By now you’ve either watched, or heard about the Extreme Couponing special TLC aired on Wednesday night. It’s been all the talk about money-saving blogs like this one, and even made it to a trending topic on Twitter briefly.
The show features four so-called “extreme couponers”, who all seem to have slightly different styles and strategies.
- Nathan buys over 1,000 boxes of cereal and donates it to his church.
- Joanie dumpster dives for coupons.
- Amanda admits to having cancelled plans with family and friends to go coupon shopping.
- Joyce showed her friends how to save big with coupons.
Many people – both coupon users and non-couponers - were shocked and appalled at some of the things revealed in the show. Storing enough toilet paper to last for 30 years? Carrying insurance on your food stockpile? Using thousands of coupons at the checkout?
People who don’t use coupons are asking Is this how everyone who uses coupons behaves?
And those of us who do coupon shop are saying how on earth is that possible? I could never use that many coupons at the checkout!
So, here’s the actual reality behind the “reality” TV show Extreme Couponing:
You cannot use 1,000 coupons in one transaction.
The scenario of using over 1,000 coupons in a single transaction and taking two hours to check out is simply not realistic. I’m about 99.99% sure this was only done for reality TV.
Almost all stores have a limit of the number of coupons you can use in one transaction, and for good reason. Expecting to use that many coupons in one transaction is simply unrealistic and extremely exaggerated. This was made for TV.
You cannot get four carts of groceries for $2.50 every single day.
Yes, with careful planning and a generous supply of coupons, you can get carts full of groceries for pennies on the dollar. However, it is not possible to do that every single time you go to the grocery store.
It’s fun to showcase those amazing shopping trips, but even extreme couponers don’t get that much stuff for that little every day.
Coupons cost money.
Almost no one mentions that most people pay something get coupons, whether it be a newspaper subscription, or ordering coupons online through a clipping service (which I believe is not ethical due to the terms on most coupons, but that’s neither here nor there).
You can get free coupons by dumpster diving or trading with friends, but most people spend at least a few dollars every week buying extra newspapers to get the coupons or something similar.
No one ever mentions that in order for someone to get $500 worth of groceries for $50, they also spend $20 to obtain coupons before they ever got to the store. That doesn’t make for sensational saving stories.
You can’t eat deodorant and toilet paper.
OK, from my understanding, there actually was a showing about someone eating toilet paper right after the Extreme Couponing segment. But let’s wipe that memory from our mind and remember that you do have to eat something other than deodorant and toilet paper.
One couponer had a huge stockpile of salad dressing. That’s awesome – I love free salad dressing! But, in order for that dressing to actually be useful, you’d need to buy, you know, salad.
I didn’t watch the show (we’re so frugal we don’t have cable, which might be its own reality show: Extreme People Without TV) but I haven’t heard that they showed the extreme couponer getting carts of lettuce for free.
Now, I’m not saying you can’t get lettuce for free. I’ve definitely gotten some free fruits and vegetables before with the smart matching of coupons and sales, but it’s not the norm.
There are many foods you can get for cheap with coupons, but it’s rarely a well-rounded diet. Even extreme couponers need to spend money on meat, dairy, and produce, even if they get the rest for free. Then again, I suppose you could only eat the macaroni and cheese you got for free, but even that would require milk and butter.
Just remember that they didn’t follow these people 24/7 to show what their families were eating. They do make purchases that aren’t 90% off, but that doesn’t make for good TV.
Donating is great, but leave some for the rest of us.
I love getting non-perishable foods and toiletries for free and donating to a food pantry. But when it comes to taking the entire stock that a store has just so you can donate, that’s gone too far. It’s bad for the store, the manufacturer, and the rest of the consumers which might actually be couponing because they can’t afford to pay full price.
To be sure, I’ve bought 10 or 15 or 20 of an item at once time to stock my pantry for a few months. But it’s never a good idea to completely clear the shelf just so you can donate it.
Extreme couponers get banned from stores.
