Another extreme couponing question: where do they get all the freaking coupons?

[jennyerin]

It's no coincidence the the "Extreme Couponing" show airs right before "Hoarders" around here. Some of those people buy way too much. Stuff would expire in my house before I could use it all...

 

[eeyorenpooh29]

I am an avid couponer. In fact, I got started into couponing after seeing the show in the 1st season. Nathan Engel was on the episode I watched, and I immediately joined his couponing forum, where I am now a Forum Leader. You would be surprised at how much you can learn on there. Its such a fun environment to learn the ins and outs of couponing. I don't hoard, but I do make sure I have a substantial amount of everyday goods on hands. I started couponing in April 2011. When I started, I got 20 boxes of Pasta FREE...I just ran out last week! I havent paid for an HBA product or cleaning supply in a year either, and I still have plenty on hand, even after donating to the tornado victims last month. You don't have to buy 20-30 newspapers a week, to coupon, you can buy 1 or 2, then order the rest of the multiples you need from a clipping service, which is what I do.

 

[Patience]

I believe that a lot of the "extreme" coupon people re-sell their goods at flea markets, yard sales, to their neighbors, etc. If someone 'buys' 100 bottles of mustard for free with coupons, they can sell them for half the grocery store price and make a nice profit for themselves that they probably don't pay income tax on. The buyers get half price food without paying sales tax. Fraudulent all the way around in my opinion which is why it's not mentioned on the show. Of course, some of these people are just hoarders and some donate the stuff to charity

 

[Andrea]

I belong to a coupon board. They guy who owns the board was on the very first epsiode of this show. He said there was so much editing on it.

It has came out that some stores will over ride their own system just for the people on that show.

As far as someone finding a bundle at the recycle center, I do that. Our town has a free paper that goes out on thursday morning. there is a paper person ( i dont know who, i have never seen them) who does not deliever there papers. They throw them straight into the recycle center.

So the time i get there they are still in the bundle of 50 papers per bundle and i can get around 100 or so. ( i dont i get one bundle)

 

[PatsMom]

I save quite a bit with coupons. I get mine from the Sunday paper and from internet printables mostly. I have my Sunday paper, which I read, do the crossword, and use the TV Guide so even without coupons it is worth the $2 a week! My mother subscribes to two Sunday papers just because she likes to read them and she gives me her coupons since she won't use many. And I get my grandmother's and one of my brother's.

I have quite a supply of shampoo and deodorant! There is no excuse for anyone in my family to smell bad they say! My relatives all "shop" in my closet and they are quite grateful for the time and effort I put into couponing. Saves them a little money! I clip while I watch television and sort on Sunday mornings after I make my weekly shopping list. There are several web sites that will tell you what coupons are around that will match up with the sales at the major drug stores.

The extreme couponing trend is making it harder for the rest of us who do it honestly. I have no problem with the people who get a bunch of Sunday inserts legally by purchasing the paper or rescuing them from a recycling bin. But the "clipping services" are nothing but a shell to hide coupon fraud. Almost every coupon has a clause on it that prohibits selling the coupon. That is why these services charge for "clipping". I guess it takes more effort to clip a high value coupon and that is why the charge is higher.

One trend I am glad to see is the P&G coupons now specify that no more than four like coupons can be used on a shopping trip. Seems fair to me - four of anything is enough for most people and helps spread the stuff around.

 

[happymommy]

I also started using coupons again last April, like the PP, and also got all the free pasta (20 boxes!). I gave some away, as I couldn't believe you can get things for free!

I now guess you could consider me "extreme" although that sounds weird to me.

I have a friend who lives in an apartment building, who gets a free weekly small paper that has coupons frequently. She gets the leftovers that others don't want, so sometimes gives me 20 - 50 inserts at a time. In return, I get her things I know she likes and needs when there are good deals paired with the coupons.

I have used clipping services, but find you can spend quite a bit on them if you're not careful!

Printables are great! You are allowed two per computer usually, so I use my computer plus four old laptops, so when there is a good coupon I can hook them up to my printer and get 8 of each. I use the four main sites for them, plus facebook often has a lot of good ones you can't get anyplace else.

If you have the time and the ambition, you can save a bundle. I save about $1,000 a month now, spend less than $30 a week usually at the store, and give away a lot too. I have friends going through some hard times, plus a cleaning lady who lives with her sister, so they have lots of kids to feed.

But, I am lucky to live in Maryland. All my stores double up to 99 cents. I just get the coupons, keep them organized, then when my favorite store's weekly ad comes out I see what is on sale that week that I can pair with coupons I have.

I have bought multiple papers many many times also. Sometimes it's worth the $2 when that week has coupons that can save you a whole lot more than that. Since my friend gets me coupons, and I have quite a stockpile now of basics (cleaners, toiletries, canned broth and pasta sauce, etc....) I don't feel the need to buy more than my one paper that I get delivered usually.

I do have a good friend who was on the show, and yes they do some editing, spending two full days to film one shopping trip. And the stores do bend their rules for the show - allowing more coupons than normal (they used to do this much more than they do now). But, she did acquire all of her coupons herself, from friends and buying papers (no she has never used a clipping service).

Also, yes there are frequently tearpads in the store. I take some and leave some - and they appear all the time. They get replenished a lot too, so if there aren't any one day, they may have more a couple days later. Some are good if you take a couple and then wait for a sale!

 

[happymommy]

I just watched the “100 mustard bottles show”; what really gets me mad is when the husband says let’s leave a couple bottles and she says no, and I think they only leave one bottle. It is not fair for the next person or people who wanted to buy a bottle or two and now cannot. I think there should be limits on number of purchases and the way coupons work. How can a store end up owning them money? I thought coupons were only good up to the amount of the item.

She is a friend of mine.

What they didn't show is that the mustard was pre-ordered, and then they stocked them on the shelf to film her taking them off the shelf. There was a lot left, but they didn't show that.

Yes, especially since here our stores double up to 99 cents, you can have overage when the sale is less than the coupon value. We use that for things like produce, organics, meats, etc.. You can learn about this on couponing forums.

What they also didn't show is that a lot of her items are given away. All the mustard went to friends and food banks.

She also recently did a huge shopping trip, gathering coupons from friends (me) and neighbors. She spent a full week, on top of her full-time job, collecting coupons and shopped for a local Virginia food bank, providing them with over $1,000 worth of pantry and cleaning items. It was filmed by our local tv station, but not as dramatic as the TLC show, which is staged to provide lots of drama. She was trying to show how you can save if you use coupons and wait for sales. So it may look like greed, on the show, and yes some folks have way too much and have an addiction, but most are trying to stretch their money and help others with what they know about saving.

 

[AmericangirlinFrance]

Another thing to keep in mind is that in many areas of the country, grocery stores don't double or triple coupons at all, or fewer coupons are available (like in Florida, where I live). I still print coupons online and cut out ones for products I use, and sometimes I can get a good deal. But without the doubling or tripling, forget it. So... count yourself as lucky if you live somewhere where they still do that!