So did you all catch Extreme Couponing on TLC the last time it was on?? It was VERY Extreme and not a very good example of everyday couponing. I think a lot of people expect to be able to save like that every single day but that’s not the reality. They are starting a series which premieres tomorrow Wednesday, April 6th on TLC. I’m curious as to how they continue and I really hope it’s not to the extreme of the first show.
What I didn’t like about that show…
- No one shops like that, seriously. That’s just crazy and you couldn’t do that every week.
- They bought WAY more than they needed. When I talk about stock piling I’m talking about buying enough to cover until it’s on sale again, not enough to feed an army.
- It’s very hard to get your hands on that many inserts for FREE. So really they are paying to purchase the inserts, or spending a lot of time dumpster diving which is actually not legal everywhere. So when they say they got all that stuff for FREE, they aren’t counting the cost of the inserts.
- They aren’t showing you everything! They didn’t tell you about the catalina’s they were using or getting and rolling into another transaction, they didn’t talk about the coupons they probably had loaded onto their store cards, they didn’t mention how many transactions they had to do, they didn’t show you how some items they may of had overage on (when a coupon exceeds the sale price producing an overage that is then applied towards other items), or that they may of had FREE product coupons, if the store doubled or tripled coupons.. and so much more. I would of liked to have had ONE person on the entire hour show and have it all broken down, step by step on exactly how they did it so it looks more realistic to everyone.
Those were the biggest points I had against that show. Am I saying that you can’t really get stuff for FREE with coupons, or reduce your grocery bill significantly using coupons?? No I am not because you can get stuff for FREE when you combine store sales, store incentives, store coupons and manufacturer coupons. I show you how to do that every weekend when I list the drug store deals. What I’m saying is that it’s not very realistic to think that you can save 90% every time you shop with coupons. I think 40% – 60% is a better number that is more realistic.
There is one one thing to be learned from the show and that is that Coupons Can Save you Money. But don’t expect it the way it was on the first episode. I’m really hoping that this series will give us a better look at how it’s done. Because frankly they gave couponers like myself a bad image.
Did you all see it when it aired a couple of months ago? What did you think? Do you plan on watching it again? I will and I’ll be back to let you know what I thought.
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I completely agree! Those people are ridiculous and make us real coupon lovers look bad! Buying 40 jars of ragu is bad they will never use all that before it expires!
I agree, I know I come away with great sales and discounts, but there has never been a scenario where I save 90% every time.
lol 40 jars is not bad:)..you can donate to the neighbors and food banks…the hundreds of items was crazy because no way you could ever get that much unless preordered for a tv show!!! guess we will see tomorrow night if its more like real life couponing with the girls!!!
I agree, but I haven’t seen the show yet, just the previews. I was shocked when they showed this woman getting 90% savings! That rarely happens. And I do hope she donates most of what she brings home. That’s what I do. I stock pile for a while and make two large donations every year to local food pantries. Also a lot goes to my family and friends.
I’m looking forward to seeing the show tomorrow.
-Misty
Its all for shock value. I buy what I use, if practical I buy a lot. But I don’t like to waste and the other folks are right how much ragu can you really use.
Yes donating is a GREAT thing! And I try to do it a few times a year but I also share with family and friends. Between deals I get and review items I receive I share all the time and love sharing! My mom will always ask me what king of shampoo I have before she goes shopping!
I agree with you totally. There is no need for 100′s of one item UNLESS you are helping out food banks or your local church. I know some of the krogers near where I live have stopped doubling and tripling coupons, and I hope it is not because of the show!:( We are a family of 7 and every little bit helps! Thanks for sharing all your great deals!!
Seen the one a couple of months ago and was watching with my Husband,he freaked and said get on the computer and try to figure this out.lol It was crazy, was never into really using coupons and i’m glad we seen the show because it open up my eyes to what I could really save.I will say I was gullable enough that I could go shop like that,until I actually did get on the computer and found some websites that started breaking it down and explaining.Took me a week or so to actually get what i was doing and understanding the terms and going out and actually buying things with the coupons.Still new to it and still learning things, and finding good deals on my own and it is amazing.I love to coupon, I really do.Trying to make my husband understand that I wont really get anything for free is another thing.But the one show really wasn’t realalistic. I’ll watch thoug.
Jolene you CAN get some things for FREE, but not like they did on the show. Make sure to read my CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreen’s Deal posts every Sat/Sun and at the very beginning I”ll point out what you can get for FREE and how. Then if you grab those things for FREE (like toothpaste, shampoo, deo etc..) you’ll have more money for the things you need that you can’t get free (like products, meats etc). Just keep showing your husband your receipts as you use your coupons and he’ll become a believer! Mine always asks me know if I have a coupon first before he buys something!
