I decided not to watch the show when I saw the commercial
for it and the woman cleared all the merchandise off the shelf,
her reasoning to those that would think that's greedy
was basically "then you should have gotten here before me."
A real piggy type attitude.
I use coupons and save a few dollars here and there, but the
types that clear the shelves and have hundreds of an item
are just too greedy.

I like the show and applaud those who do couponing. I dont think it's necesary to "clear the shelves" but it does show how we can save money if we try. I saw one show today where the guy who couponed gave over $1,000 of merchandise to an org that sends pkgs to our troops overseas .

I would clear the shelves...if I had the room and knew I was gonna use every bit of it...but to buy it cause I'm piggy and greedy...and wanted to be the first to get it cause I had a coupon...no thanks...

I agree, gibby..totally seeing OCD /hoarder traits.

I only watched it once... but yeah, I wasn't thinking it was something to be proud of... looked more like a sickness to me.

I've watched a couple tomes, and I don't know, I just don't believe the show is legit. Of course I live in a small town and the only coupons we get are in the Sunday paper. I do used them once in a while, but first, they have to be at least $1 off and second, I can usually get the store brand for less, even with a coupon. I did clip out a couple out and am sending them to our daughter, for $1 off of Bear Creek soup. We get two Sunday papers so was able to get two of them, and I clipped one for $1 off for Hormel fresh entrees,

Just wondering how do you pronounce the word coupon? I pronounce it coop-on, but some. que-pon.

what i want to know is how they started taking more than one coupon per item..if i understand it they use more than one coupon per item?

I have a feeling that some of these people are buying some products just because the coupon gets the price down very low, and not because they have actually used those actual products and keep them stocked in their pantry.

There are so many more coupons in the Sunday paper that I would never use as opposed to ones for products I do use. I'm not the kind of person to automatically try something just because there's a coupon and a grocery store has it on sale. I've thrown too much stuff out (food and money!) to do that. (For instance, I had a coupon for Breakstone's brand of onion dip. Used it -- it was gross!)

I'd like to see a related "extreme couponing" episode that shows whether the products that are stacked up in the basement actually all get used. Do they use up all those boxes of cake mix before the expiration date? And stuff with a coupon and store sale -- did the couponers' family enjoy eating everything? Or was that brand of pasta sauce that ended up as 50 cents just yucky?

I pronounce it "coo-pon." Grates on my ears when someone pronounces it "Q-pon." There's no q in coupon!

True, but there's also no q in Cupid, cute and -- just for DotMom: curious!

(Koo-pon looks to be the first choice in a few dictionaries.)

I think that the people that are on these shows are picked for the shock value of such large panties. after all it i called "extreme".

Otherwise it would just be a "How to dave money by couponing" howto help show. and no one would watch IMHO

I guess the TV watching public has quite an affinity for freak shows. And I guess that's why I watch very little TV.

At least some of these people apparently don't use the stuff they buy. One woman was hoarding baby items and had no children.

When people go nuts with these coupons and use, hoard or give the stuff away the average consumer is the one who pays for it in higher product costs.

not coupons but I remember a long time ago in Miami Fl one woman waged a campaign to eliminate the stamps that they usedto give you atthe check out counter like S&H and Plaid etc. (I practically outfitted my house with them at the time.) Wow she was so adamant saying they caused prices to rise and without them prices would come down. I don't know how she did it but eventually stores stopped giving them out. Of course the prices didn't change but we watched them increase. A lot of do gooders out there

Last night I flipped past and a woman picked up 260 free packs of Tic Tacs because they were on sale for $1 and she had coupons for $1 off. Where the heck did she get 260 tic tac coupons????? You can't tell me that something shady isn't going on (or else she is investing in 260 newspapers a week).

Why do stores give money back? The stores here don't do that. You can get something free but they aren't going to pay you to buy anything. If a coupon is $1 off and the product is 99 cents, you don't get that penny here. That's what most of the crap these people are buying is for - they'll fill their cart with anything if they can make money off of it.

I think around here you can have a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon for one item.

