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

[budafam]

that frozen stuff covered with cheese in a tiny box, Yep. I won't buy those.

No, I'm talking real fruits & veggies. At stores around here, there are often coupons in the paper (not inserts but store ads). I also usually buy other products with coupons where I'll get an overage and use the overage to purchase my fruits, veggies, milk, etc. There are ways to do it but it takes time and most people aren't willing to give up that much of their time to perfect their spending habits. It's just not convenient shopping.

 

[rchristiansen]

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.

.

That's my issue with the coupons. It's encouraging people to buy junk. And a lot of what people are saying here is the coupons are for those new over-processed foods. I've heard them called "frankenfoods" . I used to use coupons all the time and learned quite a bit of tricks. However, after watching Food Inc and learning about packaged processed foods, etc., I won't eat that stuff. Who cares if you save money on garbage? I'd rather have whole foods that are healthy. I don't think that buying organic is picky, it's healthy.



moving on....


I watched an episode last night. It really was disgusting. The 10 packages of hot dogs put me over the edge. Yuck. I mean I like a good hot dog, but please give me a $5.00 package of premium all beef uncured hot dogs instead


The other thing that made me mad was the woman who did her grocery shopping in 18 different transactions. What a waste of time.

 

[pigletto]

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.

So true! Insurance on this stuff? For real??!!
What makes me worry about these shows is that people will see this and think the average couponer is some kind of nutball too.
I probably use about 20.00 in coupons every shopping trip. I can already hear the whispers behind me.."I heard she sleeps on a giant mountain of toilet paper!"

 

[Disneefun]

"I heard she sleeps on a giant mountain of toilet paper!"

If I get a tag for the insurance comment, you should get one for this!

 

[LUVCHIPNDALE]

I am new to the whole couponing thing and love saving money here and there..But I dont think Ill watch this show ever again..Even if they are just publizing there best trip..they still have theese massive quanties of stuff.

I mean a few extras I can understand but really 100's of rolls of toilet paper and mustard..

IMO I was always taught buy what you need and use, if you get just because its free or cheap doesnt mean its a deal..

 

[3boymthr]

No, I'm talking real fruits & veggies. At stores around here, there are often coupons in the paper (not inserts but store ads). I also usually buy other products with coupons where I'll get an overage and use the overage to purchase my fruits, veggies, milk, etc. There are ways to do it but it takes time and most people aren't willing to give up that much of their time to perfect their spending habits. It's just not convenient shopping.

See that's another thing that differs from place to place. The grocery stores around here will absolutely not allow an overage (CVS will OTH - love that place ) . If a coupon is valued at more than the cost of the item the computer will either reject the coupon or bring the coupon price down to the value of the item. Once in a while when the coupon rejects the clerk will over ride it and you might get the full value but you absolutely can't count on that when planning your shopping trip.

 

[angierae]

I watched, and I kept in mind that these people knew they were going to be on tv, and planned ahead for the most "bang for their buck" trip. If I knew I was going to be on tv I could probably put together a $1000 order, too, with enough pre-planning.

Of course, my husband starts grumbling when I have a stockpile of six bottles of shampoo, so I'm never going to get to the point those people on TV get to.

I was keeping an eye on what they had in their stock pile - a lot of it seemed like reasonable stuff. The 35 bottles of Maalox was ridiculous, but I have to wonder if she'd have done that if she wasn't on TV. They had to show a fantastic trip, and getting the overages on those helped bring their total down.

I got $50 worth of stuff at CVS for $2.10 this week, and that's the best I've ever done. But as long as the stuff isn't spoiling in their basement, I really don't care what they do. As I said to a friend last night, it isn't FOOD or beauty products to them anymore, it's a game. Now, if they're throwing out cereal because it goes stale, that's ridiculous. But I bet that woman with the seven kids could go through more than a box of cereal a DAY, so having 50 boxes isn't going to be that ridiculous for her.

 

[Free4Life11]

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.

