By now you’ve watched the TLC series, Extreme Couponing about how a family pays less than $10 for over $500 worth of groceries. And, while I admire the technique, time and patience it takes to cut costs in this manner I don’t believe that it’s for everyone.
Processed Foods Dilemma
Unless you’re into eating loads of processed foods like chips, canned foods and cereal then I’ll pass as this is my number one reason for not utilizing this in my grocery shopping routine. I primarily shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes and 90% of what I buy are organic fresh fruit, vegetable and meats. The other 10% of what I buy are from CVS and Harris Teeter for toiletries and cleaning supplies. I follow a clean eating diet unless I am eating out so most of the foods in my kitchen are perishable fruits and veggies.
Buying More Than You Need Just Because It’s On Sale
Totally defeats the purpose of buying what you need to save money. From what I gather on the show, extreme couponing requires that you buy high quantities of certain items forcing you to stockpile in pantries, basements and garages them even if you have no immediate use for them. It’s a waste of money to have your home double as a mini-mart in the name of saving money. Still, I understand that some extreme couponers do so to help others, and if that is the primary goal then I get it. But to overstock my pantry just because I can save some money on a can of peas? Nah. I like to buy what I need as I go along. Now if I see something that I can store in the pantry on a major sale, I will buy it but that usually doesn’t happen for me since most of what I buy is perishable.
Time Consuming
Extreme Couponing takes time which I simply don’t have. My friends that do this tell me that it takes at least a year to get all the coupons you need to save as much as you see the families do on TLC. Then there’s the actual time needed to search through the papers and shop at various supermarkets hunting down deals. One accounts details the couple spending 4-5 hours in the supermarket? Do you know what I can get done in the supermarket? It takes me 45 minutes to get in and out of Whole Foods for 2 people. 4-5 hours is just onerous.
Extreme Couponing Fraud?
I’ve watched the news clips about the methods with great interest and read some forums about just how this is done. There seems to be some question as to whether or not the methods used are indeed above board. Some would call it coupon fraud? Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a coupon for $1. It says you can use the coupon on a 20 oz can of coke instead of the 12 oz can of coke. Cashier doesn’t pay attention and you look the other way and voila, there you have it.
The Frugalista interviewed Bud Miller, executive director of the Coupon Information Corporation about the issue:
FRUGALISTA: In the videos, it looks like this shopper, J’aime Kirlew, was using coupons labeled as being for one product, but buying a different product from the same manufacturer. Is that really a big deal?
BUD MILLER: It’s a criminal act. You need to use the coupon only within the terms and conditions printed on the coupon. In English and Spanish or whatever the local language is. A coupon is a contract and an offer. You have to follow those terms. Bar codes are a method of processing coupons.
FRUGALISTA: I’ve heard people say that the bar code is the “real” writing on the coupon, so the acceptable uses of the coupon are really whatever it’s coded for, no matter what the words say.
BUD MILLER: They’re wrong.
FRUGALISTA: I can see how bad this would be if you are taking a high-value coupon for an expensive product, and applying it to a much cheaper product. But what if the product is around the same price, like a company’s regular toothpaste brand and then the new version with a new feature advertised on it? Do manufacturers really care in a case like that?
BUD MILLER: Yes they do care. Coupons generally have their own budgets. That goes into the whole accounting system … controlling expenses, managing the business.
The good news is that the new bar coding system should eliminate most of this. (Stores are) in the process of transitioning (now). (This is why on some coupons now you see two bar codes): you’ve got the older one and you’ve got the newer codes … They’re all in the process of moving towards it.
Let’s just use the coupons for their intended purpose shall we? The following is not a conversation you want to have with your cell mate:
You- “What are you in for?”
Cell mate “Grand Larceny, you?”
You- “using a save $1 coupon on a 12 oz can of coke instead of a 20 oz bottle
So there you have it. I simply refuse for the reasons stated above. Granted, yes, I do struggle with my grocery bill being $400-$500 just for two people. I feel it should be more in the range of $300 and that will be my goal for this month. If someone knows how to extreme coupon between Trader Joes and Whole Foods show me the way! I plan on experimenting with organic produce delivery this month and see how that shakes out at the end of the month with our budget.
