Last night I was introduced to the wonder that is Extreme Couponing. I sat on the edge of my seat (and repeatedly yelled "Get out of here!!!") as I watched a woman spend about $5 on over $500 of grocery on TLC's Extreme Couponing. I stared in disbelief as someone approached the register with 4 carts full of groceries and stacks of coupons which saved them upwards of 96% on their purchase.
I had to know...how did they do it?
Some of those featured on the show mentioned that it takes a lot of planning (up to 6hrs planning for a shopping trip and familiarizing yourself with coupon policies of your favorite stores), patience (waiting for items to go on sale), and of course lots of coupons (buying multiple newspapers and visiting stores on days that coupons are doubled or tripled), but on the flipside, I noticed some behaviors that seemed a bit (for lack of better words) extreme...like buying 72 bottles of mustard (I kid you not). One family even had enough food and supplies stocked in their home to last 3 years and it showed, as they had supplies stuffed under all of the beds in the home and the master bedroom resembled a small convenience store. I cannot picture myself using such advanced couponing tactics, and my inner skeptic tried to dissect each family's purchases and find ways that their strategies wouldn't work in the "real world" (they didn't buy enough expensive items like meat, my newspaper's don't carry the "good coupons", what automobile can carry 4 carts full of grocery anyway?) but I must say...I am impressed and amazed by the families I saw on the show.
Want to learn how to use coupons to score amazing deals? Look here and here for some tips.
Have you seen the show? Are these Extreme Couponers on to something, or doing too much? Have you started using coupons on your shopping trips? Let me know!
I thought alot of the extreme coupon saver's were literally obsessed with the fact of being able to buy so much with so little.. Although it does take hours of careful planning for such event the outcome appears to be very rewarding, and it definately made me think twice about my weekly spending habits vs what I could be saving.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the show and Mr. Wright and I both agree, they purchase things that they don't really need! Additionally, they are borderline hoarders. There is not reason you should have closets full of toilet paper and paper towels. Granted the products are free b/c they spent on 1000 bottles of mustard to make $5.00, it still equals ridiculous. Using a coupon here and there for items that you need, totally makes sense. But to have a garage full of unused about to expire food/dry goods: way too much!
ReplyDeleteKay @LoveNWright
lovewnright.blogspot.com
There's definitely a line between getting a deal & being wasteful. I did actually see one episode where a guy bought & donated a thousand boxes of cereal to a food bank which was great, but he still had a stockpile of food at home.
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