Posted on 12/31/2010 5:24:06 AM PST by PJ-Comix
My expectations for Extreme Couponing were, to say the least, extremely high. As every child raised watching Supermarket Sweep and the less-superior-but-still-notable Shop Til You Drop, I have a great appreciation for retail-based programming.
I have to admit, however, that my initial impression of Extreme Couponing led me to believe it was a competitive show — a one-episode special of sorts. Incorrect. It was actually a profile of four individuals who had firm grasp on the art of grocery savings to an inspiring extent. (One woman filled her cart with more than $600 in merchandise and paid only $2.64 after coupons. A true American hero.) I even found myself running to grab this week’s circular out of the trash where I had just placed it, hoping to find a deal like those I’d just seen taken advantage of on the special. I found no such deal and was uninspired as quickly as I had found my desire to coupon, leading me to toss the dirty paper back into the receptacle with a “pfft” for good measure.
But the failure also gave me an idea: I want to learn how to do this.
While my initial desire was to see a show in which the extreme couponers compete to see who could save the most money, I’ve concluded that a simple show of versus would not be enough to put these people’s skill to use. (Yes, I’d count saving buckets of money a skill.) They should mentor others about couponing.
We have British ladies teach parents how to raise their kids. We have screaming muscled people teach us how to be skinnier. Why can’t these people be experts in the art of coupon savings and mentor us over-spenders? I’d seriously watch that. (Disclaimer: I’ve been known to watch some truly vile unscripted television.)
What do you think, PopWatchers? Did you watch Extreme Couponing? Would you watch more of this? And if so, how could TLC make this into a weekly show?
Um...actually two of the people featured on that show have blogs where that is exactly what they do. I have already bookmarked them.
If this show is repeated then I highly recommend that you record it. I got into "extreme couponing" only about 18 months ago and it has changed almost everything for me...for the better. I NEVER pay for many things such as BO sticks, toothpaste (quality brands like Colgate & Crest), coffee, olive oil, cold medicines (which I am using now) and TONS of other stuff. With ObamaBucks losing their value due to inflation, learning extreme couponing is becoming a necessity to survive the recession.
The only real problem I have with the TV show was the massive amounts of stuff everybody purchased on their store trips. Yeah, it looks good for dramatic effect but I like to keep a LOW profile. I really don't like to draw attention to myself so I do multiple purchases in the under hundred buck range. Sometimes even that doesn't work like the time I went to the checkout and the store manager comes running out yelling that he won't permit me to buy anything because I get most of my stuff for free or close to it. The manager is an IDIOT because the coupons are later exchanged for cash but there is no fighting that ignorant mentality.
Extreme couponing allowed me to accomplished my Thanksgiving theme which was FREE. My entire Thanksgiving dinner for 7 was FREE. That included the 24 lb. turkey, beer, and all the trimmings. Even the gifts I got for my nephews and niece were FREE.
Finally the TV show focused on grocery stores but you actually get the best deals at Walgreens by working out scenarios with their register rewards. This week I bought 4 Red Baron deluxe pizzas for free as well as 2 gallons of Arizona ice tea, about a dozen tubes Colgate toothpaste, and a TON of other stuff for FREE. Making a couple more Walgreens runs today for a lot of other freebies.
So watch the show, check out HotCouponWorld.Com, and bookmark all the couponing blogs that you can and your food budget will plunge to near nothing.
Avoid the Walgreens at corner of Wiles & State Rd 7. It is managed by a throwback redneck who thinks his main job is to keep customers from getting free products with coupons. I even showed him the printed Walgreens rules regarding coupons and he professed not to understand them.
I notice convenience store owners are stripping the coupon inserts from the Sunday paper. They bundle them and sell them black market to other retailers who then doctor their receipts to claim the coupons as redeemed there.
So check your newspapers thoroughly before you buy.
...*LOL*...and I’ll admit it!. Saw the show the other night and thought if YOU had seen it.
I forgot to add that I got my Compaq Presario laptop computer (from which I am posting this) FREE last March via coupons.
I vaguely remember someone who went to jail a few years back (when people still bought newspapers) for stealing the coupons out of the paper and not buying it. They were taking value from the paper without purchasing it; it was considered retail theft.
I tend to cook from scratch because we don’t eat hydrogenated oils or MSG, and we avoid HFCS like the plague. Are there coupons for meat, milk, sugar, flour, oats, etc? I’ve looked in the Sunday papers, but all the coupons tend to be for processed or prepared foods.
You will never see me featured on such a show since I like to fly under the radar. By going on the tube, the store managers know who you are and can make it tough for you to buy cheap stuff. I have one bald store manager whose entire head turns bright red with rage at the sight of me. My strategy with him is to shop at his store EARLY on Saturdays before he shows up. So I still get my freebies/cheapies there.
My first year in graduate school, the guy who lived next to me was from a family that owned a major chain of drugstores on the Pacific Northwest. For a brief period, he would awake before me on Sunday morning, take the Boston Globe from in front of my door, and clip out all of the coupons. He'd bundle them and send back to his family in Seattle for redemption.
I put a stop to that. I've never met anyone more frugal than him. The coupon story is just the beginning.
Absolutely for milk. Getting free meat can be tricky but it can be done. Note that I got a FREE 24 lb. turkey for Christmas. Earlier this year I had a deal where I was getting free meat one week. I tended to get porterhouse steaks. One time I actually bought a 6-pack of beer and two porterhouse steaks. However, I miscalculated on my coupons. I thought it was merely free but as I turned to go I heard the cashier say, "Sir! Please come back!"
"Uh-oh!" I thought. Trouble.
However, the cashier told me, "We owe you $2.05." And then she handed me the cash.
When I got home I told my wife from Venezuela: "Don't ever say a bad word about this country. Where else in the world can you pick up a six-pack of beer and two porterhouse steaks at the supermarket and they PAY you $2.05?"
However, I tried to avoid that situation. I prefer to pay them something no matter how little.
One woman filled her cart with more than $600 in merchandise and paid only $2.64 after coupons. A true American hero.
Yes, some of those coupons can be found. Just not every week, there are coupon “seasons”. You also need to look in stores for tear pad coupons or on product coupons.
The whole point of extreme couponing is to use a LOT of coupons to stockpile items you use. I mainly got free shampoo/toothpaste/toothbrushes, but after 2 years the stockpile is nearly gone. When you get toiletries for free (or they pay you to take them), it eases the food budget.
bookmark. Love this stuff!
You don’t need a huge stockpile. I have enough BO sticks to last me until next summer and I know there will be more coupons for the same item again before that when I can get more. Ditto the toothpaste and about everything else. No need to get 10 years worth of stuff. Too much space taken up.
The economy would be fine. People seem to think when somebody pays next to nothing that the grocer is getting stiffed. NOT SO. Every coupon is reimbursed from the company plus a nominal handling fee. So the grocer makes MORE money, the company who issued the coupon moves product, and my family has more disposable income. Win/win/win!
southernsavers.com
Slickdeals.net
I have a family of 11, our needs are a little different. I admit that some of the stockpile pics on HCW make me want to go nuts with it, though.
Both blogs you listed have been in my Bookmarks for months. Southern Savers is particularly good. I check it every day.
“... who thinks his main job is to keep customers from getting free products”
I wonder if an e-mail or phone call to the main Walgreens office may change his personality. If you can get his name then all the better. Using coupons is legal. In fact, the stores receive money back from the companies. Personally, I think a phone call from his upper management may change his attitude. IMHO. No one should be made to feel uncomfortable or like they are doing something wrong while shopping. Just a thought.
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