Extreme Couponing

There's this new series on TLC called Extreme Couponing. Picture this, 4 cartloads of groceries and toiletries, retailing for $1700 and the person gets a 98% discount and only pays $34. Yup.... And all they do is shop sales, clip coupons from fliers, get online coupons and take advantage of store loyalty programs and "double your coupon" events. Sometimes, they even make money when buying something... How does that work? The item costs $2 regular-price, is on sale for $1.25 and they have a $0.75 coupon and the store is offering a double your coupon deal... so they get a product and actually make $0.25 on the deal! Mind you, that doesn't seem like a lot but when you buy 50 of the item... well it adds up.

Some of these people's houses look like mini-markets... stockpiled chips and shampoo and soup and diapers (even though they don't have kids), toothpaste out the ying-yang. What do they do with it all. Well, some of them donate their supplies to schools or soldiers fighting overseas. Which makes a bit more sense to me. Why would anyone buy 50 bottles of Gaviscon??? And don't the things expire??? When you think about it though, it's a great way to provide food for the foodbank (as a lot of the food is processed and canned). Or provide toiletries to homeless shelters, etc.

One of the men (usually it's women, but sometimes it's men) said, it's like a hunting expedition for him. Instead of hunting a deer though, he's hunting deodorant. Most of these people get a real rush from this too... almost addictive... and their homes look like they are hoarding for the next World War... I suppose that's why the show is called Extreme Couponing....

I remember my mother clipping coupons when I was growing up. But nowadays, most stores (like Safeway) have loyalty programs and you don't need to clip flyer coupons anymore... kind of takes the fun out it! But it does save time. Some of these couponers take 3 hours to prep, 5 hours to shop and 2 hours to get through the checkout. Have fun!