If someone shopped in this extreme couponing manner at just about any store in the United States, they would eventually be banned from the store. Most people never have to worry about this, but if you take 2 hours to check out and crash the computer system, they aren’t going to let you shop there every day.
Yes, I’ve heard of people who have been banned, and I believe they deserved it. They tried to do stuff that was illegal, and if not illegal, simply unethical. They were rude when the store wouldn’t accept a coupon, and made a public scene.
Now, I don’t think the people in the show were not doing anything illegal or unethical. But, aside from wanting to look good on reality TV, a store would never have allowed that kind of shopping.
Couponing can save money without ruining your life.
I’m a huge believer in the power of coupons to save money in all areas of life. After all, I created Grocery University, which is a nearly 2.5 hour course that teaches how to use coupons strategically to save money.
By investing a little bit of time each week (how much you spend is up to you!), you can save big money with coupons. In fact, my goal (which I usually hit, but not always) is to save 50% on my total bill. I often hit a lot more than that, but it doesn’t require spending 70 hours clipping coupons and going to stores.
My husband isn’t mad about the amount of space my stockpile takes up. Cashiers don’t dread seeing me coming because I’m going to make everyone in line mad with how long it takes me to checkout.
My family’s life is better because I use coupons.
Reality TV is not reality.
Again, I haven’t seen the show, though I’m hoping to soon. But I would bet that a good percentage of it was extremely exaggerated just for “reality” TV.
A blog reader said that the dumpster diving lady was told to get in the dumpster instead of just searching through the papers from the side as she normally does. Dumpster diving is a whole lot more exciting when you’re inside the dumpster with your kids, even if that’s not what she actually does.
Hopefully by now you knew that reality TV is not reality.
Couponing can save big bucks. I can teach you how to do it, but it won’t be exciting enough for a TLC segment anytime soon.
$1.25 for Lucerne (half gallon) at Safeway, Fri-Sun Only
LOL about the reality show about people with no TV, I’ll join you! We haven’t had cable in 3 years so I haven’t seen it either, but hopefully everyone knows that all reality shows are exaggerated.
What a hoot! I wonder if they’ve done, or will ever do a show about “Extreme Overspending”…..oh, yah….almost all of America does that already. :^ | Which is why we couponers are considered the oddballs. Cheers to us for our own unrealistic reality TV show, because it’s got America’s fleeting attention… good stewardship IS valuable. :^ )
Well said, Carrie! Can’t wait till it’s available to us non-cable people.
I think you summed it up very well – especially without watching the show. It was ridiculous and very much sensationalized and “out-there.”
Two of the people profiled are local to where I live now and I can’t imagine my Kroger allowing anything even remotely close to what they did. They’d stop me at three of the same coupon and whatever their overall total is!
Amen to that! I was actually getting very frustrated watching it and thinking about how many people could be helped out with all that food and health and beauty aids. That is just plan greedy to store up all that stuff and not help anyone else out, especially with the number of people that struggle in our country everyday to provide for their families! At least the one guy was going to donate the cereal to charity, so that’s a plus…
First let me say that it was your Springs site that first introduced me to coupons. I have been using coupons now for a few years and have never been able to do what was done on that show. I still need to buy meat, milk and fresh fruit and veggies. I would really like to know why anyone needs enough antiperspirant to last 150 years? 30 years of TP? I use coupons more now than before and I do so because I have to. Money is tight and I am the only one working. I only wish I could walk out of the store and have only spent $3. That show gives “real” people who use coupons a bad name. Thanks for 2 great sites!!!
Thanks for your take on the show. I would like to watch it some day if it becomes available to us non-cable people. As always, I appreciate your balanced view of couponing.
