I just finshed watching Extreme Couponing on TLC. I watch very little television, but this show caught my attention when my friend Andrea linked to it on Facebook.
The show profiled four extreme couponers and their quest to spend almost nothing at the grocery store. Each extreme couponer had stockpiles that took up entire rooms, garages, or more, and spent several hours a day finding, cutting, sorting and matching coupons. I understand that television makes its money by sensationalizing stories, but even if you leave out all the dumpster diving and 1,000′s of sticks of deodorant this show bothered me.
Let’s look at Couponer #1.
- Spends 70 hours a week couponing.
- Admittedly sacrifices time with husband and cancels plans in order to shop.
- Her stockpile carries its own insurance policy. (Seriously, I could not make this stuff up!)
- She has a wall of toilet paper which equals 3,000 rolls. That’s enough to last about 40 years.
- She claims using coupons brings feelings of absolute joy.
- Her stockpile currently occupies 2 rooms, and is quickly taking over a 3rd room.
- Spends about $70 a week purchasing coupons from an online clipping service.
- Takes a day off work in order to shop.
- Along with numerous other items brings home 150 bars of candy for free.
- Spends 3 hours shopping, fills 9 carts.
- $1175 total before coupons
- $51 total after coupons
- Spends 2 hours checking out, then the register crashes. It takes another hour to finish the order.
- Spends 6 hours in the store total.
- Needs 2 cars to transport groceries home.
This woman saved over $1000 buying things that she will not live long enough to use. Just because you can get 150 candy bars for free, doesn’t mean you should. Her extreme couponing is destroying her marriage. Her husband was visibly upset about the growing stockpile and the trip to the store. While the food might not be costing her much, her extreme couponing habit will probably cost her a marriage.
I think because people are saving money and getting things they need (I use that term loosely) they feel like this obsessive behavior is okay. If someone had three rooms dedicated to knick knacks, felt joy when they found them for free, spent 70 hours a week organizing and dusting them, and their collection was causing stress in their marriage people would call them a hoarder. I think you can hoard food, just like anything else.
Couponer #2 seemed slightly more reasonable. She started couponing when her husband lost his job and it kind of took off from there. She has a stockpile that takes up her entire garage for a family of four. On her shopping trip she purchased 40 boxes of pasta. I found this to be interesting because in the same segment she talked about the cycle of sales. Everything goes on sale about every three months, so purchase a three month supply when you can get it at a discount or free. I have a family of 9 and we would be eating a lot of pasta if 40 boxes only needed to last 3 months. If you were truly stockpiling for 3 months you wouldn’t need 40 boxes.
One thing that slightly irritated me about couponer #2 was that she told her husband which cereal he could eat based on expiration dates in her stockpile. Seriously? He is an adult, and while it is important to rotate the stockpile she had at least 40 boxes of cereal, if he wants another kind he should be able to eat it.
Couponer #3 was my personal favorite. She was retired and appeared to be single so it didn’t seem like there were any relationship issues caused by her extreme couponing. I liked the fact that she took friends to the store to show them how to save money. While she did buy a lot of stuff for one person, I think she said she donated some, and she only bought what she was going to use, at least that is what she said.
Couponer #4 was a popular coupon blogger. His stockpile was crazy. He had over 1500 sticks of deodorant and enough body wash to clean every elephant in the world. On his shopping trip he spent around $200 for $5,000 worth of stuff. He did buy 1,000 boxes of cereal, which he donated to a local food bank, which seemed to be a bright spot in this crazy show.
I think there is a lot to be learned from these extreme couponers.
Take what you need, leave the rest for someone else.
I am a big believer in stockpiling, I even published an article on how to stockpile effectively. I have 150 pounds of grain and oats in my laundry room, because it is cheaper to buy in bulk and will last us several months. I do not think having 40 years worth of toilet paper is being a good steward of your time or your money. Most extreme couponers pay for their coupons (at least the clipping service), pay for a newspaper, pay for gas, and their time to shop. I do not believe toilet paper or many of those items will last 5, 10, or 40 years in the garage. These items will go bad and be worthless. Clearing the store shelves so you can hoard things in your garage is bad coupon etiquette.
Just because something is free doesn’t mean it is a good deal.
