Friday, April 22, 2011

Trying to understand Extreme Couponing

OK, my new tv show obsession is Extreme Couponing. I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

For those of you who don't know, this show is about "extreme couponers". The kind of people who spend 30-40 hours a week going through coupons, plotting grocery trips and making every room in their house a storage facility for everything they have bought. They are proud of the fact that they have 300 bottles of body wash, 1,000 toothbrushes, 3 gazillion paper towel rolls (ok a made up number but like 3 years worth). And everything has to be lined up facing forward so they can read the label. They rotate their stock so the old stuff doesn't go out of date. Really OCD.

One of the extreme couponers with part of her stash
My question is why does anyone need 3 years worth of paper towels? Are you that messy? And then if there is a good coupon/sale you will go out and buy more. I don't understand this concept. I don't want to look at all those products. If I did, I would GO TO A STORE.

These people have stacks of coupon inserts that they organize by date. Then they cross reference sales to the coupons. They call the stores to make sure coupon policies haven't changed. And then they feel the need to wipe out the entire shelf of sleep medicine. Too bad for some poor soul who really needed to go to sleep that night and the store was out.

I understand the concept of coupons. I use them myself, but only on products that I was going to buy already. And so many of the times the store brand is cheaper even with a coupon and tastes just the same.

If you feel the need to do this kind of shopping, why don't you donate the extra stuff to a food pantry or shelter? Some of these people buy as many products as they can because with the coupon/sale they actually are making money they can apply to something else. If you don't plan on using it, please give it to someone who would be happy to have a toothbrush. I'm sure that you could get a nice tax donation to charity if you did so.

3 comments:

  1. Totally agree! I only use coupons on the things I alrady buy. There are only a few brand name things I get most of it is Kroger brand. I do follow a blog though of a military wife who does this and here and there I see something that I use that she has posted. She does get a lot but she also donates to her local shelter and blogs about her giving. That I thought was nice. And today I got a coupon out of a magazine for the face wash I already use. So I am a here and there but not at all extreme!

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  2. I thought I was the only one hooked on this weird show! Why does one need 99 bottles of mustard? I am lucky if I remember to use the coupons I clip and I have yet to find any for organic items.

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  3. I tried this. Here in the Northeast it is really hard to do due to the restrictions and limits.

    Best overall shopping discount was 72%. Which is not to say I didn't get some things for free, I did. But the majority of my trips are around 50% to 60% off.

    And I have no need for 78 bottles of ketchup. 18 bxes of cereal, yes. 14 jars of mayo, no.

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