Extreme Couponing is Ruining it For Everybody!

I have been extreme couponing since long before there was a name for it. You know the type: obsessively clipping coupons, buying the items on sale in bulk and filling their pantry for a "raining day." That is why when I heard TLC was going to air a series called Extreme Couponing, I was very happy. Perhaps I could pick up some tips from others that I didn't already know. The series might help me save money.

I was wrong.

Instead, the show seems like some kind of twisted combination of "Hoarders" and "Supermarket Sweep." The Extreme Couponers gleefully show off their "stockpiles" and exclaim "I won't have to buy toothpaste for the rest of my life!"

I have used coupons for years as a way of stretching my food dollars, particularly when I was supporting an extended family when my oldest son and his wife lost their jobs and had to move in with me. Without the coupons, my grocery bill would have either been a lot higher than it was, or we may have had a tougher time putting food on the table.

Now, since "Extreme Couponing" has hit the airwaves, more people are "abusing the system." They are trying to emulate the Extreme Couponers and come up with ways of paying next to nothing for their groceries. They do this by combining printed coupons with the store's loyalty cards and sales. I have done this, too...but I know damn well I don't need 500 tubes of toothpaste. Some of these folks subscribe to coupon clipping services to get considerably more newspapers than they would ever possibly by just to stock up on the coupons. In one episode, a man purchased $4,000 worth of breakfast cereal for pennies on the dollar. Granted, he did donate the cereal to a food bank, but how likely is it that store will offer a similar deal in the future?

In my area, grocery stores and even some pharmacies, are wising up to the abuse. They are changing their coupon policies. At one grocery store chain where I live, they will still double coupons, but only on the first item. After that, they will only accept the face value of the coupon. Yes, they have indicated that the change in policy is due in large part to people employing the practices they have seen on "Extreme Couponing." Because of these gluttons, it is no longer possible for me to save as much money as I used to with coupons. No, I do not have a "stock pile."

Savvy Frugality, saving money, couponing....that's one thing. There is only one word for one person single-handedly clearing an entire shelf of underarm deodorant and paying for them with nothing more than a pile of clipped coupons: greed.