I cant help but be curious and watch, but I dont like it either, I watch almost to prepare myself for what Im gonna face in the stores the next week!! Ive already been personally effected by that one special MANY TIMES & I believe as the series goes on, its going to get worse. It was taxing enough to deal with difficult cashiers, managers, coupon policies etc BEFORE the show… now many of my local stores have clamped down significantly, even though their shiny new corporate policies say otherwise! I get more gripes from cashiers, and coupons turned away or questioned repeatedly when they weren’t before. Ive even had my friendly cashiers & managers who know me well mention the show to me, telling me about new “crazy couponers” that have started to come in or who have even started fights and how corporate is stopping some store coupons, ending new policies and will soon stop taking printed/web coupons simply because of the show!!! *sigh*
I also think the attitude of those they profile is damning to couponers out there. Not all of us are super witchy, starting fights with employees, or being sneaky! That image was tough enough to get by before.. never mind now! lol
As for the “huge” donations on the show, while I think its great, it is a fine line that is being pushed right over the edge. They don’t realize that by airing their “huge” donated-shopping sprees, they are actually hurting some of the needy people they are donating to that HAVE TO coupon just to get by!! Also, most people, when inspired by it, wont think of couponing that big just to donate, sad but true as evidenced by all my local stores who have had problems & have stopped taking some coupons. I love donating when I can, and I think that is a great plus to couponing, but Renee brought up a GREAT point… alot of the show, especially where the huge donating is concerned, is all pre-fixed!! When can you go into a store & get hundreds of one item at a time without them having notice? I can barely find the lip balm or soup I look for on sale sometimes! Its setting an unrealistic look for sure!
I saw one and they did purchase coupon inserts and didn’t add that in as a cost of the groceries, which it is. I did see one women go to neighbors and ask them for any inserts or coupons they weren’t going to use, and one where a women was in a dumpster doing dumpster diving for coupons (yuck).
I think it is very silly getting more pasta products then you can use up before the sell by date, because you can end up with milly worm (worms that grow in grain based products). Also buying more dry dog or dry cat food can end up with a similiar problem or tiny little roaches appearing. Alot of deodorants now have use by dates on them too, especially types that are organic in nature, so they don’t undergo chemical property changes.
I mean, sure if you can get it free, are going to use it up before expiration dates, and have the room, then get what you can.
If you’re going to go overboard, give it to a charity in your town that helps people down on their luck and in need of personal care items, laundry items, food items, so the items get used before they go bad.
The problem with extreme couponers is sometimes I think the stores eventually change couponing policies because of them. I know at Walmart I think you can now only use up to 40 coupons in one transaction and the combined total value of the coupons I believe can’t be over $50. I think pretty soon more and more coupon policies will be that way to say the store grief.
Yet, the extreme couponer will not be daunted. They’ll just divide up their purchases and do more than one transaction in a day at the store they are going to get the deals at.
I saw one extreme couponer had to have the items in her garage insured, because she had $35,000 worth of store items in it. Now they really need to figure in the cost of the added insurance for that in on their grocery budget too.
I don’t know if I’d want a ton of chemicals stored in my garage either, I mean what if you had a fire? How toxic could that be?
Whatever. I coupon and save about $35 to $50 on average when I do my major grocery shopping, sometimes I’m real lucky and it’s higher, but not usually.
The reason why i am not a fan of these shows is because it is rumored that they actually relax the coupon rules at the stores, plus preorder for the shooting, that way you get the extreme factor. Just proves how unreal reality tv truly is.
Yes Phaedra I’m sure they do pre-order. It just wasn’t realistic and they are giving people the idea that this can be done ALL THE TIME. And I’m sure they relaxed the coupon policy, they were trying to tell a story. Reality TV isn’t any different then scripted TV most times, your right!
Thanks for all the comments, I love hearing what people are feeling about this show.
I agree the show was too far on the extreme side. Friends and co-workers who know I get great deals with coupons always ask why I do it. I love saving money – so I can spend a little more on things I don’t usually have the extra money for. As for the story depicted in the show, it upsets me they go so far as to nearly wipe-out the stock of items you can get a great deal on with coupons and sales. Maybe I don’t have a coupon for the item that day and would like to buy my son’s favorite spaghetti sauce. Selfish to not leave some so others can save too.
I’ll watch it for the entertainment value and to pick up a few tips. But I wish they would admit on the show that the people shown do not shop like that everytime they go, and I wish they would provide more details about what coupons were used, what specials the store offered and what their coupon policies are, and how the people obtained their coupons. Most of us could not shop like that even if we wanted too, because of store limitations.
This is crazy! The one lady had used a three dollar coupon for and item that was only two dollars. You can’t make money on coupons. I work for a grocery store and we will only let you use a coupon that is less or equal to the product price or else it needs a manager override and once in a while we will do it but not every time. If our corporate got a hold of that red flag we would be audited! Crazy the amount of time these people put into couponing and the over buying and stocking is just ridiculous. The food will go bad before they consume it.
My boyfriend and I were watching that show last night and both agreed that that show should have been more about hoarding. Who needs 70 bottles of mustard? It last forever. We also agreed that it would be very cool if they could do an extreme coupon episode where they donated the end result of there big shopping trip to a food bank or homeless shelter. That would help so many families. Instead, they are just putting the extra in there pantries and probably hardly ever using most of it. That is sad when there really are SOOOOO many people really doing without.
Thanks so much for this AWESOME blog!! I’ve already found a few coupons for a couple of things that we regularly purchase!!!
Julee
I think that shows like this make others look down on people that use coupons. I was at the store the other day and there were people snickering about how I wasn’t going to save as much as they do on the show with my purchases. I would never want it to be as extreme as on the show. I think it may have come out that a person on this show actually committed fraud!
I was hoping this show would only be on one time and be done. Everyone at my workplace was talking about the show. I felt I had to defend the fact that I coupon, but not to that extreme. I buy enough for my family so that we aren’t wasteful.
My family and I would like to start couponing, but don’t really know how to go about doing it. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know! Thank you. (:
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