Does anybody do this or know somebody who does this? I caught the show this past weekend on TLC. I was pretty amazed at how much work that people put in to using coupons and was nearly just as amazed at the savings they racked up. I mean there were cases of people having $600+ dollars worth of stuff during checkout and paying $50 or much much less. I was also thinking to myself who is going to use 60 boxes of cake mix and such and are they just buying them because they can get them discounted or free. Either way it was cool to see and it had me thinking if this type of stuff is real and if others out there do it. I have a cousin who does it posts her savings on a Facebook page but it is nowhere near the savings of the people on this show. She might save half off of her purchase totals but that is it. I guess that's why it is called extreme couponing though. Anybody else do this or know of somebody who does? Link to Show: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/extreme-couponing
We bought a small freezer recently and it included $150 worth of coupons (the freezer itself was $150). We went to the store and used each and every one. I suspect 75% of the stuff we would never have bought, but we will use most of it. Goods we wouldn't use that were 'donateable', we gave to the church. My wife's cousin used to be heavy into coupons and was even on a featured local news story 25+ years ago.
Grocery store chains are finally catching on and now Kroger will not allow double couponing(sp) on an item (Kroger Coupon + Manufacture Coupon).. Try out Couponmom.com for starters.. There is a little guide to help you.
my wife wants to coupon every time she watches the show. She ends up getting discouraged because it takes money to save money. you have to buy a bunch of papers or go rooting around in a recycle bin to find a bunch a coupons that you can stack up on for savings. also stores and product manufacturers seem to be watching the show because most coupons say you can use the offer two times per store.
I always wonder what double coupons were. So it is just using two coupons issues by two different entities? I'm not really interested in doing it just interested in those that do.
I think people that do that are pricks. They exploit the coupon system that helps a lot of families that NEED the savings so they can basically hoard food. Stores are taking note of this and limiting/restricting coupons now.
Double can also mean when stores offer to double and perhaps even triple the value of a coupon (up to a certain amount). Some stores also allow 'stacking' where you can use multiple coupons for the same item.
A lot of people who rave about how much money they save on things typically buy stuff just because it is cheap/discounted, not because they actually want/need it. At the end of the day, even if you get something for $.01 that retails for 100 bucks, it's still a minus $.01 profit for you, because you won't use it. Unless you're reselling it, which is rarely the case it seems.
time = money How much time are you going to put into it to save a penny? How much do you bill per hour for your services in whatever profession you do? If you make 5 dollars an hour and you save 1/5 of a dollar in 1/5 of an hour getting it all together.. you have broken even how many cans of beans( that you never eat), extension cords ( that you don't need), and D batteries( that you cant use on anything) will you buy to get that penny back? It's funny hearing lawyers or doctors spend hours on the phone to 'save' a penny on xyz. They bill at $300 an hour yet will sit on hold for an hour just to save $5?? yeah that makes sense! Unless you have loads of time, and do not care about pesky things like personal time or convenience then I can see the value maybe. Even then buying something at retail is a convenience of doing it quickly. Guess what? sometimes the same thing costs less or more at certain places. If I drive to china or other other side of town so I can get plastic crap for a penny less? guess what? i'm not driving to china, i'll pay the convenience fee and get here today right now. Have fun spending the next 4 days to save a penny ! Makes sense !
I saw it Saturday too. It's pretty amazing. I couldn't do it though. Double and triple coupons means that if for example, you had a .35 cent coupon, it's value will now equal 1.05. And if something cost 1.25, it will cost you .20 cents. Kroger used to double coupons up to .50 and triple up to .35. I remember reading that they don't do that anymore.
I almost never use coupons. When I shop I just look for the items I want and consider if they are on sale or not rather than whether I have a coupon or not.
I agree with your here. Their use of coupons will ruin a good thing for a lot of families that really need the savings to stay afloat. Of course, those families could do what they do, but as another poster mentioned, it takes money to save money and they don't have much. This show has caused a coupon crazy that I fear will signal an end to couponing.
Someone who uses coupons is greedy? Do you ever go to a restaurant and use a 2 for 1 dinner coupon? Consider me greedy. If I see a coupon for something I will use or something I will gift, I will not hesitate to use it. If the coupon and the store allow stacking, I will not hesitate to stack.
My wife watches this show...and from listening/watching bits and pieces here and there...it seems that there is a common personality amongst these extreme couponers...that borderlines OCD. I'm all for saving money whenever you can...but quite a few of these people have adjusted their entire family lives to revolve around couponing...which seems a little odd. I do tip my hat to them for finding the loopholes in the system and using them to their advantage. Hmmmm....sounds just like 'Big Business'. :grin:
Hoarding shopaholics. Nothing more to see here. <iframe id="dit-video-embed" width="640" height="360" src="http://static.discoverymedia.com/videos/components/tlc/f3b01b72c3c036d5d480c82ea81f0e87a3cac69f/snag-it-player.html?auto=no" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe> <iframe id="dit-video-embed" width="640" height="360" src="http://static.discoverymedia.com/videos/components/tlc/8ee057fd9a47159b221aa7c1f49fd130ca5aaf34/snag-it-player.html?auto=no" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
The wife and I coupon within reason and regularly save about 20-30% at the grocery on major trips. It's easy money. The "extreme coupon" thing is only practical if you have a ton of free time. My (and the wife's) time is worth a lot more than a few bucks, i.e., there's only so much time the wife and I will waste on coupon collection and organization. That and I don't want 40 boxes of cake mix I won't eat. That's just stupid. An easy way to save money on household items is to use Discover. The cash back can be converted to great deals. For example, trade your cash back in for bed, bath, and beyond cards at 20% off. Combine with the 20% coupons in the mail and save 40%+ at the store with almost zero effort. They have all sorts of deals like this.