I see that you are from Jacksonville; Publix will let you stack a manufacturer coupon with a Publix coupon. When you combine this with BOGO sales (or 50% off Birds Eye sales) you can get some great deals. A few weeks ago Birds Eye Steamfresh were 50% off and there was a $1.00 off 2 coupon in the Publix Yellow flyer AND a $1.00 off 3 manufacturer coupon in the Sunday paper, so you could get delicious frozen veggies for as low as $.37 per bag. That same week Voskos Greek Yogurt (which is so good!) was on sale for $1.00 and there were $.75 off coupons on the internet, in the paper, and at the coupon blinkie machine, so you could get it for $.25 each! Both of these a delicious and healthy items.

Also every few weeks the Sunday paper coupons will have a $1.50 off one package of Springer Mountain Farms chicken (http://www.springermountainfarms.com/). Now it's expensive (I think $6.99/lb) but it's antibiotic free and a bunch of other good things. I have also seen coupons for $1.00 off Dole bagged salad.

But you are right; there are generally far fewer coupons for meat and produce. What I do is save money on the health & beauty and non-perishables and this allows me to spend more on meat and produce.

I stay FAR away from Winn Dixie because they are NOT coupon friendly. I have had nothing but bad experiences with them and their everyday prices are higher than anyone else…$4.39 for a regular size box of Triscuits???

 

[njcarita]

my problem is that my couponing is directly proportional to my weight... the more I coupon the fatter I get??? cause I am eating the "free " stuff I get... and its usually the stuff thats bad for u.... Im trying to approach couponing a little differently.... and use the money I saved on toiletries, Paper goods etc to be able to buy the healthier foods

the mustard had me shaking my head too!!! and all the cans of soup with the high sodium content....

 

[threecrazykids]

The thing that annoyed me the most was the gal who said something along the lines of "I've saved us almost 40 thousand dollars in a year so far, I look at that as a full time job!"



How can you possibly believe you've SAVED 40k? Who the heck spends 40k a year in groceries a year to begin with? NO ONE that's who!

I feel the only way someone will convince me they "saved" money is to ask them one question:

Were you planning on buying 675 packages of (insert item) WITHOUT a coupon this month? NO? Then it doesn't count as savings in my book. I don't care if you got it for free...it's not SAVING you anything so you can't count it as savings!

And honestly...I may get some flames for this one, but realistically...be serious people...if the manufacturer is going to PAY YOU to take it out of the store is that something you really want or need? Things that come free in this world (from a business) are probably worth what you're paying. Just my opinion.

 

[eliza61]

when does it come on? I wanted to see it but totally forgot. How does it work? I always see the commericials where they say they got $400 worth of groceries for free but can't figure out how?

I use my coupons but as a general rule is always for processed foods and cereal. There really is only so many boxes of fruit loops 1 gal can go through. LOL. I do love the coupons on detergents and cleaning products but after that, in my local paper most coupons are for junk. which I try to limit.

 

[21hearts]

I was thinking the same thing. How do they eat all of it before it goes bad?

I did see the one episdoe where they guy bought a whole lot of cereal and then donated most of it. I was really surprised that nobody else mentioned donating any of it.

I do some couponing (nothing like the show) and if we won't eat it within two months I don't buy it. The most of one item I've ever had is 15 boxes of Mac N Cheese and only because my kids & husband eat it like no tomorrow.

 

[Free4Life11]

I enjoy watching for the thrill of seeing how low they can get their totals, BUT I would like to see a detailed breakdown as I feel they leave out a lot of the details! I mean, the Maalox was $.67 a bottle even after using the $5.00 coupon and she bought 35 bottles, so she still spent $23.45 on Maalox. If it was a money maker and her store allowed overage, I could understand buying 35 bottles...but what am I missing? That's just out of control, but then again the show IS called EXTREME couponing.

Watch this show for what it is, entertainment! Don't base your opinion regarding coupons on a show that is done to maximize the SHOCK value. Do you really think these people regularly spend 5 hours in the grocery show? I doubt it.

There is a smart way to use coupons and a foolish way to use coupons; you can absolutely use coupons to score great deals on healthy food products and healthy/beauty items. To ME what's stupid is paying more that you need to for products that you will use.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I watched this last night looking for some tips. I have to say that most of the people disgusted me. The first couple were just gluttonous in my opinion. She was almost having a breakdown because the registers couldn't handle her transaction and they had to split it. Seriously? She was getting all annoyed. Well dear, if instead of getting 150 (yes 150) bars of butterfinger and the same amount of gatorade perhaps you should try some fruit or a vegetable and maybe you wouldn't get so easily stressed. Just a thought since there was not one fresh fruit or vegetable in that order.

