Thread: So, Extreme Couponing?

I am completely consumed with this show today (may be the whiskey) but I cannot help but think that these people may very well be more prepared than I am. I mean, they all have these 'stock piles' of mostly non-perishables that will last them and their families over a year.

A) If you could get $500 of groceries for $4 what would you do with the savings?

B) Would you ever even try?

My sister in law just got into this a month ago and she has saved about $1,600.00 (true story) so far. She is purchasing everything that makes life a little more comfortable (tooth brushes and tampons) to some kick butt chipotle mayo that would normally go for $7.00 a bottle that she got for $.50. That stuff was the best on sammiches!

I personally don't have the patience for it but told I'd take and push a cart for her.

My little brother thought'd it be a nice 'girl' thing for her to do, but I informed him that her savings is the equivalent to her having a part time job that brought home $450.00 a week. Crazy.

SF-

Originally Posted by Silver Fox

...I informed him that her savings is the equivalent to her having a part time job that brought home $450.00 a week.

Money saved is like money earned -- except you don't have to pay taxes on it.

MrB+

It has it's merits, but alot of the things are processed items I don't use, so for me a lot of it is not useful.

my wife is not an "extreme" coupon lady per say, but she really has jumped into the coupon thing with both feet. We have gone from having very little in the food room to having a lot. 25 boxes of different cereal, soup, bread, pasta, cans of fruit, bathroom items (toothpaste, soap, etc). I use to poke fun at her a bit for doing it until I saw all the money she was saving and stuff she was bringing home and getting in the mail... unbelievable.

If you or the better half is considering it, I will say it is worth it.

Originally Posted by simpleguy

It has it's merits, but alot of the things are processed items I don't use, so for me a lot of it is not useful.

That is the same thing we are thinking. We have been on a 'sustainable', veg-heavy/lower meat, VERY little proccessed, fresh/raw diet the past few months, but I cannot help but realize that there are tons of things that I use that these people are saving bundles on. There was one gal that stated that she had to buy a bunch of certain things because she actually made money on it. She then applied that profit to her produce. My take... ...I could do the same and donate the stuff I won't use to food banks/homeless shelters.

Originally Posted by MrB+

Money saved is like money earned -- except you don't have to pay taxes on it.
MrB+

Agreed, and money earned is money spent on toys!

Originally Posted by Barefoot343

my wife is not an "extreme" coupon lady per say, but she really has jumped into the coupon thing with both feet. We have gone from having very little in the food room to having a lot. 25 boxes of different cereal, soup, bread, pasta, cans of fruit, bathroom items (toothpaste, soap, etc). I use to poke fun at her a bit for doing it until I saw all the money she was saving and stuff she was bringing home and getting in the mail... unbelievable.

If you or the better half is considering it, I will say it is worth it.

I was in Safeway today and could not stop thinking that I could be doing a better job. Might have to try it. The wife actually thinks I am nuts, but this ain't the only reason why.

agreed, its hard to stay cheap if you dont like processed. wish i could get over that hump

Originally Posted by simpleguy

It has it's merits, but alot of the things are processed items I don't use, so for me a lot of it is not useful.

That's always the problem with such things. I'd say about 2-5% of our family's diet contains any processed foods. I might do the coupon thing for preps, but at that point it's all survival food anyway.

Most of the people on that show spend over 40 hours per week searching for, collecting and organizing the coupons to prepare for these shopping trips which means they don't have jobs. I have to wonder if the money saved on groceries outweighs the lack of income from working a full time job. It also seems like they have carts full of things like deodorant, shampoo, gatorade, condiments, paper cups, etc.... but not actually much real food. I also wonder if these people would even buy many of the products in the first place...it's great to get a good deal on 74 bottles of mustard but if you don't use mustard then what's the point? It's still cheaper not to but it in the first place. Just my thoughts. It is pretty amazing to see it done though!

I am not "extreme", but living on a fixed income I MUST use coupons and hunt skillfully with the sale ads. It's fun to shock the checkers when they have to tell me that I saved 40% on my purchases that day! I tend to shop with the coupons in my hands, so that lovely ladies approach me and we compare and trade our surplus coupons with each other, giggling like kids about how much we are saving and what fun it is! It's almost better than sex........................elsullo

I have been getting into couponing lately, but mostly for non-perishable items like TP and toothbrushes and such. I normally save about 40%-60%, I could save more, but I only buy things that we will really use... although I do sometimes buy off brands if the deals are good. I could probably do better, but I only spend about an hour or so a week on it since I work full time.

i asked a clerk at safeway if it was possible to pull off the extreme couponing there and he told me no because they wont douple stack coupons

The nice lady at Fred Meyers said that their registers only accept a certain number of coupons so she's never really seen any extreme coupon folks. And no, I wasn't smart enough to ask what the limit was because I've probably never been anything close and didn't think to ask till later that day. Fail.

-d

My wife is more extreme then the crazy coupon lady. I'm so sick of hearing " but it was free"

he is saving us a ton of money. one of are spare rooms in teo months is now the stock pile room

I waiting for the new "Extreme Treppaning" show..........

None of the stores in this area will double or tripple coupons so there is no way to pull off the deals they do on tv.