I thought one of the stories was good. There was one lady who really tried to help others with learning how to coupon and she only purchased what she needed and was really going to use. The other stories were RIDICULOUS!!! The one guy who cleared the shelves of cereal not only cleared the shelves but pre-ordered 1000 boxes of cereal that he got for free. I was just shocked when watching it. Sorry, had to vent :)
I haven’t seen the show (no cable, either!) but I do follow Joannie’s site and subscribe to her Facebook account. Don’t judge her too harshly – you’re correct that “reality” shows skew reality… but if you go to her site or her youtube page, she offers very helpful information and downloads (completely free of charge) and she also promotes a great program that sends coupons to military families overseas. We benefited from this program while stationed in Naples. Further, she makes a point of donating… 300 lbs. of food to the food shelter or toothbrushes to the battered women’s shelter. I have seen clips of the more obsessive folks but, judging from Joannie and her family, it seems they’re doing all right health wise and, if you read through her site, she mentions stocking up on meat and how to get good prices on veggies and fruits, as well as milk and dairy.
I agree with you about Joanie I subscribe to her FB and Blog and she’s not a nutball like the rest of them. I’ve saved so much money between these two blogs that I cringe when I see people paying a boatload at the store.
i agree with you about joanie. i love her site. she has alot info and hints. her book is really fun to read. i save alot on coupons but never how these people from tlc.
I appreciate your comments, Carrie. I saw the first segment and was saddened by what that woman put her husband through. When your marriage is less important than coupons, there is a problem. My husband is appreciative of the couponing I do (LOL autocorrect just typed “coupling”– he appreciates that too!) but I can’t imagine the hoarding behavior behind this woman’s actions would be helpful to my family at all.
I loved Grocery University.
Couponers are a bit looked down on and this show may have made that worse. They need to tell about the rest of us who don’t by excessive amounts of groceries and just provide for our families. I saw hoarding at its finest…not couponing!
Very nice post. I enjoyed reading it and agree 110%.
I actually got to watch this last night and it was just ridiculous. I coupon some, and we had to live on our (very small) stockpile for about 3 months when my husbands hours got cut back this past summer, but this show was just plain greedy.
And the one lady that has insurance on her stockpile ordered all of her coupons from one of the clipping service and she said she spent $70 on them before she went to the store, but they didn’t add that into her total at the end…that wouldn’t sound as good.
And the guy who donated all the cereal said that it was like a game of chess and the goal was to “beat the store.”
EXTREME was the right word for the title of this show.
I didn’t watch it either, but loved your article. Where I live they do not double coupons and I have a couple of stores that won’t even take ones that I clip from online. I actually shop 2 different stores just so I can use all my coupons. I haven’t been as good as I could about clipping but it is my goal to start back up in the New Year.
This was a great article. I saw the show, and i think you are right on even without seeing it. I was going to mention the video of joanie donating the food too. I really wish they would have showed more about that instead of just making the people look like hoarders. I’ve been couponing since college, over 10 years now, but I’ve just about a year ago started shopping the grocery stores and drug stores, and my husband thinks its amazing what can be done. We are better off now with an extra child and me staying home that we were with only one and me working. But I know my limits for what i can reasonably use and if I dont need it I dont buy get. It I have 10 boxes of pasta on my shelf, im not buying more. thats just money from the budget that I could save since i dont need it, and saving is the whole idea right? I just gave away three toiletry baskets from Christmas, and have plenty left for my family for a while…and seriously thats only like 6 toothpastes and deoderants. Besides, I know its going on sale again before I run out, so I’l get more then. I jokingly told my husband I wanted him to make me shelves in the garage and he rolled his eyes at me…lol. Its fun, and I love that there are few things that I actually need. But what I love the most is that if I dont need, I dont have to shop. Honestly, I would rather just stay home.
Haven’t watched it either, cut cable months ago to save $$$, but you wrote a great article. I have been couponing for a little over a yr now and I have to admit that I had tons of toiletries when I started out but living in an apt, you don’t have that much cabinet space. So I got rid of it… rule of thumb no more than one per member of the family, we’re four, so just four. If I’m able to get more, I have a big family to give it away to: Mom, 3 sisters and 14 nephews… I love creating gift baskets with my stockpile for their birthdays. Even if they’re going through a rough spot (being laid off), helping them out in some way makes me happy. They’re all that I have and I love cherishing that.
