EXTREME Couponing and Me

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I’m starting to feel like I need to address the show at this point.  Ack! Between yesterday and today it has been mentioned to me several times.

First off, what do I think of the show? I haven’t seen it. Why? Well, first off, we canceled our tv subscription (you should have heard the customer service guy.
Me: I was wondering why my tv hasn’t been turned off as it was supposed to be.
Him: Pause…may I ask who you switched to and what they are offering you?
Me: Um, no one. We just shut it off.
Him: Pause…………………….more of a pause………. I have never had anyone tell me they are getting rid of tv all together.
Me: Well, after we add Netflix for $10 per month we will STILL save $50 a month.
Him: Oh.
That was pretty much the end of the conversation. For the record, it has been worth it.  Sadly, thanks to gas and oil going up, it has been absorbed already.

Anyway, so that a reason I didn’t see it. However, I didn’t see  the pilot when we DID have tv. I’m not interested in a show that is designed to make me as a coupon-ner look bad. Yes, AMAZING what they can do but many of them have come out looking like selfish  hoarders who don’t care about other customers. That’s not how I want to be portrayed. Not to mention the one woman on it allegedly has committed coupon fraud!! REALLY??!!! What right does she have to be on this show “showing people how it’s done”?

I don’t agree with shelf clearing. If there are only 3 or 4 items and I am buying them all, ok. However, I will not buy 15 of one item if it leaves nothing for other people behind me. It’s rude and I hate being behind someone who does it.  The show also has people buying umpteen of the same items with like coupons. Does the average person know that most stores’ policies limit you to approximately 4 like coupons? That means you can buy unlimited  tomato sauce in 1 transaction but only use 4 coupons in that transaction.  Stores broke their policies to promote the show. How’s that for reality?

Do I have a stockpile? Sure do. I haven’t had to buy shampoo in a few years.  Now I pick it up if it is free after store deals and coupons. I don’t pay for toothpaste either. They have to pay me to buy it – even if it is only $.01.  Gillette Fusion Razors? FREE. I could list quite  a few things I don’t pay for anymore but that’s ok – another day.  Do I have aisles of things in my basement? No. I am not saying it isn’t ok to have a nice size stockpile. However, there is a stockpile and then there is CRAZY.  150 tubes of toothpaste is CRAZY…unless you donate or eat the stuff, which is obviously not healthy.

Do I really save that much money?  I do. I don’t go buy $2,000 worth in one trip.  I don’t have the budget to for one thing. I do save 60-80% a week on my groceries between shopping the sales and my coupons. I save AT LEAST $20 a week with coupons. Generally it is actually much more than that.

Is it easy? Yes. Ok, no. When you start it can take a while to get the hang of it and get into a routine. Once you do however, you can spot the deals fairly easily. It still takes time to go through the fliers, shop the stores, clip and organize coupons, and search for deals, however, you get faster and better than longer you do it.

Is it worth it if you don’t buy processed foods? YES!!!! Do you use eggs, milk, cereal, bread, toilet paper/paper products, shampoo, body wash, dish/washer soap, laundry detergent, toiletries, makeup? I guarantee you could be saving money with coupons.

How will this affect us? Manufacturers and companies are watching too. When they see mis-use and craziness they will adapt their coupon amounts, limit usage, and generally make it tougher for us all.

And finally, it’s “reality’ tv. Reality tv that is edited and twisted to portray people however they wish to. We don’t know these people. We don’t know how much they donate.  We really don’t know much about them besides what TLC wants us to know.  What I do know is I don’t really want to be them.

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