I did not get to watch the show. I don't have cable tv and can't seem to find full episodes online. I really wish I could find them because TLC has some of my favorite shows. I watch Hoarders on Netflix. I also watched Drop Dead Diva before I cancelled Cable. I would love to see Season 2.
I saw some clips of Extreme Couponing on the TLC website. I really thought some of the clips did make it look like a case of hoarders.
One clip showed a lady that bought $75 worth of coupons from a coupon clipping service. She then purchased 9 carts of product worth $250 before coupons and after coupon and her store rewards card it was like $6.32. (In reality she got $250 worth of merchandise for $81.32).
I must say though my bathroom closet is packed from free CVS stuff. I think I have enough Toothpaste, Flossers, Mouthwash, and Buddies Bathbars to last me and my son a few years (but not enough to last 12 people their whole life).
I used to get FREE or Nearly Free Medicines from CVS. I would only purchase the stuff I used for my family. The sad thing is I noticed this year since it has been about 2 years since I CVS'ed that alot of my Medicines are now expired and I am having to toss out nearly New bottles. Yes it is better to have paid $.06 (tax on the ECB) and used the bottle once than to have paid $3.50 and used it once and tossed it out. BUT I look at those 500 deoderants on the show and think those have expiration date also. Yes I ignore them on mine because I don't really notice the difference BUT there probubly is a big difference if the deoderant is 50 years old.
Disclaimer:
I have not CVS shopped since they started taxing the whole order instead of just the amount above what the ExtraBucks covered, when you use ExtraBucks. The big thing that made me stop though was the ECB deals were getting few and far between; so you actually could not roll your ECBs as easily. At that point I realize that was more reduced cost than FREE and because I had a stockpile at home it was no longer a deal.
Since it has been 2 years since I stockpiled there are a few things that I am getting a bit low on. But I am thinking that I am going to wait until I get home from deployment to get back into the coupon game.
Right now I save here and there on coupons, I do belong to a coupon train but I do not hunt for certain coupons because 3 weeks from now CVS is going to have that item FREE with ECBs like I have in the past.
I do need to start the coupon GAME with Just Toliet Paper in mind though. I am paying way too much for toliet paper. I am buying the cheapest Toliet paper that I can get based on unit price (with coupon or not whatever is cheapest) as long as it is not Cottonelle or White Cloud. Those two brands cause rashes in our family.
My family goes through alot of toliet paper, Charmin is prefered but Scotts Extra Soft and Angel Soft are okay. But REAL toliet paper deals are few and far between.
I have only CVS, Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart and 3 different grociery store in the area where I live. By area I mean my town and the next nearest town. None of the stores have Loyalty cards or double coupons, so I doubt Extreme Couponing will have a person from my area on.
Extreme Couponing on TLC (My Thoughts and behaviors)
April 7th, 2011 at 02:37 pm
April 7th, 2011 at 02:45 pm 1302187551
April 7th, 2011 at 03:13 pm 1302189238
April 7th, 2011 at 03:15 pm 1302189346
I found it interesting about WHY these people started couponing (big family, income reduction, paying down credit card debt). I do believe that it leaned toward OCD-like behaviors in most cases.
I like couponing as much as the next person, but only buy things that we'll use. If there is a free item that I can get, I buy and then donate (Poligrip denture paste and cat treats were my recent finds - no felines or denture wearers here, those went to the pantry at my parish).
April 7th, 2011 at 03:43 pm 1302191001
April 7th, 2011 at 04:03 pm 1302192207
You have a point. I shop mostly at Wal-Mart and they have a coupon limit per order.
•The system will prompt for supervisor verification for:
◦40 coupons per transaction.
◦A coupon of $20 or greater on one item
◦$50 or more in coupons in one transaction
Technically all you need is supervisor verification, but to have to have a supervisor sit at the register and override each coupon over 40 is a big deterent for me to hand over more than 40 coupons per visit. So in my mind that is a limit.
April 7th, 2011 at 04:18 pm 1302193113
April 7th, 2011 at 05:17 pm 1302196647
1. Is there an equilibrium of your level - if you are maintaining at certain level because you use it, barter it, or give it away it would be stockpiling. If its just constantly increasing, you're hoarding.
2. Does it enhance your life, or is it a source of anxiety? You're a hoarder if actually using the item causes you stress.
3. Is this is a shopping fetish by "never pay retail"? There's the fun/game aspect, then there's the racking up of crap for pennies on the dollar.
April 8th, 2011 at 02:26 am 1302229581
April 8th, 2011 at 11:58 am 1302263910
We eat mostly organic here and we use the same brands of items over and over, like shampoo, toothpaste, soap, so I don't even cut out the coupons for other brands that we don't use, even if I can get them free or cheap.
I, instead, put all my extra coupons in a large ziploc baggie and offer them up on a freecycle site for someone else to use.
If something comes on sale that we do eat or use around my home and I have a coupon, I certainly will get in on the deal, but my time is also worth money; so I don't find cutting coupons to that extreme and then going to the grocery store for 5 - 6 hours worth my time.
I do, however, find the show intriguing; and I do like to hear the stories as to why the families got started couponing, but it is what they call it "extreme".
April 10th, 2011 at 02:47 am 1302403668
Example: Today we went to Kroger & bought $175 worth of food for $32.....then went to CVS and bought $80 worth of cleaning & baby products( I'm 60 so ya know the baby products weren't for us)for $6.75!~=...left and went directly to the church food bank where we divided it up & still came home with a bunch!!!!!!!!Right now I put about two hours a week into it....but being disabled & unable to work, I plan to increase my time quite a bit & keep and donate a whole lot more in the future....If you want to save a LOT of money for the least amount of work, go to "Couponmom.com" and they have FREE video tutorials on how to go about doing it!Try it----You may like it!