Okay...I know some of you on here are really into your coupons, and honestly, I have thought about trying to get into one of the groups myself or take some classes. But, last night I caught a few minutes of the TLC show, 'Extreme Couponing'. While I was amazed at what these people actually saved, my first thought was...at some point is "stockpiling" to this extreme considered HOARDING? Really, the lady bought like 93 bags of croutons among tons of other stuff and went home to add it to her already overflowing pantry. I have a family of 6 and admit I spend WAY too much on groceries and would love to cut down on our food bill. But, I wouldn't even have room for that much stuff, nor would I want items sitting around waiting for us to use it! Also, she said she spends 30 hours a week couponing...would it not be better to spend that time at a job so the income wouldn't be so limited? :?
Here is a pretty good blog post that covers how most legit couponers feel about "Extreme Couponing". And please keep in mind the the title of that show..........EXTREME. Faye Prosser originally shared this blog from Hot Coupon World on WRAL. http://www.hotcouponworld.com/2011/05/extreme-couponing-star-admits-to-committing-coupon-fraud/
I thought the same thing when i watched the show. I think if i only paid a few dollars for all of those groceries, i would just keep some of it and give the rest away, instead of hoarding it all in my house. To me, that is the crazy part. I I understand the challenge and thrill of saving that much money, but i do not get why they stock pile some of the strangest stuff!
Did ya catch the one lady?..it may have been a different episode, I've caught a couple... But she was so proud of her friggin cat food collection and then exclaimed "I DON'T EVEN OWN A CAT!" :roll: I don't have use for 50 antiperspirant/deodorants and enough antacid to last a lifetime. They boast about how much they "give to charity"... well holy **** they have to out of necessity, there's no more room in their houses.
I remember watching the first episode, the last guy they showed was getting an entire pallet of cereal for almost nothing that he was donating to charity. those are some crazy people!
It gives folks who use coupons the "right" way a bad rap. That is what is most annoying about it. They are hoarders, plain and simple. True story, my sister was using her coupon binder up in VA a few weeks ago and some old bat behind her asked her if she was "one of those crazy coupon ladies". My sister's response was WAY more charitable than mine would have been. :mrgreen:
Or the lady who stocked up on sleep aids because she made .42 a box, and said "I don't even use them but they made me money so..."
There was one guy that all the excess he got from those deals, he would send care packages to troops overseas. Yeah, I agree about the hoarding. Having a well-stocked pantry is good. However, when your garage has turned into the neighborhood quickie mart, you've got a problem. I still don't see how you do it. Some of these deals seem unreal.
Mrs Wulf recently got into "couponing" and last week came home with $260 worth of groceries for $60. As far as I'm concerned she can keep doing it.
I thought I was a pretty good "couponer" until I watched that show. I am not nearly as "good" at it as I those people on TV but I am also not greedy. The people who give away most of it are fine with me but the people who have toilet paper under their bed and 200 bottles of soda in the garage are selfish. I don't like to "empty the shelf" as some of these people brag about because I would like the next shopper behind me to also get a good deal. I have been using lots of coupons for about 15 years and I will admit that it is time consuming and somewhat habit forming so I have to keep it in check. Since I am employed full-time outside of my home, I don't have the time that most of the people on TV have to put towards the practice of "getting as much as you can for as little as possible". Also, I have donated or given away more than 75% of every item that I can brought home over the years. My family/friends/coworkers/church/food pantry/homeless shelter, etc are always gettings items from me because I know that will use it before I will. What I don't do it waste my time hunting for those items. It I am at the store anyway and have the coupons already, I will get all I can to share but I am not going to stay up all night, go through dumpsters looking for coupons or go to the store at 3 AM to get stuff I personally don't need or will never use.
I don't watch that show anymore because they promote fradulant coupon usage and hoarding! Those people that they feature have SERIOUS mental issues.
There is nothing more annoying than going to the store to use my lil ole coupon (1.00 off on 2) for salad dressing, and there is a sale, BOGO, and the entire shelf is stripped clean.
I am noticing lately that certain products are completely wiped out. I didn't realize until I watched this for 2 nights now that they actually do take every single item they have a coupon for and don't seem to mind that there isn't any left for anyone else. BTW...I read somewhere that "Harris Teeter" has triple coupons this week. Not worth the drive for me; from Benson I guess the closest would be Fuquay, but maybe some of you can take advantage!
Personally, I think it's a fad with the new couponers that will quickly fade once they realize how much time and energy it takes to be an EXTREME couponer. At least I hope this is the case cause I'm tired of all the store selling out of newspapers before I get there.
So it was time for Round 2 here last night with coupons...... she came home with $348 worth of groceries for $87. I now have to put up more shelving in our walk in pantry.
We did the same when I got serious about it. It pays for itself. I could go a month without having to buy much but milk and bread and perishable veggies.
