XP: Extreme Couponing Poll

Brian'sWifey · April 2011

The episode of Extreme Couponing comes on tonight at 9pm on TLC. The lady featured on the episode is from Bethesda, MD (a local for me). She goes shopping at the grocery store and when she gets to the register her $550 bill goes down to $6.

I use coupons but not to this extent. I buy stuff on sale but not everything in my cart has a coupon. I don't tend to buy things I don't need. I would love to save hundreds of dollars but I don't want a pantry full of hundreds of cans of ravioli.

Do you watch this show? Do you clip coupons?

erincon8 · April 2011

I am going to watch tonight b/c the previews have me interested. I do not know how the hell these people save that much money but I want to learn!

czaja125 · April 2011

I will clip the occasional coupon but I wouldn't do this. I never find coupons for healthy food and most coupons are for things we don't normally eat. I don't want a pantry full of junk food.

gemrae1225 · April 2011

A local for me too, I'm from Annapolis. I personally don't clip coupons, although I should. I always feel that the coupons are rarely what I want/need and then I wind up saving money on crap I didn't want in the first place.

argonne · April 2011

Honestly, it seems like most coupons are for processed junk food (like cans of ravioli, pudding, etc.). I don't think I could ever save that much money because we don't buy that much processed food. Most of what goes into our cart is produce, meat and spices, which there aren't that many coupons for.

I do try to clip coupons for things that I know I am going to need like toothpaste and deodorant. I am not the type, however, to buy something just because it's on sale, which is what it looks like a lot of these extreme couponers are doing.

MissNikki007 · April 2011

argonne:

Honestly, it seems like most coupons are for processed junk food (like cans of ravioli, pudding, etc.). I don't think I could ever save that much money because we don't buy that much processed food. Most of what goes into our cart is produce, meat and spices, which there aren't that many coupons for.

I do try to clip coupons for things that I know I am going to need like toothpaste and deodorant. I am not the type, however, to buy something just because it's on sale, which is what it looks like a lot of these extreme couponers are doing.

I agree with all of this.

Dobie_Mama · April 2011

I don't watch the show. I do clip coupons but we don't get a ton of useful ones because we don't buy a lot of processed foods. We save a bit but nothing crazy.

LCB34 · April 2011

argonne:

Honestly, it seems like most coupons are for processed junk food (like cans of ravioli, pudding, etc.). I don't think I could ever save that much money because we don't buy that much processed food. Most of what goes into our cart is produce, meat and spices, which there aren't that many coupons for.

I do try to clip coupons for things that I know I am going to need like toothpaste and deodorant. I am not the type, however, to buy something just because it's on sale, which is what it looks like a lot of these extreme couponers are doing.

Totally agree.

I mean, do you really need 3487543 boxes of Kraft mac n cheese sitting around your house?

Brian'sWifey · April 2011

There was an episode of a guy who did it for charity. Everything he bought went to a food bank. He spent $35 and donated $3000 worth of food. Smart shopper and he only spent $35 out of his pocket!

Mrs.M317 · April 2011

I absolutely clip coupons and have saved over a hundred dollars on some shopping trips. HOWEVER, those people are crazy.

I feel like they must be buying a ton of stuff that they don't necessarily need or use just because they can get it for free. There is no way that you can get everything you use from week to week for next to nothing. And who the hell has that much space to store that much crap? and who has 6 hours to plan for a shopping trip?

LCB34 · April 2011

Brian'sWifey:
There was an episode of a guy who did it for charity. Everything he bought went to a food bank. He spent $35 and donated $3000 worth of food. Smart shopper and he only spent $35 out of his pocket!

Now this is something I like!

Brian'sWifey · April 2011

Mrs.M317:
I absolutely clip coupons and have saved over a hundred dollars on some shopping trips. HOWEVER, those people are crazy.
I feel like they must be buying a ton of stuff that they don't necessarily need or use just because they can get it for free. There is no way that you can get everything you use from week to week for next to nothing. And who the hell has that much space to store that much crap? and who has 6 hours to plan for a shopping trip?

Exactly! I read an article about how the lady on tonight's episode takes 5 hours to get ready to go to the grocery store. Insane!

MyPunkinPie · April 2011

Brian'sWifey:
There was an episode of a guy who did it for charity. Everything he bought went to a food bank. He spent $35 and donated $3000 worth of food. Smart shopper and he only spent $35 out of his pocket!

I saw that episode and although I was really impressed with the way they worked the system, it made me sick to see the stockpile of foodstuff and toiletries these people had. I couldn't help but think about people who live paycheck to paycheck and many times can barely afford a decent meal yet here are these couponers who have enough food in their basements to feed an entire town.

2mommiesinoh · April 2011

I have watched the show but I liken the popel on it to hoarders because they have so much freakin stuff. I mean some of it has expiration date kwim?