Do you have any tips on extreme couponing with organic fruits/veggies and meats? I am waiting on Whole Foods to get with it and offer real coupons for things that people buy consistently.
I have always said that coupons were usually just a waste of time for me as I want coupons for fresh food — not a bunch of fake foods in plastic bags. Sure, I will find a $.20 off coupon for toilet paper from time to time. However these coupons are more to promote a bunch of junky products and processed foods I have no money for.
Great post! I agree with you here. When we were in the U.S., we only used coupons for items that we would generally buy anyway. We also lived in a condo with limited storage space. On the reality show, I’m always shocked by the basements and garages filled with couponing booty!
Here in Australia, coupons just don’t seem to be used – they’re not in the Sunday paper, and I don’t see them in stores. Once, our grocery store mailed us some coupons for $10 off a purchase of $170 or more during a specific week. But other than looking for in-store specials, we aren’t using any coupons now.
I commented on this issue before and I feel the same as back then. the give us a bad name and its completely unfair. the misconceptions you have imho are just from t.v or some extreme people you talk to are scewed. im not an extremist by any means but since I started couponing it has to be hands down one of the coolest thibgs I have ever done. it doesnt take a ton of time and the average joe isnt hording.
since starting my couponing I have figured out how that I can basically get a lot of house hold items for free and do youyou want to know what the plan is for that free stuff?? going to make gift bags for women in shelters. I wouldnt be able to do somethinh like that had it not been for couponing. I feel like people forget they are watching reality t.v. I mean I know our parents taught us that everything you see on t.v isnt real….
I picked up a book, The Lazy Couponer, which addresses all of these issues. A lot of extreme couponing can be done at drug stores rather than grocery stores. I think that puts a number of products that one typically doesn’t buy at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods back in the game.
The author wrote a guest post for me: Top 10 Couponing Tips from the Lazy Couponer
Good points! I guess I am put off by the required level of obsession that one needs to be successful at this.
Yeah on the TLC show it looks like those people need psychological counseling like they do in Hoarders. It’s just obsessive in another way. It can’t be healthy. Give The Lazy Couponer a shot. The results are a little like the Extreme Couponing, but she doesn’t spend time organizing coupons and is very against building a stockpile.
The best way to coupon is to make it work for you. I’ve used some of the strategies on the show. Like you, I try to keep fresh, whole foods around my house. But as long as I am healthy, I’ll need toilet paper. I spend about 1 hour a week matching circular deals with my coupons and only stock up on non-perishable items like pasta, canned veggies and soups. Finally, I won’t go out of my usual routine for a deal. But as one other user put it, it is kind of fun to think of the other things I can do with the money I’m saving. The lowest I’ve gotten down to is about 50% savings.
The show shows the extreme. I don't know why someone would need 50 bottles of Mylanta! And if the show showed us"regular couponers" it would have been cancelled…because it would be boring.
Coupons are not just for processed foods, nor does it take a year to get the hang of it. I've been spending about 10-15 hours a week for about 4 weeks now and I've really gotten some great deals on things my family needs. Household items are my number 1 goal. I paid just $8 total for 5 40-load Tide detergents (the powder) just this week! And with a family of 4, we always need detergent! I'll take those savings any day! There are a lot of sites that do coupon/sales matchups for pretty much every store, which makes life a lot easier! Now that I've found those sites an gotten the hang of it. I probably spend about 5 hours a week working with my coupons…but I really have a lot of fun (i'm a strategy gal) so it's not like work to me. its kinda a hobby.
I've gotten free cover girl make-up, free razors, free lip gloss and lots of other things i like to have but don't need to have…but couponing allows me to indulge in those small luxuries.
I have coupons for vegetables, strawberries and banana's! If you have a product you love, write the company tell them how much you enjoy their product and they will probably send you coupons.