Sue

I don't know about the rest of Canada, but here in Ontario you won't really find anyone who can do 'extreme couponing' because of the rules printed on coupons here. Most coupons state right on them "Coupon cannot be redeemed for any cash value, only one coupon allowed per item, only one coupon allowed per visit, coupon not valid on sale items." While we rarely find a coupon printed in our daily newspaper, every month there is often a booklet of coupons enclosed. However, the regulations I mentioned above do not really afford people here the opportunity to hoard stock by extreme couponing.

from what little I watched I saw a lot of them using online coupon sources for the multiple coupons, you can print out pretty much an unlimited supply of coupons.
The ones I saw spent most of their day doing coupon searches and coupon "work" to be able to do their extreme shopping trip. Not for me, life is way to short to spend my time on something like that. If it was to get the products to donate to great organizations or causes that might be different but I would not be one filling my basement or spare room with my bounty. I do think it comes very close to hording and OCD.

I watched it last night and I agree its a form of ocd/hoarding, do you really need 100 packets of Nesquik or 99 bottles of hand sanitizer? Don't get me wrong I love a good coupon for stuff that I use but to buy it just because you have a coupon? I don't get it!

Never saw the show but I've always pronounced coupon with a q sound.

Most of the stores around here allow no more than three coupons for the same item at a time; however, I suppose you could make a few trips out to your car.

Paula, it has been said by many people on the show that they go to their local newspaper distributor and get leftover fliers. The paper delivery folks are the ones in charge of stuffing the Sunday papers usually, and they always have leftovers. Another is getting them from recycling centers, and a neighbor here has the whole subdivision saving coupons for her, she picks them up from our house every Monday morning. Also, the penny from 99 cent item with a dollar off goes towards store credit, not cash back.

Also, the "hoarders" are pretty well organized, and many of them donate a lot of the items, especially perishables, to food banks, homeless shelters or non-perishables in packages for our troops.

It can be a sickness if the people will never use it, sell it or give it away, but it is also a great hobby. And for families who live on a $25k/year budget for their whole family this is great. Many of the stockpiles will last them years, and if something were to happen to someone's income, they are ready. It is something useable, not like hoarding leftover holiday decorations, broken things they will never get around to fixing or old newspapers. That is a sickness.

The woman who clears the shelves I don't believe is greedy, she worked hard to organize when and where to get that item at that price, who is to say how much she should be able to buy? The store will always order more and if you missed out you can get a raincheck. It isn't like she is taking the last can of corn left in the world. When my favorite items go on a really good sale I stock up too. I usually don't clear a shelf, but if the deal is good enough I would. Not "piggy", just getting a good deal.

Unfortunately, many stores in Canada do not replenish supplies once a discounted item is emptied from the shelves. They even state in their flyers "No Rainchecks. On sale for X amount only until item is sold out." There is usually a limit of X amount that can be purchased by each individual. So although it is difficult for Canadians to save in the way that extreme couponers in the U.S. can, we also usually have the opportunity to buy at least one of something before a shelf is emptied. About the only way to buy vast amounts of anything here is if the store did not post a limit on how many items you can buy, or if there is a limit, but you are willing to go back again and again before the item sells out.

Another Canadian here and, no, we don't get nearly as many coupons or there are limits put on them as pickyshopper states. Besides, I can't believe they want to eat all that processed food. If they eat only what I see them buying, yikes. I only saw the show a couple of times but I didn't see any unprocessed meats, fruits, or vegetables (fresh) being bought. Granted we eat very healthy here so I am probably being preachy here.

Cookie, there are almost never coupons for fresh produce or meat, they are not from a big manufacturer that offers coupons. The money that is credited to the overage a coupon causes ($1 off a 99 cent item) can be used to purchase anything including meat and produce. If you look in some of the baskets they contain meat or veggies and aren't shown being checked out on TV, only the couponed items.

One thing I noticed is that they aren't usually buying lots of different products, it is usually a lot of the same product. They may check out 500 items, but there are only 8 different kinds.

I just watched this show and saw a woman load up a fridge with dozens & dozens of eggs. How can she possibly use them all before they go bad? Bags & bags of dog food & cereal stored in a garage. Mice? I'd be afraid to eat most it at a later date.
I have no problem with using coupons to save on the things you will use, but these women are doing it for some other reason.

Mush, you are right, the woman who bought all the eggs is doing it for some other reason: donating them to a local homeless shelter if you had paid attention.

Sorry, but it annoys me when people judge or make negative comments about someone when they didn't bother to listen or pay attention to the whole story.

The rest of us ordinary shoppers are really paying the cost of these multiple coupons. We pay because the products go up in price to offset the costs invloved. Each coupon not only costs the manufacturer the face value but they pay the store so many cents per coupon for their service. When the store is doubling the coupons, the OTHER, non-couponing patrons are paying wth higher store prices.

