Extreme Couponing

[sierraWDW]

These people are crazy. That's all I have to say!

 

[rwdavis2]

Some of them,IMHO, are closet hoarders. Some donate a lot of the free stuff to charity which is a great idea.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Some of them,IMHO, are closet hoarders. Some donate a lot of the free stuff to charity which is a great idea.

Agree on both counts!

 

[Coconut36]

Some of them,IMHO, are closet hoarders. Some donate a lot of the free stuff to charity which is a great idea.

I agree. I think some of them are just organized hoarders. It doesn't have to be a mess to be hoarding. Having 300 bottles of ketchup you will never be able to consume is hoarding.

The ones that really annoy and irritate me are the shelf clearers..they think nothing of buying every single item and dumping bins and clearing end caps..so then your average consumer gets absolutely nothing because of their selfish crazy behavior.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

In regards to the show, a lot of it is set up. Lowe's Foods here in NC admitted publicly that it broke it's own rules while being featured on the show to make it look more extreme.

I'm a coupon-er, and I don't clear shelves. I will sometimes get 3 or 4 of something if it's a really good deal. I don't have shelves in my basement. I do, however, have a pink binder with baseball card sleeves for organization! There are two different types of grocery store visits in my house. There's the "let's go shopping, we need this this this and this for the recipe I want to cook", and then there's the "let me get my binder" visit!

I will say that I never pay for hot sauce. Any hot sauce. Frank's, Texas Pete, Tabasco....... They all have freebies every 3 or 4 months. Maybe Chalula, I might pay for Chalula!!

 

[marmalade]

In regards to the show, a lot of it is set up. Lowe's Foods here in NC admitted publicly that it broke it's own rules while being featured on the show to make it look more extreme.

I'm a coupon-er, and I don't clear shelves. I will sometimes get 3 or 4 of something if it's a really good deal. I don't have shelves in my basement. I do, however, have a pink binder with baseball card sleeves for organization! There are two different types of grocery store visits in my house. There's the "let's go shopping, we need this this this and this for the recipe I want to cook", and then there's the "let me get my binder" visit!

I will say that I never pay for hot sauce. Any hot sauce. Frank's, Texas Pete, Tabasco....... They all have freebies every 3 or 4 months. Maybe Chalula, I might pay for Chalula!!

I've seen a few people post this in threads about extreme couponing and I have no idea how they do it. I would love some free Frank's, but I have never seen a coupon for it other than $0.50 off.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Couponing for Jesus, who knew?

 

[LifeIsDis]

Oh good. I'm not the only one who is obsessed with this show...

 

[pigletgirl]

What in the world does anyone need enough cake mix for the next 10 years?

I do like the coupon, but not to this extreme!

 

[MouseMomx2]

I agree that the couponers featured on EC border on hoarders. I coupon in the summer only. In that time I get much of what we need for the year. I never pay for toothpaste, barbecue sauce or deodorant. I pay pennies for salad dressing, shampoo, toothbrushes and razors/razor blades. I save at least 50% on laundry products and most non meat/produce grocery items.

I do not stock up on shelves full of groceries. I do have a shelving unit in my pantry. Three of the shelves hold kitchen items/small appliances/etc. The other two shelves hold groceries. I could easily fill all of the shelves with groceries but we don't need that much stuff.

It comes down to being organized and shopping the sales...even if it means going to more than one store. I average about $100/week for our family of four. We eat a lot of fresh fruit/vegetables and nicer cuts of meat and most of the $100 goes to those. We eat very few processed foods and I won't buy them even if I can get a great deal on them.

Couponing can be very rewarding and I think it is lots of fun. The key is to not go overboard.

 

[mjantz]

Am I the only one who has noticed changes at my local grocery store since the show started airing? I put my phone number in for my rewards card & they use to just start scanning & I'd put my number in as they were scanning. Now they wait until after I've put my number in to start scanning. I'm wondering if people were getting money back because the coupon doubled or tripled to the value before the rewards card (because people were waiting until after everything was scanned to scan their rewards card) so they wait until the info is in the system now.

