Is Extreme Couponing the Ultimate Money-Saving Hack?

[Pengwuino]

Extreme Couponing... kinda sexah

I swear, this extreme couponing show is crazy! I thought I made a thread about this. Has anyone else seen this show?

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/extreme-couponing

So if you don't know, they follow these people who use a chit load of coupons and pay almost nothing for their groceries.

HOLY HELL, this girl on right now, since coupons aren't given out for meats and fresh foods, she has a huge garden and hunts for meat. HOW SEXY IS THAT!

I think I'm in love. I don't even remember what the point of this thread was suppose to be.

HOW AMAZING IS THIS??! Something about buying things and storing in bulk appeals to me to no end. Maybe it was because my childhood was spent going to Costco. I SERIOUSLY want to try this.

Of course, the annoying part is that like, every episode has this wannabe dramatic moment where they show the $500 or $1000 bill before coupons. Then they do the coupons and it comes down to something stupid like $10. It's even worse when they're like "ZOMG I want it to be less than $10" and when it comes up to like $13, they act like the world just ended. I really don't know if I should look down on these people and consider this crazy, or consider them freaken geniuses. They typically tell how much time they put into this couponing per week and how much they say they save. It's typically like, 20 hours per week and they save $1000. For the families with like 10 mouths to feed or, for example, one woman who feeds her church, they could be doing that every week! And that's like a full-time job worths of savings!

DISCUSS!

 

[phinds]

Pengwino, I think you have too much spare time on your hands.

 

[rhody]

Something about buying things and storing in bulk appeals to me to no end.

This is beautiful, it fits this thread perfectly... the "storing in bulk" part. I can't make this up seriously, I can't. See arildno's thread, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=542923", and watch the video.

Rhody... chuckles to himself...

 

[Evo]

These people buy stuff they'll never use. Sure they got 600 pounds of cat litter for $10, problem is they don't have a cat.

I used to do a lot of couponing, but I wouldn't buy something just because I had a coupon, I used a coupon for something that I would normally buy. I stopped couponing when I found that I could usually find another brand I liked that was cheaper than the brand with the coupon, and I went back to work and it just wasn't worth the time.

 

[KingNothing]

Actually, I believe they commit coupon fraud on that show. A lot of people don't know how normal register/SKU systems work, but they are VERY easy to circumvent if you do know how they work.

Here's an article that shows some interesting things: http://jillcataldo.com/alleged-tlc-extreme-couponing-fraud

Fruthermore, I once stumbled upon an online community dedicated to coupon fraud. It's not uncommon for them to create coupons (from their own PC's and printers) and use them to get things like $5 off a $6 item.

Registers do NOT make a full match between a coupon code and an exact product, rather they make a partial match, and that's where it leaves room for fraud. I personally know I could get 80+% off everytime I shop by circumventing the system, but I choose not to.

Summary: I don't think it's as 'awesome' as everyone thinks it is. It's kind of like watching a magician when you legitimately believe in magic.

 

[Evo]

Actually, I believe they commit coupon fraud on that show. A lot of people don't know how normal register/SKU systems work, but they are VERY easy to circumvent if you do know how they work.

Here's an article that shows some interesting things: http://jillcataldo.com/alleged-tlc-extreme-couponing-fraud

Fruthermore, I once stumbled upon an online community dedicated to coupon fraud. It's not uncommon for them to create coupons (from their own PC's and printers) and use them to get things like $5 off a $6 item.

Registers do NOT make a full match between a coupon code and an exact product, rather they make a partial match, and that's where it leaves room for fraud. I personally know I could get 80+% off everytime I shop by circumventing the system, but I choose not to.

Summary: I don't think it's as 'awesome' as everyone thinks it is. It's kind of like watching a magician when you legitimately believe in magic.

I do believe there is fraud involved in "extreme" couponing. Fine print on the coupons say things like "can not be used in conjunction with any other coupons", "coupons cannot be doubled", etc...

Your link is excellent, I can't believe TLC is actually doing this show.

 

[HeLiXe]

The guy selling the Sunday paper persuaded me to subscribe for the sake of coupons. I just finished looking through them before I came here. This is a sign from the coupon oracle! ALL hail the perforated edges!

 

[Evo]

Unfortunately, the entire show is fraud.

 

[Pengwuino]

WAH! You guys are mean :( Ruining my dreams of having a small room with stockpiles ready for a nuclear war at deeply discounted prices.

 

[turbo]

WAH! You guys are mean :( Ruining my dreams of having a small room with stockpiles ready for a nuclear war at deeply discounted prices.

Well, if somebody is waltzing out of supermarket after paying only ~$100 for a couple of thousand of dollars worth of merchandise, we are ALL paying for the fraud. Those supermarket chains won't absorb the losses, so we all pay in the form of higher prices. I have a large vegetable garden not because there are no coupons available for fresh produce, but because I can grow, process, and preserve the produce for a lot less money than the stuff in the stores, and it always tastes a lot better.

Supper tonight was a super-large beet from the garden (baked), a buttercup squash (also baked), and some sliced, fried beef-heart from a native-grown steer. You can't buy this kind of supper in a restaurant.

 

[ArcanaNoir]

Wow, I feel better now! I always wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn't figure out how they did it on the show. And I definitely wondered where they got so many coupons, why they were able to use so many coupons for the same item, and how they "found such good deals" (deals that didn't exist, apparently!).

 

[Pengwuino]

Those supermarket chains won't absorb the losses, so we all pay in the form of higher prices.

Not if you bring your coupons.

 

[Evo]

I'm traumatized by the blatant fraud. I think I need to sue TLC.

 

[Pengwuino]

I'm traumatized by the blatant fraud. I think I need to sue TLC.

Why must you ruin everything I love Evo.

 

[Evo]

Why must you ruin everything I love Evo.

Someone has to rescue you peng. I haven't told anyone that you watch Bridezillas.

 

[Pengwuino]

Someone has to rescue you peng. I haven't told anyone that you watch Bridezillas.

ONE TIME! rawr

 

[Evo]

ONE TIME! rawr

 

[Proton Soup]

you know, when i was a kid, double coupons were standard, and we liked it that way. and we had real generic brands, in true-green black and white.

now, want to talk fraud? there was this family next door, and dad was the grocery store manager of a place a few blocks away. his kids would actually clip coupons and take them to the store, where dad would trade them in for cold hard cash! now that's real fraud you whippersnappers!

 

[HeLiXe]

Someone has to rescue you peng. I haven't told anyone that you watch Bridezillas.

*snickers*