Has anyone seen the show 'Extreme Couponing'? I honestly laughed at the idea of it when I first heard about it, but I have to say, after catching a few episodes recently, I think it's the coolest thing ever. Granted, the women who cut these coupons and spend 5 days a week shopping for hours on end are naht the coolest people ever, I just mean the general idea is fascinating.
The people featured on the show spend hours upon hours clipping and organizing coupons, stashing them in binders, filed by item, complete with list and layouts of their favorite stores. They plan their outings, mapping out routes and enlisting family members, friends and spouses to help push their carts and load up multiple cars to bring their items home. I watched a man fill NINE carts worth of items, plus a palate of 1,000 boxes of cereal, totaling over $5,000 and he paid...wait for it, $250. No seriously, he got ever single box of cereal 15 cents each. EACH! Isn't that just insanity? He ended up donating all 1,000 boxes to his local church, which just make me think he was crazy and uber nice at the same time. I saw another woman by a little over $1,000 worth of items, like 80 containers of mustard [to which her husband went 'I don't even like mustard!'] and she paid $2 for everything! One family, in the 2 years they've been extreme couponing, have saved over 40 grand towards their kids college funds. People have paid off debt, cars, homes, second homes, just by clipping coupons - isn't that nuts? How can I do all that without actually having to DO anything?
Now, I'm not going to go rifling through the trash to get extra coupons, no way Jose, but I might just start actually looking at the coupons I do get in the mail. Like, if things I like are buy 1 get 1 free, I should buy a couple right? I don't have the space to become a coupon clipping, toilet paper hoarder, nor the energy really, but I do like saving money.
The people featured on the show spend hours upon hours clipping and organizing coupons, stashing them in binders, filed by item, complete with list and layouts of their favorite stores. They plan their outings, mapping out routes and enlisting family members, friends and spouses to help push their carts and load up multiple cars to bring their items home. I watched a man fill NINE carts worth of items, plus a palate of 1,000 boxes of cereal, totaling over $5,000 and he paid...wait for it, $250. No seriously, he got ever single box of cereal 15 cents each. EACH! Isn't that just insanity? He ended up donating all 1,000 boxes to his local church, which just make me think he was crazy and uber nice at the same time. I saw another woman by a little over $1,000 worth of items, like 80 containers of mustard [to which her husband went 'I don't even like mustard!'] and she paid $2 for everything! One family, in the 2 years they've been extreme couponing, have saved over 40 grand towards their kids college funds. People have paid off debt, cars, homes, second homes, just by clipping coupons - isn't that nuts? How can I do all that without actually having to DO anything?
Now, I'm not going to go rifling through the trash to get extra coupons, no way Jose, but I might just start actually looking at the coupons I do get in the mail. Like, if things I like are buy 1 get 1 free, I should buy a couple right? I don't have the space to become a coupon clipping, toilet paper hoarder, nor the energy really, but I do like saving money.
With that in mind, I got the circular in the mail today, so I thumbed through to see what deals there were out there. I don't need anything, so I didn't make a list or map out my shopping trip, rather just made a mental note to keep coupons in mind when I need things. All my shampoos, face washes, body washes and deodorants were buy 1 get 1 free, so next time I need to stock up, I should advantage of the free one, obviously. I am far from becoming a crazy coupon cutting lady [and yes, some woman on the show dubbed herself that, on purpose], but I can appreciate a bargain, and really, this is just smart shopping, right?
That show is crazy. I keep thinking that if I ran a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen I would hire some of these people to do this for like a month and bring all sorts of goodies to the organization.
ReplyDeleteCouponing is sooo much work I just use it when it makes sense. I do love watching that show though!
ReplyDeleteThat show is definitely nuts... like the mustard lady. Or the one who bought a hundred bags of croutons. Seriously, who eats that many croutons??? But, that being said, I just donated almost $400 worth of stuff to the local battered women's shelter, and I only paid about $30 out of pocket. And I've gotten tons of household stuff and food for myself and friends, too. It does take a little time, but I use the website www.krazycouponlady.com, and they make it so easy! They go through all the ads and tell you exactly which coupons to use. I've actually got everyone at work and even my mom using their site, too! I know that all sounds a little fanatical, but it is kind of contagious and addictive!
ReplyDeleteThe whole concept of extreme couponing blows my mind. I would love to be able to do it, but it is a TON of work. I also feel like you end up with a million things you don't need just because you "had a coupon for it!" Like the mustard lady. My favorite line from this whole post... "I don't have the space to become a coupon clipping, toilet paper hoarder, nor the energy really, but I do like saving money."
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