Oh how I love to watch certain reality shows. When I first came across the show, Extreme Couponing, I got so excited. These people were going to change my life! I sat down with snacks in hand to find out how much money I was gonna save.
I love coupons. If I can save a penny, I'm a happy camper. I do sit down with the paper and maybe I find one or two coupons for products I use. No fear, I'll go to Couponsuzy. She says I can save up to $40.00 off my shopping list. Went thru all the products and I saved only about $3.00. What am I doing wrong? Am I eating the wrong food or using the wrong products all together?
All right, let's see how the pros do it. My first impression was that these poor souls have no life. They have thousands of dollars of merchandise though. Look at those notebooks full of coupons. Hours spent on not one, but up to 3 - 5 computers scouting store circulars to find sales that match your coupons. I'm fortunate to be able to handle one computer. Dumpster diving for newspapers? Not in my lifetime. I guess this is a high I will never experience. And why is it that my coupons are only good for a few months? Do they go out weekly to load up so many carriages?
Another thought comes to mind, storage. I can see putting shelving in a garage for the thousands of items they get free or for pennies. My concern is the people who store in their homes and it's trickling down the stairs. Don't you worry you may forget where you have put your family!
On a serious note, I commend the shoppers who donate to their church, food bank and neighbors who are struggling. For that reason I applaud their energy and commitment. Now is the time for all of us to reach out and help each other. To all the extreme couponers who donate, God Bless You!!!
I coupon some and have saved a lot of money! However like you it's hard to find coupons on what we eat......produce, meat, & dairy! I do get some good deals on the snacks (that I do allow ~ NOT many) and deoderant, toothpaste, and shower gel (before I started making my own soap!). I do still look through the Sunday paper for coupons and my ALL YOU magazine, but no dumpster diving here either! I do however DONATE a lot of what I get for FREE especially if we don't eat it or I can get several of them. I have taken bags full of tea, rice, knorr side dishes, hamburger helper, granola bars and the like to our local food bank! I enjoy couponing to an extent, but stores are making it harder & harder with the rules, only 20 triple/double coupons per household/per day, and only 3 of the same items with a coupon.......if you read the disclaimer on these extreme couponing shows, you will see it says the stores waived the rules for this show!!
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