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?
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.
tag
We're starting to see 'em in the "under a buck" stores, which would lead me to categorize them as: Probably not very well.
She would never use the express checkout for coupon shopping. And the manager approval takes a quick moment for him to enter some kind of override code into the register. In some stores, if the savings is over a certain percentage, the cashier can’t complete the transaction and it requires a manager to complete it.
Just signed up for Rite Aides wellness card...same kind of deals. I now have enough shampoo/conditioners/hair spray, razors, tooth brushes for a year. 6 months on the toothpaste. Can’t buy hubby’s fixadent to far in advance as it hardens in the tube.
Store those oil vits in the freezer..especially the fish oils..you get no after taste that way and can buy the less expensive ones than the supposedly no after taste ones.
Only thing in short supply here is meat, my freezer is full with mostly strawberries, green beans and tomatoes which I grew.
Absolutely.
The trick is to start with dry produce. If your lettuce is wet from the misters, blot it w/a paper towel and let it sit out until dry. I will use a towel in-store, wrap and tuck some inside the head (I use red-leaf lettuce). Your paper towel is only damp, so let it dry out and it can be re-used for cleaning.
Wrap the dried lettuce in a dry paper towel, insert in Green Bag and just close the bag loosely and store in your veggie bin. I have the humidity control on my produce bins set slightly dry of the medium mark. Wash the leaves as you use them. If the towel becomes wet in storage, replace it with a dry one. All that is on the towel is moisture, so, again, you can let it dry out and re-use it for cleaning. Your dirty floor won’t care.
Do not even try this with pre-packaged salad mix. They rot much sooner than head lettuce, no matter what you do.
For peppers, cukes, even apples: while whole, place in Green Bag with a dry towel in the bag and roll loosely closed. When you go to use the veggie, slice off what you will use and re-wrap the cut piece. Rinse the piece you are going to use and use as you wish. Replace towel on cut item if it gets too wet. Color may bleed from a red pepper, for example, but it will still be re-usable for cleaning. If you completely wrap the cut edge of a cuke or an apple, it will dry out slightly. and will need to be thinly sliced away before reaching a usable portion.
For grapes and berries, I put the entire vented bag/box into the Green Bag and add a towel, close loosely. Take out what you need and wash only those pieces.
I place tomatoes on a side counter with the entire container, if cherries,in the Green Bag. I take out what I will use and wash those. Sometimes tomatoes will grow a dry white mold. If you catch this early, you can just rinse it off, dry the tomatoes or let them air dry on a plate, return to the Green Bag and they are all fine for use and there is no harm to the tomatoes or to you. I never refrigerate tomatoes.
Green Bags can be reused. Rinse well and dry completely after first use. You can tell if they are still good if the color is still bright. Also, the zeolite that is the working ingredient on the inside of the bag (molecular sieve that traps ethylene) feels grainy on a usable bag. When the bag is lighter in color and the inside is smooth to the touch, it is done as a produce protector, but it is still usable as a plain old storage bag.
I have used the Debbie Meyer Bags, as well as some cheaper brands, like Brawney (sp?). They all work. The Debbie Meyer ones are more expensive and _may_ be superior, but they are not always available and the off brands can be 1/2 the price.
Ping ...
First of all, I think it's something like 2% of coupons are ever redeemed. They are more likely to stop coupons because of the lack of the rate of return.
Most coupons are put out by the manufactures. They actually want people to use them, and will reimburse the stores for these coupons. So, it's zero lost to the store.
Now, the stores will put out their own coupons, and offer their own sale items.
It is this overlap that allows you to pay pennies on the dollar.
It doesn't make someone a scammer, it makes them a good shopper.
I have a brand marketer-side point of view as far as promotions, including coupons, kara37. I know and have worked with people at Catalina Marketing.
These coupon promotions have an assumption of a certain number of “abusers” built in, they’re aware that a small minority make a hobby out of figuring out how to absolutely maximize them. But, from the brand marketer’s point of view, they’re not there to save you money, they’re there to encourage trial of a new product or to encourage brand switching with an existing one.
These products aren’t “free,” any more than government housing is “free.” Somebody has to pay for them, and that somebody is the brand marketer, who has a specific goal in mind when the promotion is structured, and is willing to forego a certain amount of profit in the short term to achieve that goal.
Too many people sweeping the aisles clean does nothing to further the brand marketer’s ends, and it deprives the majority from gaining exposure to the new product as intended or fails to bring new customers to an existing brand as intended.
So, it’ll end up killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, for the few very frugal individuals who count on these coupons, because it’s being abused. And, this knowledge is why I commented as I did, speaking of “oh, please.” ;-)
LOL!
I have a paper towel stash and an aluminum foil stash...lots of times, if I just use foil to heat buns or rolls, it is perfectly clean and I use it again! I reuse washed ziplocks, too, unless they contained meat or something fatty.
I have my luxuries: a hot tub and a pool and I am perfectly willing to scrimp on other things to continue to enjoy those toys. BTW, both are 22 years old, have been well-maintained by my handy husband and have had replacement parts. But they still do the job. I just need to save elsewhere to afford the extra electricity to run the pumps and the propane to heat the pool.
Here's another “oh please” for you.
According to you, the coupons are not intended to save people money, but only to encourage brand switching. It sounds like the companies are the ones that are a bunch of scammers, not the people shopping for deals.
However, they assume that a certain amount of “abusers” as you call them, will actually save money and they don't like it. Sorry, I'm not feeling their pain.
Well, do as you will. I’m just telling you that too much exposure for how to game coupon promotions is going to result in their clamping down because it circumvents their purpose, costs them money and doesn’t gain them anything.
My advice would be for everybody to tone it down if you want to continue getting fantastic bargains via couponing. Alerting the herd to it is going to trample the whole thing.
She might get mad if you didn’t label her a ‘her’. Just sayin...
I think it will always be a select few that choose to do this, because it does require a lot of work.
I really can't blame them. When I was working, I spent money like crazy and never used a coupon for anything.
I now stay home with the kids, and have to live on a budget.
Do you have a URL for that "Grocery Game" site you referred to?
I've read that the definition of being a clinical "real" 'hoarder' is that you save stuff that you'll NEVER use, that you save stuff that is absolutely without any value whatsoever, AND that your stuff interferes severely with the normal use of ALL the rooms in your home, for the purpose for which they were designed.
Many of the couponing sites I read in the 1990s had lots of members who once a year would donate all their excess Freebies to either homeless or battered women's shelters or to local food shelves.
I'd say that anyone who removes the drywall in order to make more room for storage.... needs to watch the cable tv series, HOARDERS: Buried Alive. It's either on A&E or on TLC - there are 2 different programs which focus on hoarders, and plenty of them save HUGE stores of food gone bad,bad,bad.
We stock up with the large quantities of flours, rices, oatmeal, grains, etc. in January/February when the temperatures outside are below freezing, AND we leave the items in the garage for a week so that all bugs and their eggs are destroyed - they we RE-package it for use during the rest of the year.
I do things in a similar manner. Usually, I repackage and place the bags (double heavy-duty ziplocks) in the freezer for a few days. Still, they can become re-infested, from what I read, so, whenever my freezers have room to spare, I park the grains in there until I defrost/restock. This also helps freezer efficiency, as they are kept full.
It was impossible to register at this site. I tried a dozen times and couldn’t do it.
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