I often find sales and coupons that equal free, but it is junk I would not want to feed my family. The first lady got 150 candy bars!!! Unless she is passing them out at Halloween, that isn’t a good deal!
Your time is valuable.
For many extreme couponers, couponing is a full time job. I spend between $600 and $700 in food every month. I spend about 30 minutes a week finding sales and coupons, and I save about $30 a week. 30 minutes for $30 is a good deal, because we are going to use what I purchased. Even though these couponers are saving a lot of money, they are spending a lot of time. Make sure the value of your time = your savings.
Show me a menu plan!
These people saved big money, but I didn’t see a whole lot of fruit, vegetables or meat in their cart. The majority of what these people were buying were processed foods, soda, cereal, and toiletries. I’m not against buying any of those items, but they aren’t going to sustain you. I would love to see what these people eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
It’s not about what you save, it’s about what you spend.
It is great to save $1,000′s on groceries, but what are you actually spending each month to feed your family?
Bottom Line: What is the real cost?
Does it really matter what these people do with coupons? I guess not, but I think it is a good reminder to us all. I honestly believe it is fun to save money and live frugally, and these couponers do to. I think the difference is that some of these extreme couponers are saving at the expense of their relationships and the savings of others. If they clear the shelves of all the good deals, there is nothing left for the rest of us who want to save too.
One couponer said she wanted her stockpile to be her legacy. No thanks, not me. I want to be remembered as someone who lived with the priorities of God, Husband, Family. I want to be the wife who makes their husband’s favorite meal, even if it costs a little more. I want to be known as the cool mom who was never to old or scared to ride a roller coaster with her kids. I want to be the friend who is never too busy to chat on the phone, or meet for coffee.
When I die, I want there to be nothing left to give…. because I gave it all away when I lived.
Thanks for the recap – it saved me from having to watch the show
That kind of stockpiling is completely out of control! The only thing that would make that type of extreme couponing acceptable would be if they donated the excess to a food bank or something. Reading that the one person donated 100 boxes of cereal made me smile 
I live in a small apartment so there isn’t room for much stockpiling. The closest I have gotten is freezing all of the veggies we bought at the farm. We had so many veggies that we had to give some away! But, I have enough veggies for the entire winter (with the exception of lettuce and tomatoes as those can’t be frozen).
I couldn’t agree more. I did watch the show, and was mostly just saddened by it. The first lady needs help…she really does. You’re exactly right, she’s going to destroy her marriage and lose friends if she doesn’t back off. The second lady is the one who wrote the book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey. She’s the Krazy Coupon Lady. There’s a video on her FB page that shows her donating a good bit of her televised shopping trip haul, so she didn’t keep all of it. Dumpster diving, though? No way! I just loved the third lady!! I love how she said that to the coupon naysayers, she says, “Baby, you just ain’t been broke enough!” Too funny!
I was disappointed in the show because I was hoping it would be more people like the 3rd lady (more in the normal range), and that it would give more tips and tricks and ideas. I didn’t realize it was just going to be reality show ratings nonsense. So sad. Gives couponing a bad name.
Tracy,
I think we just need to expect that from television. We’ll have to stick to reading blogs to give us a realistic view of couponing and saving money!
Great job Toni! I have a concern similar to Andrea in that really gives people a very unrealistic idea about couponers. I would love to see the actual break down of the trips. You can certainly get lots of items for very little with coupons but I know in my state (CA) I pay .10 tax just on a liter of soda. So 40 liters should cost $4.00 in tax alone. My concern is that people will assume they can duplicate the transactions and regularly get hundreds of dollars in free groceries. It doesn’t always work that way and those people featured were very lucky to have exceptionally accommodating stores.
That couple didnt even have any kids!!! It was just her and her husband!
I think extreme couponing is “fine” (not really FINE, but not as CRAZY) if you’re donating most of your stash! But these people were crazy!!!
And can I just say, I WISH I could find free toilet paper!!! I am brand loyal to Charmin or Cottonelle and I just cannot find it for very cheap… And those lame $.25 coupons from Charmin dont help! lol
I saw this crazy show…
What a waste…even deodorant has an expiration date –
I get that these folks get a thrill out of it – I know I do when I save myself a decent amount (you know, like $17 on one shopping trip!). So…if they are going to donate these items to say, a women’s shelter, the red cross, the food shelves – then have it…go and have a great time – but to stock pile in your garage like this?