I liked the lady that I think was from Chicago- she was in yellow. She had a great approach to it and actually had real food in her order. Even my DH said that lady is doing it right. I also really liked her personality and would love to shop with her.

The lady who's husband was a contractor with no work I think did a good job. She has limited funds and a big family to feed. I think she did a good job and it didn't look like she was hoarding. She was just trying to make sure her kids were fed.

The last guy was interesting. I am glad he gave away food to the food bank but I think that buying 400 deodorants just because you can is again gluttonous. Unless of course he is giving those to the food banks as well. For most of these people they will never use all that stuff. That's where I think they are just being obnoxious about it. Saving money is good but hoarding stuff that you couldn't use unless you lived to be 200 years old is a sign of a mental issue imo.

 

[budafam]

The thing that annoyed me the most was the gal who said something along the lines of "I've saved us almost 40 thousand dollars in a year so far, I look at that as a full time job!"

She said she's saved $40,000 since beginning couponing. Not in a year.

I saved myself over $6,000 last year. I kept all my receipts and figured it all out at the end of the year. It can be a full time job depending how much you get into it. A lot of bloggers make a ton of money doing this stuff.

 

[C.Ann]

I will say though, it's going to ruin couponing for the average person....stores are going to wind up making it impossible to use them.

I absolutely agree.. Years and years ago - when you could get a cash refund (via the mail with the UPC code) for almost every single item you purchased, people took it to the extreme - like these people have with coupons - and eventually the "refunding" of old was eliminated.. Yes - you can still get a refund here and there, but no way near what it used to be.. I have a feeling that coupons will travel the same road.. (I've also noticed that coupons have a very short expiration date now - usually a month - whereas back in the day, the majority had no expiration date - or at least 6 months on the ones "with" expiration dates..

I think these people started couponing to save and then it morphed into an addiction --- the thrill of getting $600 worth of stuff for $6 even if they have no real use for it.

I see two problems here.. OCD behavior - and yes, hoarding.. Just because it's not piles of clothing with name tags still on them or whatever, it's still "hoarding" when you have so much stuff in your house (that you may very well never use) crammed into every nook and crannie.. Definitely hoarding - just a different form..

I commented on a different thread on the same topic. I ran into a lady at Target who had multiples of items. When I asked what she did with it all, she stated that she only kept what she needed and the rest was donated. Food went to food pantries, toiletries went to troops overseas (as did some of the snack type food). .

This I could get totally on board with.. If someone has the need to take couponing to this extreme, why not donate it to the less fortunate? Does anyone really use 62 jars of mustard? (And I'm sure they will buy more..) Enough toilet paper to last 10 years? 50 jars of Ragu? 100 boxes of pasta and/or cereal? Products today aren't packaged the way they used to be years ago.. Jarred/canned items will not last indefinitely before they begin to bulge at the seams and become toxic.. Cereal and pasta will eventually go stale (or clump together from humidity) if kept for extended periods of time.. I saw many things purchased that I would not take the chance on eating 2 years from now.. (I've had food poisoning several times - once severe enough to be hospitalized for 5 days - and there is no way I would "trust" some of those products that I saw being stock piled..)

I have to say, I don't see why people get worked up over what others buy (or get for free). It's not your money, pantry, or life..so why let yourself be bothered? People that are 'extreme couponers' are not hurting anyone, they are simply getting products for a low price. Even though the shows do not tell you that each person is donating something,I would assume that most do - whether they donate to a food pantry, to friends in their neighborhood, or family members. And even if they don't, again, is it hurting you?.

