With a struggling economy, couponing is making a comeback. What used to be looked down upon is now being viewed as “savvy” and “trendy.” And why shouldn’t it? If a few pieces of paper can save you ten bucks off dinner, or twenty bucks off your next grocery bill, I say go for it. But while some might call that couponing, others might call it child’s play.
The surging interest in coupons and saving money has sparked the creation of the new television series “Extreme Couponing” on TLC. The show follows mostly stay at home moms who have turned clipping coupons into a full time job – as well as some other savvy savers. But these aren’t your average shoppers who might walk into the grocery store with five or ten clippings. Not these coupon connoisseurs. We are talking about stockpiling a couple thousand coupons, subscribing to ten or twenty weekly newspapers, and spending eight to ten hours per day planning their next big score. And what spoils do they take away from all the planning and strategizing? How about almost $2,000 worth of products for just over $100? That’s right – the correct response is “WOW.”
Let me say that I am all for coupons. I will check the ads before I go shopping, and visit my coupon pile before I go out to eat. So I have nothing against anyone who uses coupons, or tries to save money when making purchases big or small. But watching this show has raised a few questions for me:
1. Will “Extreme Couponing” create a new shopper that hoards coupons in order to get free products? Traditionally, coupons are used to save a dollar or two off of a product that you’ve never used before. You get to try a product at a lower risk, and the manufacturer gets a new potential customer. It’s win-win. But what if people are buying ten or twenty of the same products, only when they are on sale and if they have enough coupons to make them free? The manufacturer just lost all the money they have to reimburse, the store didn’t make any money, and now items may be out of stock that other customers would have paid full price for. Suddenly things don’t seem so great.
2. Will stores start putting stricter regulations on coupons, or just stop taking them all together? If retailers have to go through all of the troubles of getting reimbursed, and are constantly stocking items that aren’t making them any money, will they still want to do it? If people are using too many discounts, they might limit the number that they take per visit – penalizing the customers who may have ten or twenty coupons for different products.
3. Will manufacturers start going to a mail-in rebate method for price savings? If companies are looking for serious shoppers, they may choose to have consumers pay the full price up front and wait for a rebate. They can also limit the amount of rebates per household easier than they can count on the cashier to limit the amount of coupons used in a single transaction.
What it comes down to is this: is there such thing as coupon abuse? Companies obviously want people to try their products, and are willing to give a discount to do so. But a company can’t stay in business if they aren’t making any money, and doesn’t print coupons with the intention of consumers using them every time. So when someone buys ten newspapers to get ten of the same coupon and buy a years worth of products for FREE – is that wrong? When companies see this happening over and over again, and the result is the loss of hundreds of dollars worth of products, will they keep letting it happen?
Of course there are up-sides to coupons. If there weren’t, they wouldn’t have been around for so long. Using coupons can get you to try products that you will use time and time again, whether or not you pay retail price. Also, a shopping trip that might start out as a few items that are free or close to it may turn into a shopping spree (guilty). But as consumers become more educated, and information is readily available, only buying specific items at researched lowest prices is becoming easier and easier.
What do you think about extreme couponing? Do you use coupons? How do you save money? Let us know in the comments below!
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Most of the coupons that I see say something like, not to be combined with other discounts. So I'm guessing that extreme couponers are not following the rules and the retailers aren't enforcing them? Is that what this is saying?
Did you watch the "Extreme Couponing" show they should have featured "Printapons" which I use and print coupons from online
They talk about going to a mail refund instead of coupons. They are crazy. The public will never do it, since mail rebates are terrible--you never receive them half the time.
I was thinking the same thing as sandy. After watching the show for the first time last night, i read all the fine print on my coupons at home. 80% of the coupons said limit one item per purchase or not to be combined with other discounts..so im not sure how they manage to do what they do...I also think yes this show will change how coupons are redeemed and they will have stricter policies as more and more people will try this method of couponing since its getting more attention. I normally do not clip coupons as most products i use dont have them, i buy organics as much as possible
I was inspired by 'Extreme Couponing' it's my new hobby however I will always be a Light weight couponer as it takes alot of time and planning. I think the extreme couponers are just a tiny minority of people who are nothing short of hoarders. It's eye opening how much money you can save just in the short time I have been doing it I have found some incredible deals . Any excess I accumulate I will give away ...one thing I have learnt is never pay full price for razors or deodorant ...lol.
I love coupons, and always try to use them. I get the sunday paper (just one) and look and see if there is anyting that i already use or maybe a new product that i would like to try. Then i look at the ads and see if the coupons that i have happen to be on sale. Its great if i can match them up but if i need an item, i have to buy it. It does feel great to save money. I saved $14 at the grocery store yesterday on coupons. It adds up fast every pennie that I save!
Sandy- yeah that's Interesting that coupons say can't be combined w other offers but yet we can use them on discounted (sale) items. I use them on sale items - that's the best deal. But its so hard to get things for free even if I do use a coupon on a sale item. I love to go to target because you can use one manufacturer coupon and one target coupon per item so that's a lot of savings! Target has there own coupons.
Doriscwilson - what are "printapons" ?? I would love to use them. Where can I find them?
Gina- I would hate if it came to mail in rebates!! That would just be crazy and almost not worth it if yr just saving a dollar. You have to pay almost 50 cents for a stamp.
Angel- I have heard that there are organic coupons, but I have not seen any myself.
I hope that the extreme couponers dont mess it up for the rest of us!! That would suck!!
I live in the St. Louis area and I have not found a store that will take computer printed coupons abd they only double up to 40 cents. And I don't know of any that have the store cards that so many of those people use. If I'm wrong about this, please correct me, because I could do some serious bargain hunting if the stores would co-operate.
The show encourages them to make those huge lists just to make the show more interesting. I suspect most of them seldom shop in the quantity that they do on the show. But that still leaves some that seem to be hoarders and some that are totally out of control. When you start using your bathrooms and bedrooms for storage because every other spot in the house is chuck full, then you have a problem
Ask first your department stores and grocery stores if they accept coupons. There are other stores that don't but majority does accept. Just also follow the guidelines coz you can't just use it in all items but still its a big discount.
I have found that when a store has an item BOGO and you have two coupons for those items you can still use them both. Many stores will also double a coupon up to 99cents. meaning if you have a 55cents off coupon you will get 1.10 off. Refering to the not to be doubled with any other discounts comment. If the store is running a sale on an item, it is totally legit to use your coupons for that item as well as the store sales. the manufacturers reimburse the store (some cents) usually 8 for each coupon used so the stores will always want to take coupons. They make money from them, just like we do. but i do see the manufacturers being more strict about coupons in the future. Not that i dont love extreme couponing on TLC, but i see many more moms using coupons. I know it opened my eyes.
Judy - I have never had problems with a store taking online printed coupons. I use them at walmart, target, dierbergs, schnucks, shop n save, cvs, and walgreens. I'm sorry that you have ran into people and stores that were not Working with you. That would be very frustrating!
I have noticed on the show that there grocery stores double up to 50 cents per coupon and yes ours only does 40 cents. So when they are using 2,000 coupons i guess that would add up in savings.
The "store cards" that they use is like a cvs card. If u notice in the cvs ad u get in the sunday paper it gives u a sale price then in smaller print it says "with card." so u only get the price if u use the card. im guessing that's similar as what they have on the show. I noticed they shop at Kroger's which the only one I know of is in Warrenton.
Hope that helped u!!
Good luck on yr bargain shopping!!