Redcurls, nothing is stopping you from using coupons too. It isn't only for certain people, anyone can do this, you just choose not to and then whine that people use too many coupons. What is stopping you from couponing yourself?

I see a lot of sour grapes on this topic, just because these people are talented at what they do people seem to think they are ripping everyone off.

I remember a friend was with me at a craft show and she complained that the prices of hand made items were too high. I asked her why she didn't make them herself then, and she said "because I don't want to take the time". The craftspersons who make their items charge a premium for their service, and couponers are no different; they spend their time and some money to "extreme coupon". They have a talent and others may pay for their talent, but you are welcome to join them!

I seldom use coupons. Anything I see here (in Canada) are for items that we don't use. The majority of food is the convenient, packaged heavily processed kind. Coupons on detergents, fabric softeners, Febreeze stuff,which again we don't use.

When something is on sale, I do stock up (canned cat food, paper towels etc etc). Stuff that I know we will use. With or without a coupon.

As Pickyshopper and Cookie mentioned, sale items are limited to 2 or 4 per family, and when the shelves are empty, you're SOL.

I often do better with store-brands, even with a coupon for a major brand.

Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me. I'm outta here!!!!

While I occasionally get a good deal using coupons (like 2 containers of sour cream for free), and I'll often buy generic store brands, I think those people are nuts. I saw one woman buy 90 cartons of yogurt. A normal size family couldn't possibly use all that, and they can't be stored in freezers. One woman had over 1,000 rolls of toilet paqper, which she stored under her childrens' beds. I call it OCD, hoarding, etc.

michelle_phxaz
Thanks for your comments

Sounds like a good subject matter to have it's own heading.

The stores here are beginning to limit how many coupons can be used and at least one of the stores will no longer accept internet printed coupons. It's just a matter of time before the others do it, another case of a few ruining things for everyone. I too think it is a matter of greed and entitlement, and to me, it is wrong.

I don't think these people are talented, I think they are sick. And I'm not joking , there is some kind of mental disorder for people to want to spend their time doing this. And I use coupons religiously. Even if they are donating all of their bounties, just the fact that they do what they do is sick. And I can't help think that their greedy, piggy behavior is going to somehow impact the rest of us who use coupons to actually save money while feeding our families!!

Redcurls, that's silly. There is no cost involved for the store. The stores actually make out quite well on coupons. They not only get the full price back for the coupon (ie. if the coupon is for $1.00, they get that back from the manufacturer) but they also receive 8.5 % on top of that. That's why some places give you a credit on the full amount of the coupon if the item you're buying is less than the coupon is worth. They receive the full amount regardless. We definitely could be considered "extreme couponers" although I do not have any type of stock pile. I just donated 60 boxes of pasta, 20 bottles of baby formula and 30 bottles of shampoo to our local Rescue Mission. I donate about every month. I assure everyone, I'm not a hoarder or someone with OCD (Trust me, I know the symptoms, I'm a nurse.) I purchase the coupons through an online clipping service and the cost of the coupons are part of what I am willing to pay to be able to donate to the needy. The above mentioned products cost me approximately 11 dollars with the cost of the coupons. I'm proud of what I'm able to do to help others. I work full time and go to school fulltime, so I devote approximately 2 hours a week to figuring out what is on sale.

Where we live, the stores will only accept at most 20 coupons per shopping trip. There is no way that we could ever repeat what these people on TV do. I can't imagine ever using the items these people have before they are expired or something gets into them...yuck.
And if you have a store card, there is no going back repeatedly to purchase more of the same items. The card won't accept 'duplicate' purchases.

mom24 - there is a "cost" to the consumer for coupons. Not only a potential increased product cost from the manufacturer to offset the coupon discount but also the overhead costs for administering coupon programs. If you use a coupon great. But if you are a consumer who doesn't use a coupon for every product that has a coupon program then you do pay for the cost of those programs. There is no free lunch as they say - someone pays.

I personally think coupons are a PITA. I'd much rather shop at retailers who just offer the lowest price every day and don't put me through the hoops of dealing with coupons. Those are the places and the brands I gravitate to more and more. I used to use coupons - and I still look at them from time to time - but I find I rarely buy those brands anymore.

Minnie, you are welcome.

Mush, see ya later.

Mom24 not sure where you got your info but as an owner of grocery stores I can tell you there is a cost to the stores.Please.....