"Extreme Couponing" or Ho"arders- Grocery Edition"

[java]

All the coupon talk all over the internet disgusts me.

My wife decided to go to a real grocery store last week. Family of 4 and she paid $270 for the week. We ran out of food. (this includes all items, not just food.) Today she went to Walmart and spent $230. It will last us a week, but not more. She used 2 coupons.

I've been scouring the internet for coupons for several weeks for her. There is nothing out there to use for stuff we would eat. Plenty of cereal, but that is about it. We have nothing in the newspapers here in western PA.

I am currently looking at grocery ads from an area we don't shop in. Cereal that we would eat, 4 for $10 (General Mills), a coupon for $0.55 on 1 and coupon for $1.00 off 3. That takes it down to $8.45, or $2.11 each. Every internet coupon I've printed says "do not double or triple." That certainly isn't any help. The sale is for the smallest of sizes of cereal in which she would instead buy the big generic bags with 1.5 times the quantity at least in each for $2.

It is making me sick, the grocery prices and these coupon shows and all the talk on the internet. With groceries and gas prices going up, our expense in these 2 categories have increased about $500/month since we've started working with a budget. Currently, our groceries and gas expense is now twice our house payment! The real kicker is, we don't buy beef! We have our own raised beef. We don't eat beef all the time as it wouldn't be the healthiest to eat red meat all the time, but we do eat a lot and that grocery budget is without any beef.

I just wonder every time I read or see something about couponing, just what are you all eating? Our country is slated as the fattest country in the world. I can probably guess why from these internet forums. Either you are eating out all the time, which certainly isn't good for the waistline, or couponing, thus eating all that processed food that coupons are for.

All these extreme couponers shown in this show certainly has a lot of junk they paid very little for. But I haven't yet seen any actual food that one could eat for nutrition. Thus far I have seen on the show a crapload of pop, sugary juices, hotdogs, really crappy paper towels, toilet paper that I would never put down in my septic, toothpaste and deodorant. How much toothpaste and deodorant do people use in a month? We would save a whopping $2/month on toothpaste and $4/month on deodorant with these stockpiles that are being shown on TV.

We are a family of 6 and I have a $100 weekly grocery budget. I make my own bread*(do buy some sandwich bread at the outlet for 50cents for a king size of stroehman's) I buy the loss leaders every week in the meat department(so one week it's chicken, one week beef, one pork) I don't eat only chicken that week- I stock the freezer each week and vary it up.

We buy vegetables and fruits in bulk sizes (so a bag of apples vs. buying individual apples)

Using your cereal example- just using 4 of the .55 coupons would be saving you more (our store in NJ does still double up to $1 and recently the stop and shop has offered a promo that let you double ONE dollar coupon but I don't shop in there because it's just too expensive for the other things I buy)

It's not hard. And if you are commited to it you can stick to the budget. You can see what we eat every week on the Eat at home thread on the budget board. I am big on Roast Chicken- that we eat half of- then use the other half to make a pot of Chicken Tortilla soup that will last us a week of lunches- We like Turkey meatballs with homemade sauce. I do a night of meatless meals every week. Sometimes more than one if it's a tight week. Homemade pancakes with bacon and apple slices (ok the bacon isn't great but it's a treat)

My family of 6 includes a 16 year old boy that can eat! I don't walk into a store anymore thinking Hmmm what am I going to make for breakfast lunch and dinner this week- I have a menu planned based on the sales flyer for the week. My family has said we are eating way better since I've started this in January. And we have not eaten out since December of last year!(Oh I did have one breakfast with friends)

Drinks were a big expense for us. Juice boxes (the 100% juice ones) are expensive. So we have switched to Sigg bottles and sending in drinks in them for the kids. No water bottles we use a Britax filter and the kids take it in their Sigg.

Do you shop at Aldi? They have those in PA. You can buy basics here like oatmeal and our store actually has good vegetables- but you have to check them out to be sure.

I have a coupon binder - I have organic coupons in there. I sign up at websites of companies that I like and "like" them on facebook. Muir Glenn is a good one. Alexia is another one that offers big discounts. You can also print them out from here for other organics.

http://www.coupons.com/Couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15046&nid=10&zid=uw18

It can be done if you want to do it. If you have an unlimited grocery budget than you don't have to bother. But we don't so I do bother.

 

[budafam]

I have a modest stockpile as well. We have a shelving unit in the basement that I use and it's normally about half full. There's one closet upstairs that I use for toiletries and then another just for paper towels and toilet paper. Those are usually all full. I know we'll use everything I buy so I don't worry.