I only have bare bones basic cable so I missed this one. The largest savings I ever had with coupons is 115.00. I used it well to stock up on what we needed only. The store did have to have a manager over ride the system (Price Chopper only lets you use so many without manager approval) and I had the people behind me asking me how I did it. I don’t shop like that often – money won’t allow me to as a single mom, but the few times a year I get to do that, it always amazes the people behind me. And the cashier. lol
I will admit, however, to at one point buying 26 tubes of toothpaste – with the sale price and coopins I only paid .50 cents per tube. We are down to our last two tubes. After 2 yrs. We did donate some of those to the local food kitchen.
I work in a grocery store and I also “super coupon”. The show is completely exaggerated. I don’t “dumpster dive” for coupons but my store does give me all the inserts on Monday from the papers not sold on the weekend. Most stores have a limit of how much of a product one person can buy and I have seen people banned for buying all of the butter on the shelf every day for a week. And a secret? Cashiers HATE it when you don’t cut out your coupons. Ripped coupons or whole pages? Not cool. Please remember the store has to save every single coupon until it expires. Then we mail them and wait months to get reimbursed. Please make it easier on us by cutting them out and not getting them all crinkly. :)
I couldn’t agree with you more-I watched the show and was horrified by many things-first off the stockpiles, though nice to have were way beyond what was necessary. Secondly, I have enough trouble at most stores using one coupon, heaven forbid I should pull out 2 of the same coupon. Thrid, is there are going to be noncouponers watching and think this is true-they are going to spend a fortune getting all geared up to go mega shopping and be very disappointed when the cashier won’t accept the coupons for whatever reason they have made up today and then no standing ovation as they leave the store with broken dreams of being an extreme couponer. One store featured was Safeway-I shop at many Safeways (being I have little other choice) and they have by far the worst coupon acceptance I have ever seen, that part of the show really proved this was done strictly for the cameras.
I know of a blogger, Jeffery who coupons with the sole purpose of donating food to the food bank.
http://www.grocerycouponguide.com
When he finds good deals on an item he contacts the store and makes arrangements to pre-order the item so not to clear the shelves. His blog also has a lot of good information on how to coupon and at the same time be respectful of others. Some of the people on that show were truly compulsive, some were trying to be helpful and some wanted attention. Most of us coupon out of a financial need and have other things in our lives besides couponing. To coupon on the level of some of the people on this show requires a time commitment that most of us don’t have. Our children, husbands and jobs need our attention. I am fortunate that I live in a big city and if I get an attitude about using coupons from a clerk I can simply change stores. I know that this isn’t possible for all people. If the store personal is being rude because of coupon use I would speak with the manger ans most likely contact the corporate office. I like to remind people that it is not the couponer’s who make the rules , it is the manufactures and stores. We are simply playing the game they devised. Most people are honorable and don’t take advantage of the situation, it is unfortunate that TLC didn’t take the time to explain how the everyday person can benefit from using coupons.I think that would be equally as entertaining and informative, after all they are The Learning Channel.
i also watched – while i secretly loved seeing all of the deals, i couldn’t help but wonder why these people don’t use all of their couponing time to possibly further their careers (and in time earning more money). off to coupon :)
I have been behind these extreme couponers in cvs and it is SELFISH to clean out all of the items that are on sale. Even if you are donating some, who needs 50 boxes of bandaids. I can see getting a few boxes but come on, it’s unethical to completely clean out a store, so your basically stealing so you have something to donate. I don’t know why CVS doesn’t put a limit on these items so other people can get an opportunity to take advantage of the sale.