 

[Coconut36]

I agree that the couponers featured on EC boarder on hoarders. I coupon in the summer only. In that time I get much of what we need for the year. I never pay for toothpaste, barbecue sauce or deodorant. I pay pennies for salad dressing, shampoo, toothbrushes and razors/razor blades. I save at least 50% on laundry products and most non meat/produce grocery items.

I do not stock up on shelves full of groceries. I do have a shelving unit in my pantry. Three of the shelves hold kitchen items/small appliances/etc. The other two shelves hold groceries. I could easily fill all of the shelves with groceries but we don't need that much stuff.

It comes down to being organized and shopping the sales...even if it means going to more than one store. I average about $100/week for our family of four. We eat a lot of fresh fruit/vegetables and nicer cuts of meat and most of the $100 goes to those. We eat very few processed foods and I won't buy them even if I can get a great deal on them.

Couponing can be very rewarding and I think it is lots of fun. The key is to not go overboard.

I do a lot of this and I also feed our family of 4 on $100 a week. It's all about balance and not going overboard. Nothing wrong with finding good deals or doubling coupons. Nothing wrong with doing that so that items like soap, shampoo, toilet paper and so on are free to super super cheap..that is all the more money to go to healthy food for the family. It's when you have rooms filled with more items/foods than you can ever reasonably use or consume and you are wiping out shelves that I raise an eyebrow.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

I try to coupon too but same as everyone else the most I buy of one item is three. I never have 20 of the same coupon. The store here that doubles the coupons is Farm Fresh and they are pricey I never receive anything free. PLus they have strict rules on their double coupon policy...like you can't double more then two of the same coupon.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

I've seen a few people post this in threads about extreme couponing and I have no idea how they do it. I would love some free Frank's, but I have never seen a coupon for it other than $0.50 off.

I think I had a .75 off coupon and Frank's (a decent size bottle, by the way) was on sale for 2.15. It was triple week, so they paid me a dime to take it. I only have one day left of super doubles, it ends today, and I haven't had time to go!! Teeter is doubling up to $2.00 and I need some Alleve!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

FYI, for those of you in the south, check out this site:

www.southernsavers.com

This site tells you a day or two in advance what's going to be on sale where, and also tells you what coupons match with items that are already on sale. She will tell you a week or so ahead of triples or super doubles as well, so you can plan for it.

 

[DawnM]

This has been discussed many, many times on the DIS. Long, long threads with all the same things: How can people use so many of the same coupons? They will never use all that stuff. Upset that people clear the shelves and leave nothing for others. These people are hoarders. They donate to charity so it is all ok, or not ok because there isn't anything left for others. People are in it for the thrill of the chase/hunt and can't possibly use all of that in a lifetime. Where do they get all their coupons? Don't these people every eat a vegetable? Etc, etc....

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Extreme couponing is some kind of mental tick.

I can see loading up on stuff you use a lot, but who needs 400 toothbrushes or bottles of hot sauce?

When Armageddon comes, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be bemoaning the fact I don't have hot sauce...not much anyway.

 

[suzimar57]

i have a friend who is like these (crazies!) on the show - she does the "coupon" thing (as well as just plain hoarding), but hoards it ALL - it's quite disgusting, all over her house, basement, garage - when i suggest she's got a "problem" and possibly she's a "hoarder" she gets all defensive and nasty - "i'm a pack rat!" is her answer - uh, same thing: pack rat = hoarder (just a "cutesy" name for it)

it's like a disease, an obsession for her - her son moved out due to the mess, and her daughter is also packing to get out of her house - all due to the crap she's been hoarding/couponing/whatever

should mention, my friend's mother did the same thing - and when her mother died (in 1976) i was there with my friend, cleaning out that "hoard" - history is now repeating itself...

 

[Patience]

Yup, organized hoarders and re-sellers mostly. Around here, there are a lot of yard sales selling food, paper products and toiletries purchased with coupons. You also see people at the flea markets selling it and ads on craigslist. People will clear the shelves and then sell their loot for cash at a big discount to their neighbors, at yard sales, etc.

 

[3smithboys]

I can't even figure out where these people get all of their coupons from! I'm lucky if I can find coupons for my weekly shopping and am thrilled if I can match up a coupon from the Sunday paper with something that I actually want to buy and save a few cents!!!