A penny saved is penny earned 🙂
I shop at Trader Joes as a couponer 🙂 There are deals out there, trust me.
As for produce, I usually use coupon overages at my local grocery store to get produce for cheap. I do agree that many extreme couponers do fill their stockpiles will junky foods, but it is possible to be healthy. One just won't get the 90% savings.
Extreme couponing…?
I've always wondered how these people are able to find stores that double their coupons when they use them.
I don't extreme coupon either for most of the reasons listed above. I do however scan costco coupons and whole foods daily specials for items I'd be interested in but I don't stockpile, except for items like Tide. Before I buy anything online, I also first search for coupon codes as well as find the cheapest price/shipping combination.
I watched a few episodes and they actually seemed less "hoarder" than my initial judgement. Several of them shared their excess purchases with food banks as well as their adult children or other family members. One woman talked about a time in her life when she struggled to make ends meet and so if she can buy 20 of something for an insanely low prices, she's going to do it and then donate to the food bank or other organization that provides assistance.
Okay, I admit, I wish I was that savvy. I use coupons if I specifically need the product being offered.
I think that it's great if you can save a buck here and there and if you can get it for a lot less, why not?
I'd spend money on other things if I could and save for retirement, If I could.
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Ask yourself next time you pull out your wallet to pay that $200 grocery bill when the guy next in line
is paying nearly nothing for his hard work. Time is money and if you've got it, why not?
Ive been couponing at Rite Aid and Wal-greens and it's very time consuming to match up everything and find the best deals. I can't imagine trying to do it if I worked. I am into healthy eating and live in an apartment and am very excited because just found out how to set up a hydrophonic window garden using recylcled materials. Check it out if you are in my situation :www.windowfarms.org
Exactly. I cant imagine doing that and then after buying that many boxes of the same thing, then they go back and buy more and more. I hadn't thought about the hoarding aspect but you are right. It is more like organized Hoarding.
I actually wrote about this on my blog yesterday and feel the same way you do. In fact, I think TLC's Extreme Couponing is pretty much a show about hoarding – organized hoarding. Not to mention that it's unfair to other shoppers who deserve to benefit from sales as well and having extreme couponers treat it like a sport is outrageous.
There is absolutely no reason to have 80 boxes of cereal or 114 bottles of Tylenol. It's selfish and neither will be consumed before they expire.
I find the show to be rather sensational and over the top. However, you can still learn a lot from their techniques. I don't spend a lot of time couponing, less than an hour a week and about an hour in the store. There are different organizational techniques and I use the one that takes the least amount of time for me. As far as clean eating goes it still works as I stockpile (for us that means 4-6 boxes of something) such as peanut butter, yogurt and frozen veggies. I employ the same mentality at WF as I now check their sale paper and their coupons. That is something I didn't do before. Also companies like Seventh Generation, Organic Valley, Newman's Own and Muir Glen have coupons all the time. .
I think the extreme couponers shown on the program are giving regular couponers a bad name. They are borderline hoarders….do we really need 40 bottles of mustard. The majority of those people buy things they do not need…often sweeping the ENTIRE shelf of product…leaving nothing behind for others. That is selfish!!!!
I understand having a few extras of stuff every now and then to make sure you don’t run out. I happen to have 4 extra toothbrushes right now. I also have two additional bottles of body wash because there was a BOGO on them…but I will not stock up on so much stuff that I have to use an entire bedroom to store extras.
I too wish there would be more coupons for fresher stuff..I have never gotten coupons for buying fruit. I did get coupons for milk a few times but those were few and far between.
I haunt Whole Foods too.
When I watched the show I thought to myself 42 bottles of French's Mustard? Because I eat lots of mustard? What about the cart filled with all the Pepto Bismol?! That was OUTRAGEOUS. I watched only one episode and thought, yeah… no. Not for me!
I scour the whole foods coupon sheets regularly, but so far I haven't had much success with saving tons of money. But a penny saved is a penny earned!