Couldn’t agree more!! I use coupons, and on average save about 50% on my grocery bill, but I’m not CRAZY!!! What good is a case of water chestnuts for 2 bucks when you only use them in two recipes a year? LOL!!! I only caught the tail end of the show, and I have to say I was amazed. I think I’ll stick to matching my coupons with sales and stacking the coupons when possible. ;)
You hit the nail on the head! I watched the show twice because I was so shocked by these people! Even if it was realistic the stress involved with making sure the transactions went correctly would put me over the edge!
I cannot add one bit – other than WELL SAID Carrie!
What a great article, Carrie. Thanks!
I watched the show with my husband and we were both SHOCKED! There’s no way any of my stores would allow that many coupons to be used by one customer!!!! Those stores only did that for the publicity, and unfortunately, it will be the worst kind.
Now those of us who use coupons honorably will be the ones suffering as stores crack down even harder to limit their use to stop those “wannabe extreme couponers” resulting from watching the show.
Well said!!
Great article. You are right on the money with your comments. I have watched the program and there is no way that someone can do that full time at their local market. I live in an area in which the local markets do not offer double coupons, so this makes my coupon shopping less “exciting”. After watching the show, however, I am going to try to make better use of coupons, sales fliers, and specials.
Totally true Carrie! The show brought to mind a single guy I met that hoarded all of his coupons and they were in giant piles all over his house. He was a recovering heroine addict, and he became ADDICTED to couponing. As a couponing mom-I shoot for 50% savings and sometimes I reach it, sometimes I exceed it, but I have a JOB both inside and outside my home! I wanted to say to the woman who says her family does better now that she stays home they SAVE more-AMEN sister. I went back to work as a teacher and we are not much better off but I feel like its my calling and my kids go to the same school I teach at from k-12 grade. Otherwise I would SO be sahm!
I’ve going to try to see this if it is shown again. Of course, reality Tv is not real- I never watch those shows but I will watch this one. I can’t picture any store I know letting someone order 1000 boxes of cereal for coupons(or money- you’re lucky if staff knows where anything is in my Giant).
Really enjoyed your article, Carrie!
U Carrie (as in Grocery U) are the true reality here in the Springs! Thanks for all your hard work and efforts to keep us thrifty!
Hehe – thanks, Victoria!!
My husband and I watched this show, and it definately got me frustrated seeing all the stupid stuff bought. I couldnt believe the guy that bought all the cereal, and he was dumping buckets of toiletries in his basket. I mean they do expire you know. So as a couponer I thought this would give people the wrong impression about couponing. I love how you wrote this, I am sharing it because I really do not like how this show makes couponers look like they have a sad addiction to saving money and we go overboard with it. This show actually motivated me to get back to my old couponing habits, and renew my newspaper subscription, because it just frustrated me so much…..lol
I think what upset me the most about this show is that these folks are being glorified for bilking the system, and then they are HOARDING their haul!
I wouldn’t have such an issue if more ladies like the retired nurse had been featured, or if they had been donating their 9 years worth of deodorant to a homeless shelter, or other such things, but to keep enough to last an adult 150 years and then go buy more?!?!?! YIKES!
I won’t even get into the idea of whether they were ethically and legally redeeming coupons, because it truly infuriates me.
I already get enough flak from checkers at my local stores up in Longmont when I pull out my coupons (there are actually checkers I have talked to management about at several locations when they refused to scan any of my coupons, claiming they were all expired), and on my first trip in after the premier, I actually was asked to LEAVE the store and not use my coupons (not a store I normally shop, but still…leading me to another complaint to the store, regional, district and statewide managers of the chain)…
I have NEVER even dreamed of using different coupons than the products I’m buying, or even using expired coupons! I can’t even imagine trying to buy 40 jars of pasta sauce and then keeping them all for my own family.
Crazy insane…
It does make me want to be more aware of the weekly sales matching to my coupons, and being wiser in how I’m shopping and planning my meals…
thanks for this post – maybe those of us who are on the up and up can boot these Extreme Couponers that ARE committing crimes out of the system once and for all eh?
