartment allows me to be lol), I cannot express how much peace of mind having a stash of stuff helps. Especially as a college student. It's just nice to be able to know that you don't have to run to the store when you unexpectedly run out of salad dressing or whatever. You walk to the pantry and some more is there. To me it's just a smart way to shop, and there are plenty of other smart ways to shop. This is just the way I choose to do it.

 

[GatorMama]

I think the extreme couponers do have a touch of hoarder in them. I don't get their obsession with their stockpile. I could never manage to use 50 boxes of cake mix before they all expire

You clearly do not know or associate with my husband.

 

[RitaE]

I think there is a huge difference between having a couple extra bottles of salad dressing in your pantry and packing your bathroom and the kid's bedrooms full of toilet paper and toothpaste.

There are definitely some common traits among certain Hoarders and some of the people I've seen on the Extreme Coupon show. There have been people on both who have definite shopping addictions.

And not that I'm accusing the previous poster of being a "Hoarder" - but if you read the literature on the subject you will find that nearly all of them attach emotion to the things they pile up - like "feelings of comfort" or anxiety over "not having enough."

 

[melancholywings]

I wanted to say no. But there is some (not all, and certainly not in the majority) some cross over. I think it's more that a hoarder can be an Extreme Couponer, and EC can enable those hoarding tendencies because it can cause a momentary 'feel good' emotional rush. But many ECers donate from their stockpiles and find it easy to do so as sales cycle. And to coupon correctly you need to keep a neat and orderly stockpile and watch your expiration dates. It's a lot of work.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I don't think stockpiling qualifies as hoarding. I don't understand the purpose in buying 50 boxes of something you won't use, but as someone who is a stockpiler (well, as much as my student apartment allows me to be lol), I cannot express how much peace of mind having a stash of stuff helps. Especially as a college student. It's just nice to be able to know that you don't have to run to the store when you unexpectedly run out of salad dressing or whatever. You walk to the pantry and some more is there. To me it's just a smart way to shop, and there are plenty of other smart ways to shop. This is just the way I choose to do it.

I think there is a huge difference between having a couple extra bottles of salad dressing in your pantry and packing your bathroom and the kid's bedrooms full of toilet paper and toothpaste.

Laura.anne, I think a lot of people shop similar to you... maybe buying 10 boxes of pasta when they can get a good deal. My thoughts were more on the people who will buy 50 boxes of a flavor of pasta they have never even tried, just because they got a good deal. RitaE got it right, it's great to have that extra dressing or ketchup when you need it (my DH calls it "back-up") but an extra 75 bottles may be excessive- especially if you use one bottle a week, and you have 75 bottles- 20 of which will expire within four months! If you have to move your kids clothes out of their bedroom closet to make room for 150 boxes of Suddenly Salad, you may just have a hoarding problem

You clearly do not know or associate with my husband.

So I guess he can go through a lot of cake

I work in as a front end manager in a supermarket, and I was talking to a customer one day who was trying her hand at extreme couponing... we had Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta on sale 10 for $10, and there was a $1 off 1 coupon in the paper that week.... she had 16 boxes (our limit is 4 coupons of a kind per order and 4 orders per customer) She was maxing out her allowed limit, and her mom was with her - same thing 16 boxes. So she was telling me how she would get them free. I was impressed, and mentioned I might pick up a box or two for summer pasta salads. She asked if I ever tried the Garden Delight, and I said yes, I like it for pasta salad, but not with a red or cream sauce; she then told me she had never tried it. I was in shock that she would go for 16 boxes of something that she did not even know if her family would like. It seemed extremely wasteful to me to purchase something that may eventually go into the trash. To each his own, I guess.

 

[jessica52877]

I don't think stockpiling qualifies as hoarding. I don't understand the purpose in buying 50 boxes of something you won't use, but as someone who is a stockpiler (well, as much as my student apartment allows me to be lol), I cannot express how much peace of mind having a stash of stuff helps. Especially as a college student. It's just nice to be able to know that you don't have to run to the store when you unexpectedly run out of salad dressing or whatever. You walk to the pantry and some more is there. To me it's just a smart way to shop, and there are plenty of other smart ways to shop. This is just the way I choose to do it.

I don't think stockpiling in small quantities is hoarding either. But I think the show shows much more extreme stockpiling then you or me do!

It was wonderful last week when my DS8 was at Cub Scout camp and their service project was for the troops. I easily went to my stock pile and we filled a large bag with items for them and I didn't have to spend a dime. I even had a deck of cards and Uno to toss in from thrifty shopping. It was great!

I do think alot of the EC have a hoarding tendency, just different then the show. In fact, I thought the Hoarders show would show some different scenarios and not just all hoarders that have junk (trash) everywhere.

 

[Poohforyou]

When you can't use 2 out of the 3 showers in your house because they are packed with your stock pile of paper towels and toilet paper you've crossed over from smart consumer to looney hoarder.

 

[LovableGluttons]

I've often thought this myself, OP.

I coupon pretty heavily, but not before arranging ahead of time somewhere to dump, err, donate it to, so I don't have to haul it home.

I don't want all that in my house, but if I'm going to get overage for trading coupons for it, which will allow me to get the things I do want and use for free, I'll do it.

I just don't want the clutter.

I'm a couponer and do have one extra tube of toothpaste upstairs and one downstairs. That's my stockpile. I prefer more spartan surroundings than the chaos a stockpile brings.

 

[laura.anne]

I think there is a huge difference between having a couple extra bottles of salad dressing in your pantry and packing your bathroom and the kid's bedrooms full of toilet paper and toothpaste.

There are definitely some common traits among certain Hoarders and some of the people I've seen on the Extreme Coupon show. There have been people on both who have definite shopping addictions.

And not that I'm accusing the previous poster of being a "Hoarder" - but if you read the literature on the subject you will find that nearly all of them attach emotion to the things they pile up - like "feelings of comfort" or anxiety over "not having enough."

I think the thing for me about "extreme couponing" is that there are many misconceptions about couponers and stockpilers because of the show. For many people that's the only glimpse they see into couponing or this type of shopping... and a LOT of people on that show are sooooo weird lol. But if you go read couponing forums and blogs, you'll see a lot of us are more "normal" or whatever. I think this topic is very very touchy for me because my parents are actual hoarders, so that is a household which I've just left within the past two years. It took the past two years for me to realize that was my parents' issue, not mine, because if you come to my apartment it looks the OPPOSITE of my parents' home. It's a very sensitive issue when people say "couponing = hoarding" or similar things because I can tell you I know the difference first hand. But I do agree that some people take it to the extreme -- I don't have kids but I can't imagine stuffing extra TP rolls under their beds unless I literally had barely any money.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I'm no expert, but it seems like both groups have anxiety/OCD issues.

I no longer watch either show. I've seen enough mummified cats and shelves lined with bottles of Purex to last a lifetime.

 

[DawnM]

Those dead cats at the hoarder's house were scary! That was a real shocker.

I can barely watch the hoarding show. It creeps me out and makes me depressed.

Since hoarders has the health department in declaring the area unsafe and the extreme couponers don't come close to that from the episodes I have seen, I wouldn't say they are hoarders, but they do have issues.

I have 2 shelving units in my pantry. They are from Costco. If they get filled I am done. DH jokes that we need about 20 more of them to fill the basement and get our own mini grocery store type stockpile like that show.....NOT HAPPENING!

Dawn

I'm no expert, but it seems like both groups have anxiety/OCD issues.

I no longer watch either show. I've seen enough mummified cats and shelves lined with bottles of Purex to last a lifetime.