I heard the guy say something like ‘this is every man’s dream’ before taking us out to his garage (on the show) to see his stockpile…um…want to know something?
That’s my husband’s nightmare…he gets twitchy when I have 3 tubes of toothpaste in the bathroom closet at any given time…
I missed the show, but appreciate the summary. I can’t imagine spending 70 hours doing this and I agree with you, I’d rather spend time with family and friends. I would like to save more on my shopping though, so I’ll have to tune in next week to find out their secrets. Thanks for an interesting post.
I found the comment a bit off too. My husband is the bread winner, he works, I don’t but I work hard to take care of him, the house, the finances. I do everything and gave up a career to do so. His job is such that if I worked, we wouldn’t see each other and nothing in the house would get done. It works for us and to add another wrench into it, we don’t have kids. Lemmee tell you the raised eyebrows THAT one gets! lol
I think the comment could be taken by some as the housewife role is less valued than the spouse who makes money. I don’t make money, but I go to great lengths to save money by using coupons in a normal manner, not excessively like the people on the show. But what I do in our household has ‘extreme’ value and the comment could be perceived like it doesn’t.
I don’t have a stockpile, but if something has an expiry date, I will tell him to grab the one with the closest expiry date. With all the efforts I go to to save money, don’t want to waste it, so I didn’t anything wrong with her comment about expiry dates. It is practical and prevents waste.
Cathy,
I can assure that was not the intent of the comment. My point was that he is a grown man, bringing in a significant part of the family’s income. I don’t believe he should be treated like a child and told what he can eat, when.
Of course, I have mentioned to my husband that certain foods were getting close to the expiration date and needed to be eaten first, but it seemed clear to me, and many others who watched the show, that she was definitely telling him what to eat.
I would be just as irritated if a man told his wife what she could eat….
Toni
I totally agree with everything you said. Personally I think that because of obsessive coupon users…the coupons will soon disapear and people like me who use them in a civilized manner will suffer the consequences.
Your last paragraph is exactly how I feel..
Loved your post!!!
I would love to learn to save more effectively with coupons, however if you noticed, I do not believe many of the carts contained items to effectively cook meals for a week! I could buy 50 boxes of pasta and spaghetti sauce, however serving it more than once a week so would not go over well in my house! They were only a family of three – can you seriously tell me that they go through that much pasta and sauce without it expiring?
My dream would be to do effective couponing and do as the last gentleman did and donate it to local food banks to others. I believe I try to effectively stockpile with items we use often, however to help others would be the high, not a stockpile of toilet paper that would last a lifetime!
I was just wondering besides donations who buys the food for food banks and if we should go and teach them how to coupon so they can do this extreme couponing? I will call one I know of on Monday as they are closed today. What do you think?
The man giving the cereal to the food bank was the only thing that saved this show for me. All those rooms full of goods could be put to so much good use!
But, I admit, I was fascinated…
I totally agree. We came into this world with nothing, and we will go out the same way. I love to save money too, but not at the expense of using more time than it’s worth. It’s not really free if it costs you time, your relationships, etc.
Giant Eagle is an Oh/PA chain that doubles up to .99 no limit on the number of coupons for same items – just so you know that these places do exist. I’ve read on other sites that this appears rare so I’ll try to be more thankful in the future.
Like other, however, I fear that the “hoarders’ will ruin it for the rest of us. I tend to have 3-4 of any one coupon (I like the Sunday paper and would buy/read it anyway, and my Gram gives me hers) and that’ enough for our family of four.
When the shelves are cleared out within an hour of the first day of the sale – that’s a sign that something’s got to give and coverage like this will just make the problem worse.
My Giant only doubles one coupon…. if you use two, only one doubles
Amen. I haven’t seen the show yet. I’ve heard about it from friends
and family. I agree with you. When I go coupon shopping I only
get what’s enough for my family and leave the rest for someone
else.
Thank you for a very insightful post about what it takes to do extreme couponing. I had always felt something was wrong with me that I couldn’t figure out how to as much as these folk when I went to the store, but I now understand what it actually takes, and I’m glad I’m just the way I am! LOL I like a good deal just like everyone else, and I think using coupons can be helpful. I’m just glad to have read your post here. Honorable goals and legacies in life too. Well said. Thanks!