Again, it will end up being the demise of couponing.. Many stores have already changed their policies - and will continue to change them - until they are no longer losing money and paying the customers for the items, not the other way around.. And as someone else already mentioned, "just because you can, doesn't always mean you should".. This particular trend will likely result in the end of all couponing - or very, very stringent store policies..
--------------------------------

I don't see couponing as a bad thing.. If I have them, I will use them.. But I will not spend $20 a week on newspapers to get them; I will not stock pile items that I would later be afraid to eat or use (over a long period of time, even cleaning product containers will often explode or develop leaks); and I don't know if anyone noticed that one family, but they had several refrigerators and freezers in their hoarding areas.. I wonder how much they're saving after they spend the money on newspapers every week; the money to get them from clipping services; pay for the ink and paper to print them out via the internet; pay for the electricity for the extra fridge & freezers; and spend the money in gas running around from store to store - not to mention having to dash out at "midnight" so they can get 50 toothbrushes or whatever??

It just seems a bit much to me - and if that's not OCD-ish behavior and hoarding, I don't know what is..

I hope this type of behavior - and this particular show - doesn't ruin the aspect of using coupons for the more traditional couponer, but I have a bad feeling that it will..:

 

[maggiew]

Some of the couponers from the show were on hotcouponworld.com and discussed the filming. The one guy (who donated the cereal) said that the store normally orders the items for him separately ahead of time - outside of what they normally order. So his couponing is not taking away from the average consumer. He said that the show wanted them to put the items on the shelf and have him take it off the shelf and put it in the cart. So that was all staged for the show. IIRC, he also said that he donates nearly all of this stuff. But that wasn't mentioned in the show - except the cereal.

I didn't watch the show and don't know the people (besides what they post on the discussion boards). But I am sure that they also buy meats, veggies, etc. It just wouldn't be included in this "extreme coupon" trip because it would bring the shock value of the great deals down for the show.

You can find coupons for meat, veggies, etc. but they are not usually found in the sunday inserts - except maybe the frozen vegetables as detailed in a post above. Many of the meat, veggie coupons are on things like hangtags found in the store. Or coupons in the store ad.

I coupon, but don't supercoupon like on these shows. I get most of my toiletries free or cheap or moneymakers. I figure that the savings from that alone is worth it. I don't coupon for groceries much. No place around here doubles coupons, so I don't usually get the great free deals for groceries. But we do shop based on sale items and stock up (reasonable amount) when prices are good. I limit the stockpile of groceries to the 2 small pantry closets. Nothing is laying around on the floors, stacked in the garage or basement, etc. I also limit the stockpile of toiletries to under the bathroom sinks. So I often walk away from the deals. Free toothpaste (usually moneymakers) is so common that I only do it once in awhile when we get low. I don't do it every time it comes around. I also only do one transaction of one tube!

Another thing to remember is that stores MAKE money when you use a manufacturers coupon. They get the value of the coupon plus some token amount from the manufacturers. Smart store managers love getting coupons. It raises their store sales plus they make money. Its a win - win for everyone.

In regards to the "one per purchase" verbage on coupons. That ABSOLUTELY means one coupon per item you purchase. If they wanted one per transaction they would say on their coupon "one per transaction". There are examples of both on coupons that could be shown. However, Procter and Gamble has recently started putting "4 like coupons per transaction" on their coupons. So in that case you would only be able to use 4 of the coupons regardless of how many items you purchase.

Maggie

 

[EMHDad]

I believe this is a plank splinter issue

 

[RangerPooh]

I would like ot see them do this at a store that
1) does not double coupons
2) limits coupon use and
3) doesn't break it into multiple transactions
4)doesn't allow overages. The couopns stated amount is what you get and if it becomes free, the overage is $0 not $.55+

Then put in the requirements that they must purchase fresh fruits and veggies, milk, and meat. Meat dooes not include chicken nuggets or low quality hotdogs.

 

[daughtersrus]

I will say though, it's going to ruin couponing for the average person....stores are going to wind up making it impossible to use them.

I don't know. The manufacturer that issues the coupons pays the store for the face value of the coupon plus a small fee.

The stores that double or triple coupons are the ones that are loosing the money. They may stop doubling coupons but for many people, that's no big deal since we don't have stores that double coupons. It seems to be a regional idea. We would have to drive well over 100 miles to find a store that does. We used to have Eagle stores in the Chicago area that doubled coupons up to 50cents but they went out of business years ago. Even when they were here, none of the other stores (Jewel, Dominicks, Cub Foods...) doubled coupons.