Super Coupon Guy

[WDSearcher]

Did anyone else see the "super coupon guy" on TLC last night? He had a garage FILLED with stuff -- health & beauty supplies, food, etc -- that he had gotten either free or deeply discounted at a "double coupon" store. He was going on and on about how he had all this stuff. And on his big shopping trip he bought this huge load of toothbrushes and hand soap and all sorts of other supplies. He was all excited about having enough toilet paper to not have to buy any for years.

While I think it's great that he can find such wonderful deals and stockpile stuff (and also donate stuff he gets for free to his church food pantry), the fact that he's basically got a store with tens of thousands of dollars of "inventory" in his garage seems just this side of hoarding. He lives with his wife and, apparently, no one else (no kids, etc). So I find myself wondering just how many toothbrushes the two of them need?

I guess if they had said that he uses his savings to travel the world or save the whales or whatever, that would be one thing, but it appeared as though he just liked trying to find the best deal and then enjoyed walking around in his garage looking at all his stuff. They never showed any other part of his house, so you don't know if he's got nice stuff (furniture, electronics, etc) that he bought with the savings or if he's just spending all the savings on the next big deal.

My mom would occasionally fall into the "I'll buy it because I have a coupon" trap, where she'd have 16 jars of something she doesn't even use, just because it was a great deal. But this guy seemed a bit extreme.

Anyone else see it?

 

[koolaidmoms]

Did anyone else see the "super coupon guy" on TLC last night? He had a garage FILLED with stuff -- health & beauty supplies, food, etc -- that he had gotten either free or deeply discounted at a "double coupon" store. He was going on and on about how he had all this stuff. And on his big shopping trip he bought this huge load of toothbrushes and hand soap and all sorts of other supplies. He was all excited about having enough toilet paper to not have to buy any for years.

While I think it's great that he can find such wonderful deals and stockpile stuff (and also donate stuff he gets for free to his church food pantry), the fact that he's basically got a store with tens of thousands of dollars of "inventory" in his garage seems just this side of hoarding. He lives with his wife and, apparently, no one else (no kids, etc). So I find myself wondering just how many toothbrushes the two of them need?

I guess if they had said that he uses his savings to travel the world or save the whales or whatever, that would be one thing, but it appeared as though he just liked trying to find the best deal and then enjoyed walking around in his garage looking at all his stuff. They never showed any other part of his house, so you don't know if he's got nice stuff (furniture, electronics, etc) that he bought with the savings or if he's just spending all the savings on the next big deal.

My mom would occasionally fall into the "I'll buy it because I have a coupon" trap, where she'd have 16 jars of something she doesn't even use, just because it was a great deal. But this guy seemed a bit extreme.

Anyone else see it?

I saw him. Like you said although he donated like a truck load of cereal to the church food pantry he is a hoarder. His stuff was giving him a high. His eyes lit up looking at his toilet paper and paper towels.

I just made my grocery list and I am buying Heleva Good dip because it is on sale 2 for $3.00 at our local grocery store, I have a $1.00 coupon if you buy one and a coupon to double that to $2.00 so I am getting the dips for $.50 each. I am buying 6 of them BUT I am having a party so I will use them. To me it is a fun game to do stuff like that.

He was just playing the game and hoarding it though. Creepy.

 

[jackemail]

He definitely got a big-time rush from his shopping spree--I was glad he donated the cereal, but was hoping he would donate more!

The addiction shows that followed were even more bizarre. Sleeping with your blow dryer on?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Did not see it however sounds like hoarding to me. I am all for using coupons however I only use coupons for stuff I actually need or use.

 

[NAB]

I too would hope those coupon people would donate more stuff. There places were full.

All that toothpaste will have a expiry date on it they will never use that much. I found out that when I bought a lot when it was really cheap. Couldn't use it fast enough.

Was thinking wouldn't want to unpack all that stuff at home....don't mind food shopping it is putting it away when I get home I hate.

How did he take all that stuff home? He came in a car.

 

[WDSearcher]

He definitely got a big-time rush from his shopping spree--I was glad he donated the cereal, but was hoping he would donate more!

The addiction shows that followed were even more bizarre. Sleeping with your blow dryer on?

Yeah ... that wasn't nearly as weird as the woman who ate toilet paper, though. Hey! Maybe she should get together with coupon guy and eat HIS toilet paper!

I get the "soothing" nature of the SOUND of the blow dryer -- I sleep with a fan on for the same reason -- but the fact that she had the blow dryer there blowing warm air ... that would just worry me from a "potential fire hazard" standpoint.

I really want to see the inside of Coupon Guy's house. I want to see if every room of his house is also full of stuff or if he has just a normal-looking house with a general store in his garage.

And I also found myself wondering what he'd do if they ever had to move?

 

[pixiechick]

a friend died suddenly a few years ago. He had developed a shopping addiction. We helped his wife go through their belongings. Literally, their garage and spare bedrooms had no room for walking. Clothes, CDs, magazines, appliances, home furnishings, name it, was piled from floor to ceiling.

Their basement had enough grains/pastas, condiments, etc to feed a family for a few years. All of it had gone past the expiration dates.

It was so sad to see because he was a great guy, and we wondered how much of a burden it had placed on him emotionally and physically.

 

[NAB]

Did not see it however sounds like hoarding to me. I am all for using coupons however I only use coupons for stuff I actually need or use.

They said they had enough under arm stuff to last 150 years. And he bought more.

