So how many of you watched the new TLC series, Extreme Couponing, last night? What did you think?
I only watched about 15 minutes of the first episode, but had seen the whole premier episode several months ago. Here are some of my thoughts.
- Yes it would be cool to save thousands on one trip, but I don’t have room to store all that. I refuse to let the deals overtake my house. I sort of found it ironic that the next show after Extreme Couponing was the Hoarders show.
- I prefer to not clear the shelves like the one lady did with the mustard.
- I don’t have 6 hours to prepare for a trip, and I don’t get 100s of inserts per week.
- I did agree with the first lady who got the rain check when they were out of the item.
Does that mean that I don’t experience the Coupon “High” because I don’t Extreme Coupon. It’s quite the opposite as you can see in all my Coupon “High” trips HERE.
My trip to Giant Eagle this week was a total Non-Extreme Coupon “High” trip, but yet it was still fun and exciting to get needed items for next to nothing.
My Out of Pocket for all this was $2.03 after coupons and two On Your Next Order (OYNO) coupons from a previous trip worth $4, plus I received $3 in new OYNO coupons.
My Savings was $17.22 in Store Savings and $36.25 in Coupon Savings. That doesn’t include the $3 worth of OYNO coupons I received. So for $2 I got $55.50 worth of products or a 96% savings. Now who wouldn’t consider that a “High.”
It didn’t take me hours to plan for the trip and I don’t have to worry about my stockpile overtaking my house.
I plan on using some of the Instant Potatoes to make my Jazzed Up Potatoes meal, but have put a side 5 boxes to donate to the local food bank. I ended up making $4 buying these 10 boxes, so it’s a great item to donate to the less fortunate.
How to Share in The Coupon “High”
So if you have watched the show Extreme Couponing and want to start saving money, but the show has made you feel a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to start, realize that you don’t need to go large scale to share in The Coupon “High” and save your family money.
Here are some helpful resources to get you started in sharing in The Coupon “High” – not necessarily Exteme Couponing:
- Know your stores rules. Every store (even those in the same chain) has different limits and rules in place. Most stores will have their Coupon Policy up near the Customer service Desk
- Know the Lingo – As you check Coupon Blogs for deals, there is going to be different terminology. Here’s a great list of the Coupon Lingo. You’ll also want to understand the fine print on the coupon.
- Find the Coupons. This not only includes Coupon Inserts, but also Printables from Coupons.Com, RedPlum, SmartSource and even Target.com. To find a specific coupon that you are interested in you can check The Coupon “High” Coupon Database.
- Add eCoupons to your store cards – For Giant Eagle shoppers, be sure to check Giant Eagle eOffers and Shortcuts eCoupons. Kroger shoppers – load up Cellfire Coupons and everyone can take advantage of Upromise and even get cash back.
- Organize your Coupons – This way they are ready for you when you want to shop
- Create a Pricebook – You will know if a sale is really a good deal.
- Be sure to check your Receipt after shopping and verify you received the proper catalinas. By doing both of these you might just save some more money.
For those of you that shop with kids in tow, you may not think it’s possible to take the time to get the deals. I have 4 and routinely do it. Here are some of my tips.
If you check out some of the posts above you should be on your way to sharing in The Coupon “High.” You really can learn to save your family money and reduce your budget. I hope you’ll join me on this journey of saving money. You can sign up for my Daily Email Newsletter so you don’t miss a deal or Follow me on Facebook for instant updates all day long!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, I really like ur website. Thanks so much for the information u share.
I have been couponing for YEARS now, but not at all like the people on the Extreme Couponing Show on TLC. I am a Flight Attendant and travel way too much to spend an extra 25hrs a week going nuts hunting down deals. I FAITHFULLY get 2 copies of our Sunday Newspaper and clip faithfully.
One tip I would like to mention to you ladies/men: I have a ritual on Sundays. I usually bid for that day off, it’s my day. I get up walk the dogs, get my papers from the stand, take them to the park, go thru the sales ads, and go thru all the coupons as my dogs take over the park. If I see there are MANY coupons I use, or MANY good/high coupons, I will then go to my local Starbuck’s and pick up a cup of coffee. There are MANY folks that read the Sunday paper there and leave there papers, w/inserts and all. I then will find all the coupon inserts and “claim them.” lol. My local Starbuck’s have even told me, those papers were bought and left, so they are “fair game” if u want to take the coupons.
Just a little tip. I have NO idea how to get extra coupons w/out having to pay extra for papers. I will NOT buy more than 2 papers a week. Do you have any idea on how to get ur hands on extra coupon inserts? Thanks for ur help, if so.
