I've seen this on the Lifestyle Network years ago where moms in the US would clip coupons and even have a club doing it and they would save a hefty amount of money just by presenting those coupons to the cashier. I remember this one mom who made a total purchase of $600 worth of groceries and after surrendering the coupons, she only had to pay a little over $1 for them. Imagine $600 worth of food and drinks. Here in the Philippines, that would already fill a small 'sari-sari' store or variety store. I'm wondering why there doesn't seem to be a limit to the worth of coupons allowed to be used for a single purchase. And if Americans have something like that, wouldn't food drives for the homeless be easier to do?
Well most people now can't do extreme couponing because stores have cut out the doubling and tripling of coupons they used to do, however, you can still use double coupons by using store loyalty card sites and electronic coupons and put them together. but unless you are really good at it, you are probably not going to be able to save a huge amount of money.
I think the trade off is that those couponers treat it as a full time job so whatever savings you see them getting can be treated as salary and if you look at it that way then it would almost be equal to just getting a job and buying items at regular prices. That's just my guess on it but I am quite sure that almost everyone featured in that show treats it like a full time job and any free time they get they spend researching coupons and finding new tactics and places to get discounts from.
This actually makes sense. Since food is the primary necessity in every household, housewives would definitely be treating coupon collecting as a job. I was just overwhelmed that Americans have something like that. I suppose it's a promotional tool for the food companies to indulge consumers on a bit of discounts. We have 12% value added tax in groceries and other basic necessities here in our country and only seniors are spared from that.
A lot of the extreme coupon savings are dramatized for TV. There are rules to how many like coupons you can use and not all states double coupons. I've saved $268 in one trip using coupons but I still spent $160 so I didn't get everything for free. Realistically, I still saved a lot of money compared to what everything would have cost without coupons. Those shows give people a false idea of what couponing is like.
Yeah. I think the entire show has been debunked as mostly if not completely fraudulent. This is probably why it isn't on anymore. The idea of "extreme couponing" is faddish, I agree, but ultimately stupid, in my opinion. It isn't necessary. Sorry, but do you really need a basement bunker full of Windex? There are so many ways to be a frugal shopper and do as well (or better) than these so-called "extreme couponers." Sure, they check out at Walmart of the Dollar store with all these products and pay little for them. Where's the meat? Where's the produce? How are they saving on basic staples? I've also seen SOME of these crazies trying to re-sell their free goods on Facebook pages, and I laugh. Why am I going to meet a stranger at her house for some $2 Windex (that she paid $0.50) when I can just find a sale at Walgreens and use a coupon and get it for $2 myself. Weirdos. I've spoken about this topic so many times, I decided to write about it:Log In
I have never really been into couponing. I guess I could have done it when I lived in the UK, but even then, the culture was never as big as it is in the US. I don't know if it's any different now, 2 years since I left the UK. But I can believe the idea that it's hyped up for TV and ratings, when in reality, you're restricted by limits that these stores set. Some people really get into it and barely have to pay much towards their groceries LOL I just wouldn't have the patience.
Here in the UK there's few coupons available. I saw recently there was a news story about a family being able to put coupons to good use and were able to get their weekly groceries for around £5, but that's very hard to do here. The majority of people can only save around £5 if they put a lot of their coupons to use. What with the majority only being around £0.15 off each item it takes a lot of coupons to even get that. I don't know how they can do that in the US but they're lucky they can!