 

[WDSearcher]

I saw him. Like you said although he donated like a truck load of cereal to the church food pantry he is a hoarder. His stuff was giving him a high. His eyes lit up looking at his toilet paper and paper towels.

I just made my grocery list and I am buying Heleva Good dip because it is on sale 2 for $3.00 at our local grocery store, I have a $1.00 coupon if you buy one and a coupon to double that to $2.00 so I am getting the dips for $.50 each. I am buying 6 of them BUT I am having a party so I will use them. To me it is a fun game to do stuff like that.

He was just playing the game and hoarding it though. Creepy.

I do coupons like you do -- I find something I need where I can get a good deal. I don't stock up just for the sake of stocking up. Of course, I don't have a lot of storage space either. I might be tempted to buy huge bags of kitty litter or something if I had room, if for no other reason than not having to buy it every time I go shopping! We don't have any double-coupon stores around here that I'm aware of, but we have the "buy one, get one free" places. I do that a lot, and then donate the "free" item to the local food pantry. When they have buy one / get one of stuff like peanut butter or sloppy joe mix (which I don't generally use), I'll buy the one to get the free one and then donate both, since those are things that are pretty popular at the food pantry.

I'll admit to liking a great bargain, but I also like knowing that I'll actually use what I buy. I mean really ... did you see how much deodorant and lotion that man had? He'll be 82 years old still using the stuff he bought in 2010.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They said they had enough underarm stuff to last 150 years. And he bought more.

That would be the definition of hoarding then. I guess he will jump over to that show soon.

 

[honugirl]

I only saw part of this before I fell asleep, but the girl that was on there cracked me up. She bought like 9 cart loads of CRAP! Then the cash register broke! She was at the store for 6 hours trying to coupon. WTH? Who seriously needs 150 candy bars even if you get them for free? I hate to mention it, but her shopping is probably really not helping her weight issues either because she wasn't buying healthy food, it was all junk! How long will it take them to eat 250 boxes of pasta? Her husband looked like he was going to leave her when she started to put her crap in his man cave. He was really peeved! I don't think he liked having to carry all that stuff in from the car either....

 

[minniecarousel]

Oh, yeah - he's a hoarder. And what is his explanantion for the toothpaste & deoderant that will expire before he has a chance to use it?

Where do people find "Double coupon stores"? I haven't seen any in Northern California in years. Is there a particular chain grocer that does this? Our only big chain grocery stores are Safeway & Lucky's.

 

[pixiechick]

in the mid-atlantic region, double coupons are common.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

DH and I watched it.
Holy cow.
Who's eatin' all those candy bars, pop, sports drinks and white pasta?

I thought it was interesting to see how much you can save if you plan and do the coupon thing but that was neurotic!

DH was in awe and told me to get started...LOL
Only we don't have the coupons here like they do in the U.S and we do not have stores that double. I am happy if I find diaper coupons.

 

[etoiles]

I just caught the end and was amazed at the coupon work he did but thought it was nice he donated to charity.

I also do coupons but I do not order coupons online so I can have hundreds of them or anything like that. I do, however, have a small stockpile in our garage on two shelves of a shelving unit of bath/body/home care items. I have found it helpful to have a small stockpile so when you run out of something you can just use the one you got for free instead of having to go to the store and pay full price if the item is not on sale that week.

I try to get a reasonable amount of something to use. If I have more than I think we can reasonably use I have given to charity or give to friends and family.

 

[4nana]

More power to him (them), different strokes . I enjoy a descent coupon myself, but sorry, I had to chuckle at his complusion, his trailer and carrying 2 brief cases full of coupons . My DH likes to go grocery shopping with me, but I really think it's to get his select goodies . I totally cannot see DH prancing through the store now with 5 clerks pushing the carts buying $5,000. worth for next to nothing, then boasting over his hoarding and savings . Not too mention, the stores here have limits of amounts you can buy.


Oh my, the addiction show, never again ~ eating toilet paper, sleeping with blow dryers on and sucking your thumb at 24yo?!?!
God Bless them, and Dis'ners thought we had our share of problems.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I saw it and could not believe it. I think they were all hoarders. I admit that I am a couponer, but I only buy what we need and most of our coupons are toiletries. But those people brought couponing to a whole new level.

Most of their items will end up expiring before they can use them. There is no way you will go through all of that food before it expires. And even though a couple of them had their stock pile pretty neat and tidy, they still seemed like hoarders to me.

Did you guys see how that 2nd lady started freaking out when the cashier system crashed? She even told her husband she couldn't breath and was about to freak out. She has some serious problems.

The lady who went door to door for her neighbors coupons cracked me up though. I liked how she was educating random shoppers in the grocery store.

 

[honugirl]

I loved the husband or whoever he was that goes something like, "So you, our child and a pregnant friend were in a dumpster today?" "uh huh" " Alright, just clarifying..." Those guys must be awfully patient to deal with wives like that...

 

[minniebeth]

I hope they repeat the episode because I didn't see it and several people I've talked with today all talked about it! I love couponing, so this show will fascinate me!

 

[LBIJim]

Where do people find "Double coupon stores"? I haven't seen any in Northern California in years. Is there a particular chain grocer that does this? Our only big chain grocery stores are Safeway & Lucky's.

All the supermarkets here have double coupons..Shop Rite, Pathmark, Super Fresh, Acme, Murphy's.....it's been that way for years. I believe it's for coupons up to 99c....higher than that just face value. Occasionally they run triple coupons for a few days.

Jim