This is a show on EXTREME couponing. It's not everyone's way of life and it's not the norm for these people either. The shopping trips they do on the show are usually their "personal bests" so no, that's not the norm for them (even though they have a ton of this stuff already).

I just think it's entertaining to see what is actually possible when you use coupons. People are amazed at how this can happen and here I sit, knowing how it can happen. Most people will not take the time to learn the ropes of couponing. To them, it's just not worth the hours agonizing over clipping coupons and matching deals.

To me, it is worth it!

 

[mhsjax]

I have tried to coupon. I have NEVER seen a coupon for meat of veggies or fruit and I look everywhere. Also there isn't a store here that doubles coupons.

My store is very on top of what they will let you do and not do. I tired to do a coupon thing with cereal, can't remember the details, but people where basically getting it free, actually they earned money back. Our store said no way, they checked with the manager, and when looking at it closely, I think the store would have actually been out the money if they had done it this way.

I am sorry but those people are nuts, and most of them don't need to be eating the stuff that they are, I am in the same boat, and there is no way that I buy that stuff while trying to lose weight and be healthy.

As far as Prego or Ragu. my kids would rather starve than eat that stuff. I guess it depends on what your kids will eat, but I won't make them eat stuff they don't like just because I can get it much cheaper.

Also when your supply takes over your house, it has crossed over into hoarding, no way around it. I have more important thing s to do that sit around and spend hours trying to figure out how I can get free mustard or cheap crap spaghetti sauce. These people are selfish and feeding their own twisted habits. It is no different than a drug addiction, but are unhealthy, but this one is legal.

 

[budafam]

Sorry to double post but I also can't stand it when people say all coupons are for are processed foods. That is SO not true. I often buy eggs, milk, juices, fruits & veggies with coupons. The cereal deals are great depending on the stores nearby you. We have a store that doubles 5 coupons and sometimes 10 on special days. That is where I get my greatest deals. CVS & Walgreens are the best for getting toiletry deals.

I can't imagine ever spending more than $100 tops on groceries per week. I normally am under $30 a week to feed our family of 4 and 3 dogs. That includes everything. I don't think I have ever even hit $100 mark when grocery shopping... I would probably die.

If you want to eat EVERYTHING organic & be that picky, then no, you won't really reap the benefits of couponing but if you are open to trying new products, you'll probably do very well with coupons.

Newspaper inserts are close to the same throughout the country so to say that you live in this state and are not getting any good coupons is bs. You can also buy coupons online through clipping services or even Ebay. This is a great idea if you have a certain product that you buy a lot of.

 

[mhsjax]

Sorry to double post but I also can't stand it when people say all coupons are for are processed foods. That is SO not true. I often buy eggs, milk, juices, fruits & veggies with coupons. The cereal deals are great depending on the stores nearby you. We have a store that doubles 5 coupons and sometimes 10 on special days. That is where I get my greatest deals. CVS & Walgreens are the best for getting toiletry deals.

I can't imagine ever spending more than $100 tops on groceries per week. I normally am under $30 a week to feed our family of 4 and 3 dogs. That includes everything. I don't think I have ever even hit $100 mark when grocery shopping... I would probably die.

If you want to eat EVERYTHING organic & be that picky, then no, you won't really reap the benefits of couponing but if you are open to trying new products, you'll probably do very well with coupons.

Newspaper inserts are close to the same throughout the country so to say that you live in this state and are not getting any good coupons is bs. You can also buy coupons online through clipping services or even Ebay. This is a great idea if you have a certain product that you buy a lot of.

AGain, maybe where you live, but you wont' get coupons for fruit and veggies here, and no one doubles. As far as fruit juice, I won't buy that stuff, not matter how much of a sale it is. I don't eat organic, but I hate processed stuff and that includes fruit juice, plus my kids don't like it. And no it isn't BS, I look very closely every Sunday, and there are no coupons for fruit or veggies, oh wait, yeah, that frozen stuff covered with cheese in a tiny box, Yep. I won't buy those.

 

[maxiesmom]

I guess I was hoping the show would teach normal people how to save buy using coupons. Having to buy a bunch of newspapers does not save me money. And where I live there are no stores that double coupons ever.

I had to laugh at the people who had to call in backup in order to ring up all of their items seperately. Do you not understand the store's policies before you start all of this couponing? I beleive they stated they were there over 4 hours. That would mean to me no dairy or meat of any kind in the buggy, as it would be gross and warm before you even got it out of the store. Ewwww.

