Extreme Couponing

The show is ok. Really it made me

 

I love this show. I've watched all the episodes on Netflix and I always watch reruns on tv. I would never go overboard like they do, but I could see myself going a little extreme once in a while.

 

My brother very like this show, he watched all episodes too.

 

I really dislike a lot of the people on the show, hoarding things they don't even need and don't plan on using all because it is "cheap". My friends always say how crazy it is that they save so much money, but when you think about it they are working a job couponing, they spend hours a day couponing. I think it evens out in a way that it is like them having a job where they are paid in savings, it might be a roundabout way of thinking about it, but it just makes sense to me.

 

I think that is is great, but the time invested in sorting the coupons doesn't really seem worthwhile to me. I would personally never do this, my trips to the supermarket are quick and painless and I hope to keep it that way.

 

I dislike this show and this is why. Family X goes into the store (once a year) on their coupon day. They pick up 8 carts of stuff including vast quantities of items that will go bad long before they are ever opened. But what is the real killer for me is that the time needed to collect, plan and organize this shopping trip probably exceeds the earning potential of the shopper - even on minimum wage.
I am all for saving money, but I think extreme couponing is probably more of an addiction than a way to save money.

 

I actually don't understand how this concept is enough to fill an entire series. Don't they all essentially do the same type of extreme couponing? They may have slightly different organization systems or different grocery store options or even different "big successes." But how is there enough of a difference to make show after show after show about it??

 

I like it conceptually. I mean, there are the cases where people would donate a lot of their items to charity. Totally for that.
However, it seems like most of the time it is a type of hoarding. As you alluded to in the OP. I'm pretty sure on the Hoarders show people always saying they're going to donate the items only to let them rot or fester.

So, again, conceptually a good idea. I'm pretty sure if I put all the work into 'couponing' that those people have I might just start to have hoarding tendencies myself.

 

I really like that show. I find it entertaining to watch and I wish I was able to save that much with coupons. I just don't think that they show how much work it actually is to save all that money and stay organized with the coupons. I also wonder how much they spend on paper and ink in order to print the online coupons. When I have printed them in the past, I found that they only printed one per page. It doesn't seem like that would be very economical. Kind of seems like a waste of time if you are saving on groceries, but spending it elsewhere.

 

I have watched a couple of times but I don't really understand the point in buying items that are never going to be used just because it was cheap. For me it is not really worth it as we don't get the coupons for very many items that we will actually use. It is more of a waste of time if you are not going to use it anyway!

 

I never watched Extreme Couponing but I watch Extreme Cheapskates and this show is really disgusting, people go out of their way to save a buck, even if it costs them their comfort, hygiene and health. It's a lot better than Extreme Couponing and you could learn a thing or from these cheapskates.

 

Part of what makes it a series is the back stories of the couponers. One couponer is a pastor who does it to help the poor of his community. One couponer did it to survive as a single mother. One couponer did it to save money to move her family to a safe area after her son was robbed. The reasons for couponing are a big part of the show, not so much HOW they do the couponing.

Sometimes they get free items they don't want because the negative amount from the coupon will cause the store to owe them money, which they can use to buy meat and other items that are not covered by coupons. I think they should donate the unwanted items, but I kind of understand why they do it.

They don't go once a year. They go according to sales cycles. If an item goes on sale every 6 weeks and you stock up on enough of the item to last 6 weeks, then you are always getting it on sale and never paying full price for it. If you only buy enough to last two weeks, then you'll spend the other 4 weeks paying full price for your cereal or your laundry detergent because you didn't plan ahead.

 

I like this show because it gives me some ideas on how to save money. However I do think that they go a little crazy. To do what they do you have to be incredibly organized, something I strive for however just can't be a super organized person. I really also don't need to stock up on a a lifetime supply of toothbrushes. However, I do admire the ones that take that lifetime supply of whatever they happened to get a fantastic deal on and donate them. I think that is a great idea.

 

They save money, but is it really worth it? I would understand if the situation was temporary, until they complete the mortgage payments or buy a new car, but to make that a life style it seems like a waste of all that hard work because when are they going to have fun?

 

I do like that show and it even motivated me to give it a try and as much as I wish I was as good as some of them are I haven't gotten there just yet. My husband watched the show with me the other day and he was amazed how much some of them saved the fact some actually do so good that they actually get money back is crazy. Just goes to show the being good and math and shopping does pay off literally.