Take care and be well.
PS–The most I have ever saved at my local grocery store is 58%. I seriously don’t know how I could ever get as high as you. I do not stock pile, nor do I make lots of money where I can afford to stockpile items, I wish I did, esp non perishable items I use more frequently. I just try and save the most I can when I do my bi-weekly shopping where I semi-stock up on things I use often.
I wish I could save more %. My stores here in KY only double coupons up to .50 – some of those shows were doubling coupons over the .50 amount.
I watched both of the new episodes last night. I think that a lot of the food like the potato chips is going to spoil before they have a chance to eat it all. I kept thinking with those storing in basements and garages how the mice and critters are going to get into the food, too. I like to stock up, but not to the point where it overtakes the whole house and where you are cleaning off the shelves so no one else can get in on the deals. I do like the idea of using a binder with baseball card holders for the coupons. I think I may have to try that. I will continue watching the show just to see if I can get any new ideas.
I do agree that they point out some helpful tips. As I mentioned, the one mentioned the rainchecks and you liked the coupon binder idea.
I just don’t want everyone to think that all coupon users go to this exteme.
I couldn’t agree with some of your points more. I enjoyed watching the show and enjoyed watching their savings but the show is called Extreme Couponing for a reason. I don’t know if you caught it but the lady who bought the mustard had her husband shopping with her and said “I don’t even like mustard.” If you don’t use something or don’t need that much of it then don’t buy it. I don’t have kids so I don’t buy diapers..its that simple, no matter how cheap they are. I have a decent stockpile but I won’t let it take over my house. That’s the insane part to me. I experience high trips all the time without buying 500 deodorants in one trip!
I don’t buy diapers either – no matter what the deal. I’ll give my coupons away and let others know about the deals.
The mustard line did crack me up because the annoucer said that mustard has indefinite shelf life, but still there are use by dates on it.
I watched..i didn’t get to see the new episode..(i think its a new episode? I dvr’ed it) I think that the people on that show are TOO extreme. Like the lady who bought all that pasta, candy bars etc…i mean i love free pasta and all..but i think she got 100 boxes? I just started couponing in October and why I get excited at times at certain freebies–i could NEVER see myself stock piling quite the way they do on that show. I don’t think the stores in my area would ALLOW anyone to get that many items either. Although I have never asked about limitations or ‘special ordering’…. I like to coupon for my family’s needs– I will even get a little extra at times–and give away to family and friends. But I could never see myself putting a “convenience store” set up in my home. I wouldn’t mind having an extra wall of shelves for non perishables… Having a stockpile take over your entire home is rediculous…
Totally agree with you Shannon
Thank you for being a voice of reason. My “stockpiles” seem puny in comparison to the ones on tv, but who on earth needs to have a thousand toothbrushes or hundreds of bottles of mustard? My pantry is very well stocked, and I can point to many great deals from Giant Eagle. When the office announces that they are doing a Food Pantry drive, I am able to contribute a big bag full of goodies. When my daughter-in-law runs out of something, I can usually help out. What more could I possibly need? I suspect that some of those people featured in the show are a little bit nuts. I suspect that some of them do the “extreme” stuff in hopes of being featured on a lame reality show. There’s a line between reasonable stockpiling and hoarding. Hope I never cross it.
My stockpile is puny too, but I still have fun giving to family when they come visit and to food banks.
This is my 1st time watching this show so I tvod the different episodes and watched it this morning. Did you notice each and every Couponer said some version of: “This will be my biggest shopping trip ever.” I have a feeling the show asked them to shop this way, which is no excuse for purchasing all that mustard, etc. This show makes me feel ashamed for being a couponer w/a stockpile…not all of use are that over the top!–why do you need 140 years worth of body soap? Did you see how much salad dressing Nathan had? Shesh, I would think it would go bad before he (and his wife) could eat it all.
On another note, I am so grateful that my grocery store (GE) doesn’t have those strick double couponing rules like double the 1st and not the rest of like items. Though I wouldn’t mind $10 off Thursday!
I wish this show would make Couponers look like inconsiderate hoarding nerds.
I MEAN: I wish this should would NOT make Couponers look like inconsiderate hoarding nerds.
I guess I better go to bed, since I keep making sentance structure mistakes…1 1/2 yr old up last night from midnight to 3am, then I had to get up at 6:30am to get older kids ready for school.
Those days are the worst.
I found it sort of funny that the next show on after Extreme Couponing was the Hoarding series. I wondered if TLC did that on purpose.
Well, after showing a couple of over the top hoarding examples, I guess it was to good to resist!