I was hoping to learn a few tips from this show. But all it did was glorify people who are too extreme, and I agree with most everyone else, hording.

 

[kaytieeldr]

To answer the questions about how people are using multiple coupons:

a- they could be using a manu coupon and a store coupon. Most stores will allow one of each coupon per product.

b- The store may have decided that they will take multiple coupons on an item and just eat the loss that it might cause them, in order to bring people into their store by advertising a very generous coupon policy. Yes, with an extreme couponer, the store will not profit, but with the typical shopper they will. Most people would bring in a handful of coupons to use and buy many other items for full price.

c- Many stores have "triple coupon days" (or double) so a $1 coupon becomes $3. Stack that with a sale price and a store coupon, and you have a free item and most likely overage (overage is when you have more coupon than dollar value of the item - so a $2 item, $1 coupon tripled and a 50 cent store coupon. $2-#-.50 = -1.50. That 1.50 will go toward other items that are purchased, if the store allows overage of course). Using overage is how some people 'pay' for their produce,meats, etc.

a - They could be using a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon, sure; but few grocery stores or superstores (not to be confused with warehouse or drug stores) provide store coupons now, so that's less likely the situation. Generally, extreme couponers obtain multiple manufacturers coupons via assorted avenues.
b - Stores can't "decide" to accept multiple coupons on 'an' item - for goodwill or any reason. Any store that takes coupons has to follow the rules associated with the coupon. The one I know that's always existed is limit one coupon per purchase. Granted, some retailers interpret this to mean "per transaction" instead of the intended "per item". If a company wanted to allow a larger discount on the purchase of individual items it would provide higher denomination coupons. Another, newer restriction is the 'no doubling'.
c - I'm truly surprised that any retailer would allow stacking with double- or triple-coupons. That's the store's generosity already. It's one thing for them to reimburse you money in exchange for the cost/value of the product; it's another thing entirely if they were to give you free money!

 

[herdtoDisney]

I just can't get over the hoarding aspect of some of the folks on this series While I can understand keeping some (not a lifetime's worth) extra, say, sauce or TP in the home, I just can't see keeping hoards of more items than you could use in a LIFETIME.

For example, toothbrushes and razors. Who needs hundreds of these? Sheesh, keep a dozen and donate the rest to a food pantry, where those are valued items! Same with deodorants and shampoos. And especially the foods that are going to expire anyways. My large family couldn't go through 60-some odd bottles of mustard in a decade. I'd keep maybe 4 and donate the rest, I just don't get the hoarding aspect of this. That is some kind of illness IMO.

 

[Disneefun]

The couple that floored me were the ones who carry a $35,000 insurance policy on their stockpile. Do they factor the premium for that policy into their "savings?"

Personally, if I'm going to carry extra insurance it's going to be for something great -- heirlooms, jewelry, antiques, rare art, etc. I'm not paying to insure Froot Loops and Ramen noodles.

When things reach a point that you have to insure your pile of junk, I think you've gone over the deep end.

 

[GJM]

Newspaper inserts are close to the same throughout the country so to say that you live in this state and are not getting any good coupons is bs.

This is not true - coupons in the inserts where I live now are worth less then what I got in NJ - When I go to NJ I buy the paper and get coupons then when I come home and get the ones in my paper they are worth less. A coupon here could be worth .25 and in the NJ section .50 or .75

Plus food prices are more here, I actually buy more in Costco because I can't get the deals like NJ. Shop Rite would double up to $1.00 and do triple coupons every once in awhile. The store I shop in here, only doubles up to .50 and never has triple coupons.

 

[herdtoDisney]

Yes, the coupon inserts are not all the same. Even different towns in an area can get different coupons.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I beleive they stated they were there over 4 hours. That would mean to me no dairy or meat of any kind in the buggy, as it would be gross and warm before you even got it out of the store. Ewwww.

One of the rare times I'm going to disagree with you - but not in a bad way

I bring a collapsible cooler or buy (I know, wasting money but sometimes I don't know I'm going shopping until I get there ) an insulated shopping bag, and put in whatever needs to be kept cold while I shop. Comes in handy, too, when I don't want to cook and pick up a chicken instead.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm not paying to insure Froot Loops and Ramen noodles.

Has anybody seen th Tag Fairy lately?