I do coupon and I am pretty good (Last week I had an $80 go down to about 39) but it takes a LOT of time browsing sales ads, clipping coupons, making lists, the actual meticulous shopping....

erincon8 · April 2011

argonne:

Honestly, it seems like most coupons are for processed junk food (like cans of ravioli, pudding, etc.). I don't think I could ever save that much money because we don't buy that much processed food. Most of what goes into our cart is produce, meat and spices, which there aren't that many coupons for.

I do try to clip coupons for things that I know I am going to need like toothpaste and deodorant. I am not the type, however, to buy something just because it's on sale, which is what it looks like a lot of these extreme couponers are doing.

Good point! Also, where do people store all this stuff??? I heard someone insured their stockpile too.

Rach21 · April 2011

I clip coupons and I save my receipts so my DH sees that I save upwards from $60-$80 when I buy groceries (we have a family of 3 - DS is 5.5 months old. The trick is not just couponing, but spotting sale patterns and shopping at stores that allow you to coupon stack, take competitors coupons, and offer really good deals in the first place. I use www.southernsavers.com to help me keep track of sales.

FWIW, I know the grocery stores recoup what they lose through coupons, but I just want to find a good deal for my family, not wipe the grocery store out of $550 worth of products and give them $6. My brother works at Publix and says at the first of every month a lady comes in RIGHT BEFORE CLOSE, takes about half an hour and fills up 2 carts worth of stuff, has coupons galore and ends up with a negative balance until she buys a candy bar or something and it puts it up to $.50 or something like that. He says management side-eyes her because she's taking advantage of the system somewhere. (Also, it's pretty rude to do your shopping right before close if you know it's going to take you more than 5-10 minutes to be in and out.)

Rach21 · April 2011

Brian'sWifey:
There was an episode of a guy who did it for charity. Everything he bought went to a food bank. He spent $35 and donated $3000 worth of food. Smart shopper and he only spent $35 out of his pocket!

My question would be: did he turn around and write it off on his taxes for $3000 or $35? I mean, it's one thing to donate to charity, but if he gets a kickback, is he robbing Peter to pay Paul?

Dreamsicle23 · April 2011

I do what these people do on a much smaller scale. I manage to get baby food and formula for nearly free quite often combining a store coupon, mfr. coupon, formula check and sale prices.

I don't think I could do what they do because most of the stores in my area have stricter restrictions on coupons - like they won't double more than 5 of the same coupon.

LinZbb · April 2011

I am amazed by this show. I try to coupon but most of the time I can't even find coupons for the items I need or you have to buy 2 of something to just get 50 cents off. I can't figure it out, I would like to be able to coupon better!

mamabear2010 · April 2011

Brian'sWifey:
There was an episode of a guy who did it for charity. Everything he bought went to a food bank. He spent $35 and donated $3000 worth of food. Smart shopper and he only spent $35 out of his pocket!

I have some friends who do this and it's awesome. They buy mostly toiletries and hygeine products and donate them.

I clip some coupons here and there but not nearly as much b/c like PP said, we don't buy lots of processed food. I got into couponing before I had a baby and would spend like 3 hours on the weekend clipping them, organizing them, and then going to 3 stores to get different things I needed. It was SO stressful trying to match the coupon to the exact product, since lots of them will trick you by specifying the size/flavor. I realized it was a waste of time and energy, and it stressed me out so I quit.

The show is ridiculous, I think they had an episode a few months back. One lady who went shopping with her husband got 100 chocolate bars just b/c they were free. And tons of toilet paper, pasta boxes, etc. Both her and husband were severely overweight and it just made me think how much of a disservice they are doing to themselves by being addicted to getting stuff for free, even if it's detrimental to their health. IMO, they will end up paying for it in other ways, mainly medical bills.

Moderation is the key-- I don't understand why some people have to be "extreme" in everything.

jamiemsmith · April 2011

I saw a clip on this woman who could rack up over 300$ and only pay$.01 at the register. The thing is her house was one giant pantry, she bought so many things that she didn't necessarily need. I use them when they apply to something I would buy anyhow.

nikki368 · April 2011

I don't do it with food, but I can easily go to CVS and get $60.00 worth of stuff for less than $20.00 with coupons and their Extra Rewards Bucks.

Acendaneil · April 2011

I seriously love this show, it is so neat to me that people can save so much money from coupons. The only coupons I have used are the ones for formula, diapers and wipes. If I knew how to become an extreme couponer and had the storage for it...I would totally do this. My family buys things here and there for each other to help stock up on stuff or to help out a little bit, so I think it would benefit other family members as well. I would love to do it to help out DH's dad as well, he's not one to go out and buy a lot and practically lives off of tv dinners. But DH and I agree that it would be nice to buy a lot up front and be able to survive off of what we could have for months.

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