Extreme Couponing

If there is anyone out there that hasn't watched the show Extreme Couponing on TLC, I would highly recommend watching it at least once. Very entertaining! When they say extreme, they aren't kidding. There are people on there that have enough food and other things to live for about 4 years without having to go shopping. To quote a teenage boy on the show talking about his friend's family, "If there is a natural disaster, I'm coming here!". Although, to go to the extreme of having enough toilet paper to last for 30 years really isn't my goal, I am definitely trying get better at shopping with coupons.

There are websites that charge you to tell you how to be an extreme couponer. They give you tips and tell you what is on sale, which coupons to use to get free or cheap stuff. I have a hard time justifying paying for it, even though it would be good to get their tips. I follow a few free websites and I get my coupons from friends at work and from my mom who gets them from the ladies she works with. It has worked out pretty well so far.

The show tells us what all these extremers do to save so much money. Every single one of them has an organized system that works for them. Some have books, some have boxes, etc. They all go in with a list and know EXACTLY how much money they will be spending and they don't deviate from their list unless there is something on clearance that they happen to have a coupon for. Some of them dumpster dive for coupons, some walk the neighborhood and get coupons from their neighbors. One lady wrote her local newspaper and asked for all the extra coupons to be delivered to her house instead of them throwing the coupons out. They check their store's coupon policy everytime they shop because it changes. They also get their kids involved in the excitement. One family had 7 or 8 kids and she would sit them all down at the table and have her kids cut out all the coupons. Everytime the mom went shopping she would take at least one of her older kids with her so they would know how to shop with coupons.

So, here are the things that I am finding frustrating. There are hardly any coupons for milk and other dairy products that are used often and very few coupons for meat and produce. These are things that are needed so when I go shopping, my savings aren't the 90% or more that the people on the show have. I don't know how they do that...I'm still trying to figure that out. I also don't have 30 hrs a week to clip coupons and scour the sales like they do. For some it's a full time job and it can also be an obsession. Every one of them is very proud of their stash and some their stash is taking over their homes. Coupons are money to them. They pay with coupons, not money.

I'm getting better at it. For example, mustard was on sale and I had 5 coupons for mustard. I ended up getting 5 bottles of mustard for $.49 a bottle...good thing mustard lasts a long time!! I have had my coupons organized in a 3 ring binder for over a year now. It is much easier to see them. I'm also learning that, until you build up your stash, it is still kind of expensive to shop, but once you get it built up some, you can do pretty well. You also have to ask yourself, is the money that you save worth the time you spend doing it? I think it is. Times are tough for everyone. Gas prices are outrageous so if we can save money on other things, then I would say go for it! If anyone has any extra coupons or gets the paper and doesn't use their coupons, I will take them off your hands!!!!!! Happy couponing!