 

[tuckerkeys]

I buy my coupons. Actually, it's illegal to sell coupons so I'm actually buying the clipping of the coupons, usually .02 -.05 per coupon......I only get what I use. My store (shoprite) has a double coupon policy of only 4 per item so I usually only get 8 coupons and do 2 transactions to save. I usually use the coupons 1-2x a month as I use them when there is a store sale. Mostly though I buy the store items on sale for that week without a coupon b/c honestly I can't be that organized or obsessed on what's on sale where & if there's a coupon....

 

[bonybroad]

To tell the truth, I was a little offended by the end. The mustard really was extreme. And how much hand soap do you plan on using in your lifetime? Did you see any lettuce or apples or fresh ANYTHING?!? Eating nothing but processed food is not good for you!

 

[GinnyEmma]

What a ridiculous show. Hoarding and compulsive behaviour shouldn't be encouraged, imo.

 

[3boymthr]

Sorry to double post but I also can't stand it when people say all coupons are for are processed foods. That is SO not true. I often buy eggs, milk, juices, fruits & veggies with coupons. The cereal deals are great depending on the stores nearby you. We have a store that doubles 5 coupons and sometimes 10 on special days. That is where I get my greatest deals. CVS & Walgreens are the best for getting toiletry deals.

I can't imagine ever spending more than $100 tops on groceries per week. I normally am under $30 a week to feed our family of 4 and 3 dogs. That includes everything. I don't think I have ever even hit $100 mark when grocery shopping... I would probably die.

If you want to eat EVERYTHING organic & be that picky, then no, you won't really reap the benefits of couponing but if you are open to trying new products, you'll probably do very well with coupons.

Newspaper inserts are close to the same throughout the country so to say that you live in this state and are not getting any good coupons is bs. You can also buy coupons online through clipping services or even Ebay. This is a great idea if you have a certain product that you buy a lot of.

Actually, you are absolutely, positively wrong about the coupons being the same everywhere.

Our papers never ever offer coupons on meat, veggies, milk, in fact, in Massachusetts, it is illegal to offer coupons on milk and the stores also rarely offer them - like once or twice a year if I'm lucky and usually these coupons are for odd ball items like pomegranate or expensive items like dole salad mix. There are coupons for things like butter, cheese, eggs, etc. but the values differ as well. Every so often my MIL sends me her coupons. She lives in Delaware. If you live in a world where coupons are doubled then she gets much better coupons than I do. Where she will get coupons for savings like 50 cents off a jar of Jif, I will get a coupon for Jif too but its for $1 and I have to buy a jar of Jelly. Or she will get a coupon for 45 cents off 1 jug of Tide and I'll get a coupon for $1 off 2 jugs of Tide. Or she got a coupon for 40 cents off a package of Pillsbury biscuits I got a coupon for $1 off 3 packages. And while stores here do double coupons but only if the coupon value is less than $1 and 99.99% of coupons are for $1 and they require the purchase of multiple items. BTW - where my MIL lives there are no stores that double coupons which may explain why she gets so many lower value single item coupons.

 

[poohbear158]

Let's keep in mind that this is TV. Do you think people would watch this show if they had normal people grocery shopping and saving money buying a handful of items... NO. The TV networks show this kind of stuff because people watch it and talk about it which makes more people watch it. They are in it for the ratings. Extreme anything is going to get ratings on TV, not normal everyday life.

I'm an avid couponer and save boat loads at the stores by shoping for sales, using coupons and having a small stockpile of things we use all of the time. Do I buy 60 jars of sauce at a time, no... do I buy 6 if I get them for free or get a great deal on them ... I sure do. However me getting 6 jars of sauce for free or very little money is not going to get people watching the show week after week. Take the show for what it's worth... entertainment.

 

[DawnM]

I don't get my fridge or freezer items until the end either.....shelf shopping first.....then perishables.

Although I will say that I have NEVER spent more than about an hour in a store, even with coupons.

Dawn

One of the rare times I'm going to disagree with you - but not in a bad way

I bring a collapsible cooler or buy (I know, wasting money but sometimes I don't know I'm going shopping until I get there ) an insulated shopping bag, and put in whatever needs to be kept cold while I shop. Comes in handy, too, when I don't want to cook and pick up a chicken instead.

 

[budafam]

Actually, you are absolutely, positively wrong about the coupons being the same everywhere.

Sorry, what I meant to say were that the coupons are usually FOR the same types of products but the values are usually different. You can check what kind of coupons are going to be in the inserts for the upcoming week ahead of time. It's nice to know if you should buy a few papers or just get one.