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

[bdcp]

Research has shown that most people buy things they never would just because they have a coupon for it. I agree that most of these people have obsessions. They aren't "saving money", they're just in competition to see how much they can get for next to nothing. No way could they use all of what they've "bought". Coupons tend to be for processed packaged and canned foods which aren't that healthy to begin with. The rest are for health and beauty products and cleaning products. I quit using coupons years ago. Instead I shop healthy.

These people are just obsessive compulsives and my guess is they get a surge of adrenaline, kind of like a high, when they shop with coupons. It's really not about saving money for them.

 

[PebblesMK]

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).

Those who keep all of their "bargains" are ridiculous. They are definitely hoarding. I'm all about using couponing, but I won't buy something just because I have a coupon. It needs to be something I can use.

 

[3boymthr]

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.

No we're not eating out all the time, I'm not buying 62 things of mustard and not saving a ton on coupons, but every $1 counts and I have saved over $30 with coupons this week. I saved most of that when I went to CVS and no I didn't buy 10 things of toothpaste. I bought 4 bottles of laundry detergent, 2 things of dawn, 2 things of TP, 3 things of deodorant and saved $15 with coupons plus and additional $25 for the sale prices.

 

[EMHDad]

I believe there is some unhealthy aspects of the absolute extreme nature of some of their couponing, however, I would disagee with anyone who thinks couponing is a waste or just and avenue for unhealthy food. I started couponing is a serious way about 4 months ago. I have saved a lot of money and our eating habits have not taken a turn for the worse. The keys is to get in bulk what you need and want, and skipping the things you dont need. For instance, I can get amazing deals on soda, but never do, because we try and keep it out of our house.

However, we only spent about 350 a month on groceries and toiletries and eat almost no processed or ready made food. We cook all our dinners, usually eat leftovers for lunch and have a simply breakfast.

A half hour a week of planning makes a difference. And I know $2 and $4 is not much, but $2 here and $4 there adds up a lot over the course of a year.

 

[Princess Nancy]

Here is what annoyed me...Where do they factor in thier cost to get coupons?

One guy said he buys up to 9 papers a week. In my town that is $18 a week, so add a minimum of $60 to that monthly shopping trip. Also, to get as many coupons as they have they HAD to buy from coupon clippers!

And then the time!! Then the storage space...it is all too much.

I also agree, where is the meat and the veggies and fruit?

Never saw any of that!

 

[bumbershoot]

40 jars of pasta & sauce for 120-122 days? Really? Sauce & pasta 40 times in 12 weeks. That's almost 4X a week that you would have to eat it.

Sounds good to me.

We rarely get coupons for the things we eat, but when I get a bargain I like it when I can stock up. Found bottles of Prego Organic marinara at Grocery Outlet last year; that delicious product was out of the normal grocery stores for some horrid reason, and I bought 12 jars. It was awesome to have those in the pantry... We eat pasta more often than we ate the marinara (we like pesto too) so those 12 lasted around 4 months and at the end of it I was so sad to see it go.


How big were the mustard bottles? We don't generally buy French's now that we discovered the organic mustard at Trader Joes, but we go through a small bottle of that (or French's before the TJ discovery) in a month or less... We like mustard.

 

[Piecey]

Here is what annoyed me...Where do they factor in thier cost to get coupons?

One guy said he buys up to 9 papers a week. In my town that is $18 a week, so add a minimum of $60 to that monthly shopping trip. Also, to get as many coupons as they have they HAD to buy from coupon clippers!

And then the time!! Then the storage space...it is all too much.

I also agree, where is the meat and the veggies and fruit?

Never saw any of that!

I noticed that too. The one lady said she had it but they didn't show it. They showed her buying all that mustard though.

I'll admit it. I bought mustard with a coupon even though we don't use it. It had a recipe that sounded really good on it.... but I only bought 1! And it's still in my fridge! I was excited to learn it'll never go bad, though

 

[Buzzsgramma]

I just shook my head at the couple who called their friends to come and help so they could purchase some items......are you kidding me at the price of GAS!!!!!!

 

[happyleesh]

I think that couponing in moderation (what is reasonable for your family/you will use) is great and a great way to save money. THESE people on the other hand are a bit much...and coupon companies have already changed their policies after the first extreme couponing show came out a few months ago.

 

[cinabug]

It does seem to be all processed food, which makes sense. I wonder if you could put the same amount of time into raising a garden and canning as it takes do all those coupons and end up with a pantry full of healthy stuff.

Of course I may be biased on the issue, since I live where it's easy to find a spot to garden and not at all easy to travel to stores where couponing would work.

 

[merbobear]

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?

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.

 

[happyleesh]

One lady (on Ellen) said that she coupons excessively and then uses the money she saved to buy the fresh foods, so she has fresh foods AND 12 packages of paper towels, 30 boxes of spaghetti, etc.