Now thats being realistic, now hopefully some people won’t be so gullable, TV has done a job on society, reality..lol joke, half the things you see are really crazy and people really believe, why is it allowed when it is really not real.. its like the news sometimes, you don’t know what to believe,, I can just picture me taking children dumpster diving… A new sport I guess!
anyway I was glad to read your blog above, the only one is REAL concerning REALITY! hope you do get a show, I will definatly love to be part of it. stranger things have happened, we need a lot more REAL people.
Thanks
Lori
P.S. let me know what channel you will be on.
i think they took the show too far. it makes the people look crazy. it gives couponers a bad name. i coupon so i can save a little money for my family. yes, i have stockplie. but i buy things on sale and i dont clear the shelves. i buy enough for about 3-6 months. plus i donate food and hba to the food banks and shelters. if i can get some stuff free, i want to past my good fortune to others who are least fortunated( spelling sucks). thanks for all you do for us follow couponers. keep up the great work.
So the King Soopers in Thorton gave OVERAGE on coupons, and let this woman use 750 coupons???? Not in our REAL world…This show isn’t even reality TV, it’s fantasy. It makes it harder for us who are trying to be courteous, frugal shoppers.
This article really got me mad!! We do couponing to save money. But in the Denver Post recently, there was an article about ppl who buy things on sale and return them without a receipt to get the full price! Some stores only return for the sales price without a receipt, which I would expect, but other stores give them the full price back. I think the stores that are doing that have to change the policy. If I bought something, and had to return it without a receipt, I would expect to get the last going price. I think Kohls does that.
Supposedly, these ppl who do this (fraudulently) are making hundreds of $$. Everyone else pays for this.
Yes, I’ve heard of this, too – especially people buying things with coupons and then returning them without a receipt. It’s part of the reason I think you should at least inform the store that the item you are returning was purchased with a coupon so that they can factor that in when they do the return/exchange. More on that here: http://springsbargains.com/2009/10/coupon-faq-returning-items-purchased-with-a-coupon-and-paying-full-price/
A lot of people wouldn’t agree with me, but it’s way too easy to abuse the system and I want to stay as far away from that as possible!
I was at the store during filming. The store is on 136th and Colorado. It was suppose to be hush hush but I am good friends with many of the cashiers and they let me know of the filming. First she got mixed up on some of the sales and found out that the sale was over. But not to worry King Soopers decided to help her save some face and gave her some gift cards. Also she pre- Ordered most of the items. I followed them around the store watching as everytime someone including myself got in the picture they had to retake the scene. I also spoke with the Manager Jerry at great length and he was against this whole charade knowing the problems it was going to cause. All the cashiers talked about how phony it was and how this was not fair to the regular shoppers. This was her first time in the store and has not been back since. It’s sad for the people who watch this show thinking that they can do it too. I called the news and King Soopers they day of the filming to see if I too could do this with no reply and also to let the news see the fraud this show was also to no reply. Reality Shows are just fake shows and hold no truth.
I just have to say… Thank You! After going through the Grocery University, it has really helped me understand couponing! I am happy to report that even as as single person, I am now saving 30-60% the last month, and have a good start to a stock piled pantry! (Although being single, I feel like I will quickly get to a place that my pantry will feed me for years with out buying anything but protein and veggies!) but no complaints about the savings that provides! Anyways… Thanks for making couponing workable on a busy schedule!!
OMG you had me laughing!! These are the very same things my husband and I discuss while watching the show. I get enough trouble from my KingS for using 4 like coupons let alone these ppl using hundreds!! I’d like to get out of the store with no snide remarks or dirty looks from the cashiers … when only using 25 total coupons!! geez. The head store clerk told me that they get judged on how fast they check out so they dont like coupons that take up their time. As a SAHM of three and a husband who is a first responder (they dont get paid according to their value!!) we need every coupon and save every cent we can or else I cant make ends meet. Sometimes I feel the store is doing more sabotage then they should.