extreme couponing...yes or no and why?

[altnmjt]

i watch the show all the time and always wondered how they do it. some people call it hoarding i just call it a way of life, i love when ppl do donate the free items they get. it makes it soo much better. id love someone to come into my house and teaxch me there tricks

[Consultsone]

i watch the show all the time and always wondered how they do it. some people call it hoarding i just call it a way of life, i love when ppl do donate the free items they get. it makes it soo much better. id love someone to come into my house and teaxch me there tricks

A definite yes! I have posted on here quite a bit about it.
It is a lot of work, and you have to be organized about doing it.
To get started -- start a Facebook account just to "like" the couponing pages on line.
Let someone else do the research for you, and set up the scenarios for you. There are quite a few of the people on Extreme Couponing show that help out on Facebook.
Sometimes you do have to buy things you don't need to get even better deals ... but donate what you don't need.
If you can get something free -- get it ... again if you don't need it donate it!
I donate cat/dog food to shelters.
If a good deal on perishables, I keep what I need and donate the rest to a homeless shelter.
The rule I use is get what you need, things friends need, and donate the rest.

Always use stores savings card if they have them.
It can seem daunting at first ... and don't beat yourself if you don't succeed at first.
It took me about 2 weeks to get 96% savings ... and now help family and friends when I can.

Good luck ... the savings adds up quickly!

[rkjones100]

Love the show as well.  But they really glamorize it way too much.  Don't believe anything you see on television.  Unless it's Fox News.

[altnmjt]

i need to get me a printer i see alot of coupons online an things that i would definatley usse.. i think donating what you can is great  . it seems like hard work but if it pays off im all for it. i havent been on a big shopping trip yet. if i have my husband go to the store to get something and i give him a coupon for it ill tell him specifically to use it, i find it waddeup in his pocket, so irritating at times lol. im gonna get on the ball with this!!!

[raven1114]

eh i think some people go over board on it. i mean i'm all for using coupons and saving money but i have neither the time, energy nor desire to spend hours looking through adds, clipping/printing coupons just to save a few bucks. if i have a coupon for something i normally use or would like to try i use it but that's my extent of couponing.

[Consultsone]

Love the show as well.  But they really glamorize it way too much.  Don't believe anything you see on television.  Unless it's Fox News.

I have to agree with you about the glamorization of some of the participants on the show ... for instance no real couponer just dumps items into a cart without counting them or empties shelves with out consideration for others. And I believe, one of the persons on the show was busted for stealing papers recently.

I can tell you from personal experience though it can be done. If you uses your store savings cards and compound register rewards/extra care bucks and stack with manufactures coupons, you can make a killing.

I have made huge and small purchases with only pennies on the dollar. I didn't believe it until I was underway and now share and show friends and family how to play the coupon game as I call it.

Coupons in Sunday papers are usually not for that week of sales. That's a ploy to get you in for that week. The real sales are usually the following week or weeks for what was not sold during the promotional week ... something to consider!

[Consultsone]

eh i think some people go over board on it. i mean i'm all for using coupons and saving money but i have neither the time, energy nor desire to spend hours looking through adds, clipping/printing coupons just to save a few bucks. if i have a coupon for something i normally use or would like to try i use it but that's my extent of couponing.

If you don't want to put in the time effort into it ... that is acceptable ... but do our soldiers a favor.
You can send current or expired (up to 6 months expired) to a military base. They can use them at a commissary on bases. There are a few sites that provide instructions.
Charity starts at home but if your doing ok then lend a helping hand to our soldiers.

[Thumper18]

I say yes lol If you can get something for free and you actually use it then definetly its a good thing. If you get stuff you can't need i say pass it on to someone else (giving to a friend, donate to a shelter, etc) but the hoarding factor is crazy!! People dont need 500 bottles of shampoo lol you can definetly donate that lol

[ladysurvivor]

I have recently started using coupons (make a coupon notebook and everything) to help save money. I don't want to be like the people on the show, but some of what they do really helps. I only buy exactly what I need to use and what I know I will use. It has helped me. 

[southernhorizons]

eh i think some people go over board on it. i mean i'm all for using coupons and saving money but i have neither the time, energy nor desire to spend hours looking through adds, clipping/printing coupons just to save a few bucks. if i have a coupon for something i normally use or would like to try i use it but that's my extent of couponing.

If you don't want to put in the time effort into it ... that is acceptable ... but do our soldiers a favor.
You can send current or expired (up to 6 months expired) to a military base. They can use them at a commissary on bases. There are a few sites that provide instructions.
Charity starts at home but if your doing ok then lend a helping hand to our soldiers.

I wish I had known that. I threw away a bunch of coupons that had expired.

[lpoloskey]

the couponing is nice when people donate the stuff they get for free but it becomes extreme when they use whole rooms for food storage that is just not necessary

[southernhorizons]

I saw a woman in Walmart yesterday that must be an extreme couponer. She had a huge stack of coupons, 20 or 30 of each coupon. Mostly they were online coupons, which surprised me, because I thought there was a limit on how many you can print. I asked her which sites she got them from, but she was very rude and wouldn't tell me.
I think it is a waste to buy a whole lot of items that you know you'll never use. Donating some things are fine, but wouldn't you save more money by just not buying the items at all?