Can we start a new show? We could call it “Logical Couponing”. Of course, nobody would watch it!
I’m pretty sure there is nothing in this world that would be worth sacrificing my marriage or my kids over. Nothing. I do have a stockpile, although nothing like what was on TV. We’ve somehow gotten to this season of life where we have lots of young married friends. It’s a huge joy to have them over for supper and send them home with a month or more of toiletries. I’ve kept one couple stocked in contact solution for over a year now. It’s not the ultimate joy by any means, but it’s pretty cool! It’s so fun that when the kids from the local school come by asking for donations for the food bank, I can just run to the basement and bring out a few bags of stuff. I love that when I run out of something (ie ketchup or something) I can head down to the basement and get another bottle and know that I got the best price for it. I’m having another baby in July and I love that I’ll be able to forget couponing for a while and focus on my new bundle without sacrificing the budget. I’m a SAHM and know that part of that job is keeping our finances in order. I’m so thankful that I have another way to do that through couponing, stockpiling, etc.
Thanks for the great reminders here and on facebook. Keep ‘em comming!
Jen B – I totally agree with you! I keep a laundry basket to fill with toiletries that I get for free and when it’s full – it’s donated! Same with pet items – I pick up food, treats, etc when they are free or near-free with coupons and then when our brown grocery bag is full – my daughter Rose (8) and I stop at our local Humane Society to drop off the bag of pet items and play with the animals – happens about every 6 weeks or so. It’s a great way to teach your children on how to help others!
o saw this show with my daughter. and she she kept yelling at the tv, “why don’t you donate this food. why do you need to hoard it. you could help so many people.” she felt these people could fill the shelves of food banks and food pantries that help the needy
I honestly don’t know how our local Walgreen’s stays open. I had never shopped there but when I started reading their newspaper insert for the weekly sales, I would find a few really really good deals, so I went there. But the store is a bit far from my home & I don’t get out much, so the sale started Sunday & I went on Tuesday. I was lucky to find on or 2 of the sale items, I do believe those loss leaders are gone right after the store opens on day one of the sale. Anyway as I went around for the sales I paid attention to their regularly priced items and could not beLIEVE how much they charge for other stuff. Who would pay such a price when even the little locally owned grocery store by my home sells it cheaper? All I can think is that Walgreens in other places (I’m in Northern Michigan, hit hard by recession) must sell their stuff for much better prices.
I agree the Walgreens here in CO I don’t go unless there is a sale.
I agree about Walgreen’s and that is why I only shop there for sale items. If you combine coupons with their deals, you can come out with some very cheap stuff, but if you live far away, may not be worth it. They do have some fabulous deals and many get sold out fast. I just get a rain check because they never expire. But I also have about 5 Walgreen’s within 2 miles of my house.
A few people have written they agree with me that Walgreen’s only has good prices during good sales (other stuff overpriced)…well that’s only 2 people but since that’s all I have to go by, lol, really makes me wonder more than ever how these stores survive? As an example, and I found many, the big refill size (I think 56 oz?) of Softsoap handsoap has gone up to $5.69 at my local K-Mart, but Walgreens sells a bottle for $8.00 and some change! Wow!! So when they had buy one get one free I went in and got 4, making them each $4.00. But the normal price!!!…
Amen! Well said, especially the part on leaving a legacy. I think some people have a very interesting view of what a ‘legacy’ is. I’m with you- love God and love others as we love ourselves while we are here on this earth.
I got into that show and tried to do it my very first time I went to Giant Food store was getting tissues they were 10 for 10 I had a coupon for .50 cents off and they double coupons I am thinking great 10 boxes of tissues for free well Giant only doubles the first coupon then only gives you face value so I am thinking that show is a scam for ratings.. I think I am going to be more like you live for the now.. thank you
@Michael – You need to check your store’s coupon policy. Every store’s policy is different. The couponers are following their store’s policy.
Yes, I have watched the TLC extreme couponing program. These people take it to the extreme and will never use everything they have bought. These people are “hoarders.” Food banks are crying for donations. I believe those people should donate their excess to the local food banks.
I also believe their time management and dollar sense is very selfish.
