Extreme Couponing

There is a new show called Extreme Couponing on TLC. Caroline and I have a sick obsession with it and sometimes Brian will watch it. I won't watch it when it first airs or even record it but I do find myself watching it when I am off.

That being said, I am not a fan of the show. I think couponing can be a useful tool when shopping. I am not against couponing at all. I grew up with my mom couponing but the extremes these people go to is just wrong. Most of the stories start out like "My husband/wife lost his job and now we can't afford our lifestyle, what are we going to do?". I get that feeling and don't fault them for going to couponing but they have made a healthy, smart way to stretch a dollar into something that I find is just wrong on every level.

Why?

1) They have become hoarders. Their beloved stockpile becomes SO large that they have to turn their garage into a grocery store while storing the rest under kids beds, in bathroom closets, any space they can.  That is not healthy

2) They are obsessed with their stockpile. Their stockpile seems to become SO important that nothing else matters...not the husband or kids.

3) They are greedy. They don't need ALL that stuff! One person got 75 mustards when NO ONE in her family liked mustard just because she got such a good deal. One person had a stockpile of Diapers and Cat food when she didnt have a cat or baby. They also get rain checks when the store only has 50 of a product when they wanted 75.

4) I believe you should pay for what you purchase. Sure getting something for free is a nice treat and I don't believe you should ever pay more then you should for something but ringing up a grocery bill for $2000+ and only paying $180 is just wrong. The grocery store should and deserves to make a profit. The manufacturers do not Double/Triple coupons. The store does that out of their pocket books. They can afford to lose a dollar or two, not $1000+. If they don't make a profit they will close and people lose their jobs. The proper tax isn't being collected which isnt good for the current economy and governments are going to have to raise taxes elsewhere because they are not getting it here and no one likes taxes going up.

5) They never get anything healthy and I never see them getting anything to actually make a meal outside of spaghetti with jarred sauce. They get 75 jars of mustard, 100 packs of Ramen type noodles, 100 cans of dog food, 50 candy bars, 50 boxes of fake cereal, 50 boxes of pasta, 50 boxes of Ragu/Prego, 50 things of toiletries, etc. My numbers are just examples and I guessed low for a lot of the families. Where are the meals? What are they actually eating? Sure they saved 98% of the bill but if they only have $50 a week to spend on groceries and you've spent it with your couponing, how are they eating? Where is the meat? The vegetables? Heck, the lunchables? The Hamburger helpers? I do not get it.

6) These people are selfish on multiple levels. They go grocery shopping at 6am and empty the shelves so if anyone else wanted that product, oh well. They get mad at the store because the registers can only scan 1000 items in one transaction because no one dreamed people would "buy" like they are. They get mad at a store because a store has policies in place that are made clear so if the couponers had really done their homework like they say they do, they would know that.

7) Couponing is not as cheap as they try to make it seem like. There is overhead. Your time is worth money. Some people spend between 50-70 hours a week planning, clipping, organizing and prepping for the next trip to the store. Some of these people are Stay at Home Parents but others are working a full time out of home job on top of this. Your children deserve your time. If you are waiting for them to be in bed, you need your sleep too! Plus coupon mailers intend for one mailer per household. If you buy more newspapers you get more mailers but you are spending $X more to get the extra papers which lowers your savings. Plus if you use online coupons, you have to print them out. Paper and ink, especially ink, gets expensive. Those expenses get taken out of your savings. Some people use clipping services as a way to cut down on time, that costs money which lessens their savings. Some people go dumpster diving (literally) for them or beg hotels for extra Sunday papers. Yes technically you are not spending money doing that, but again your time and dignity is worth something as well. People have actually gotten separate home insurance policies to cover their stockpile and that takes money away from their savings. I think if these people really looked at the cost of everything they would find that they really weren't saving that much for all the the time and trouble it takes.

8) You create a stockpile of a certain item so you don't have to buy that item for X long. Like you buy enough shampoo to last six months and you don't shop for that item again for maybe 5 1/2 months (so you don't technically run out). These people make a stockpile and keep buying the items in their stockpile. Some people have enough toiletries to last them 10 years and they keep buying! I think I might feel A LOT better about the show if they got everything for almost free but then never went back for more until they actually got close to running out. 

I would also feel better if they were giving the majority, heck any, of it to a charity. I have seen one person on the show do this. I can definitely understand the obsession/addiction they have and if they used it to help others in need like giving it to soup kitchens, sending it over to the Military personnel in care packages, donating to schools to help feed the kids who come to school without food, it would make some more sense to me.

This show makes Caroline, Brian and I sick though it has been a good source tension release for Brian and I as we vent about how wrong this is. I am fascinated by it but horrified that this is going to cause more people to go to that extreme and I am worried about the side affects. I have already noticed updated fine print policies highlighted in red on coupons.