I tried to really get into couponing, no where NEAR that level but just making sure to match coupons with store sales, etc. and I quickly realized that for my small family, we spent less just buying the things on sale without the extra effort and time and cost being put into the couponing.

 

[merbobear]

One lady (on Ellen) said that she coupons excessively and then uses the money she saved to buy the fresh foods, so she has fresh foods AND 12 packages of paper towels, 30 boxes of spaghetti, etc.

I tried to really get into couponing, no where NEAR that level but just making sure to match coupons with store sales, etc. and I quickly realized that for my small family, we spent less just buying the things on sale without the extra effort and time and cost being put into the couponing.

I've tried it too, but I just don't have the time or patience to invest into it. I have been known to scoop up free toothpaste and razors at cvs though!

 

[GJM]

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?

The part that annoys me is when I go to the store with 1 or 2 coupons for an item and there is nothing on the shelf, because someone with a ton of coupons took all the items!

 

[RadioFanatic]

Couponing can be done smartly. Some items actually end up not only being free but paying you to take. I haven't watched last night's show yet, but was the mustard that way? If so, I may have bought a bunch (not 62) but then donated it. In the beginning, I was a bit crazy buying things, but I intended to sell the nonperishable stuff in a yard sale (big thing around here). After doing it once, decided it was too much work and not worth it. I now just buy for me. I haven't had to pay for pasta, tooth paste, shampoo/conditioner, soap, laundry detergent in a long time and get a lot of things like sauce/salad dressing for 25 cents or less.

just last week, our grocery store had a deal where buy $20 in unilever products, get $7 back. I could use a competitor's coupon and combine it with the manu. I did 8 transactions. Some of the transactions ended up lower than $7 after coupons, so I simply saved the cat from the previous trip for another time. Thus, I spend $22.61, but I have $21 in cats which I used for produce and meat I needed. I got the following:

10 ragu
2 qtips
2 axe
1 dove body wash
4 hellmans
8 skippy
4 breyers
16 wishbone
1 bailey's coffee creamer ($1 coupon)
1 yoplait cars yogurt for the little one.

I would have loved to get more ice cream but I just don't have the room! So the above would have cost $171.80 total without the deals. And yes, I will use all of these things, even the 16 dressings as this time of year into summer, we eat a TON of salads.

We before, they had a similar Kraft deal, buy $15, get a $5 coupon on next trip. I got 16 cracker barrel cheeses and ten jello puddings (fat free for my diet) for less than $15.

 

[Nayan]

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?

Because stores are starting to change their policies on coupons since the show first aired, so the deals for things I do use are dwindling. It also effects me when I go to buy something I use that's on sale and someone before me cleared the shelves. Also, there's the trend of people stealing the coupons off items to save for later and not leaving any for someone else. So yes, in some way it not only effects me, but others.

 

[NYCDiane]

Research has shown that most people buy things they never would just because they have a coupon for it. I agree that most of these people have obsessions. They aren't "saving money", they're just in competition to see how much they can get for next to nothing. No way could they use all of what they've "bought". Coupons tend to be for processed packaged and canned foods which aren't that healthy to begin with. The rest are for health and beauty products and cleaning products. I quit using coupons years ago. Instead I shop healthy.

These people are just obsessive compulsives and my guess is they get a surge of adrenaline, kind of like a high, when they shop with coupons. It's really not about saving money for them.

Can you provide a link to the "research"???

 

[Waseller77]

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?

I agree! I would hope they are donating the extra that they aren’t using. I coupon and donate any extra to friends/family. As an example, this week Philadelphia Cooking Cream Cheese is on sale for $1.49. In a newspaper insert from earlier in March, there was a coupon for $1.50 off Philadelphia Cooking Cream Cheese. I bought 15 of these coupons on ebay for $1.34 including shipping. So I will be getting 15 packages for $1.19 (I will be “making” $.01 on each). Obviously, 15 is a little excessive (although we go through quite a bit and it freezes fairly well), so I will be giving the extra to family and friends.

 

[Allison]

Yes, the people who take it to this extreme are hoarding.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It does seem to be all processed food, which makes sense. I wonder if you could put the same amount of time into raising a garden and canning as it takes do all those coupons and end up with a pantry full of healthy stuff.

Of course I may be biased on the issue, since I live where it's easy to find a spot to garden and not at all easy to travel to stores where couponing would work.

Conversely, I live in an apartment in a city without a community garden. A city golf course that was such a necessity even the city doesn't use it for fund-raising events :rolleyes3: - but no community gardens

General comment, though: they're not as common, but there are coupons for dairy products and frozen fruits & vegetables - most of which are healthy and nutritious.