Ok I have done some research and yes many of the extreme couponers take it to an unhealthy level but what they don’t show us is that many of the woman DO DONATE food to the pantries one I looked up and on facebook she gives away coupons and she shows her buys and what portion goes to the food banks if not all of it. I don’t personally know her but I think the reality part of the show is to glamorize this not show reality. This is one of the gals on face book Extreme Savings with Diva Desirae she was on the Extreme Couponing. If you don’t have facebook here is her webpage http://www.extremesavingswithdivadesirae.com.
I think TLC should be ashamed of themselves for not showing the families donating.
They have shown one family donate, as far as i’ve seen.
Somebody may have already mentioned this …. but I just ran across this article http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/16258
and remembered this post from a while back. …. And suddenly it all makes a lot more sense!
I have gotten a great deal many times.
For instance, my Dh use to eat Lean Pockets and Hot Pockets a LOT. Once I found a sale on them – a really good sale! But I also had a huge stack of coupons for them – going dead that same month – so I was pleased to use every single coupon, getting a few for free, and others at half price!
I am so happy to see that I’m not crazy!!!! I have not watched the show, but the ads for this show blows my mind!!!!! I so agree with all of your thoughts on this subject. It sickens me to see these people getting all the attention for their greed and need for their 15 min. of fame. I would much more like to see them giving these “freebies” to their local community to help the people who can’t even afford what these people pay for the $1,000 of merchandise. We Americans are really out of control to find this type of program worth their time to watch. Use your energy to help real people in need! Disgusting is all I can say!!!!
I’ve stopped watching the show weeks ago. Frankly I think it’s boring now-it’s the same thing every week. Really, does anyone else feel like it’s just different characters playing out the same scene? And at the checkout they all say how anxious they are that it’s not going to work out…kind of like Hoarders-we see the house filled top to bottom every week, sadness, anger at the cleanup, acceptance and they all end pretty much the same. Yawn.
what about medicines? i can get zyrtec, zantac and vitamins for really next to nothing, can that be donated also? Or, are food pantries and recipients too worried that they would be tampered with, do you think?
There is a free clinic here in CO that will take meds in the original package. Call one of them about meds.’ Christina
you can watch all the episodes for free on sidereel.com… though i’m telling you this about 6 months too late… actually, you can watch pretty much any tv show on sidereel
i feel that God has intrusted us to use wisdom in our choices. i believe there should be enough food for other people as well and not hoard it for themselves just because its a good deal. i believe there should be a limit on each item. i agree that we need to save and use coupons, but not go to the extreme where its a addiction.
lmao.. 40 boxes of pasta for a 4 person family being too much pasta for 3 months.. you obviously dont come from an italian family. we easily go through 40 boxes in 2 months, sometimes more than 40.. if there is only 5 boxes of pasta left its like the world is coming to an end. oh and when we were a 4 person family, 40 boxes wouldnt have even lasted a month.
How sad that you are bad mouthing all couponers. Some of us are only purchasing what we actually need, and are sharing what is extra. I, personally, just yesterday as a matter of fact, purchased 300 dollars worth of groceries for 75 dollars and gave all of it to the local women’s shelter. Yes, I do save, I love to save, but not all of us are hoarders, greedy, or ignore our friends or families. I am so sick of people placing all people in one category simply because they have similar hobbies or likes.
A bit late in the day perhaps for a comment on this blog; but I’ve spent an hour or so watching Extreme Couponing on TLC over the weekend and find it both amazing and more than slightly disturbing.
I find it amazing that one can get such huge discounts on food items in that quantity. For “real” food shopping, e.g., for buying food and other items that one will actually use, this is a terrific way to save money. This is something that we are going to start immediately.
The disturbing asspect of it had to do with some of the items purchased, e.g., 128 cans of dog food, 123 candy bars, several gallons of flavored water etc.
I believe in food storage. I believe in having food and other items in storage to use in case of emergency. However many of those women who are coupon clippers, in my opinion, are horders. And I’m being more than a bit charitable with this assessment.
I do applaude the one or two that I’ve seen who donate bulk items to food banks, animal shelter, as well as providing for their familes.
However, having a stack of cereal boxes three feet deep for a family of six is a bit excessive, given the sale /use by date. There is simply no way at a lot of these perishable items can last their shelf lives.
Extreme ANYTHING should sound a warning bell for anyone.
I am, however grateful, if for no other reason, for that TLC show because it has opened my eyes to a better way of saving money in our household budget.