Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Extreme Couponing (A/Z)

For rhe A to Z Challenge - Letter E.

Have you heard of this? It's not new, but there's a big boon in its popularity of late. People collect coupons from papers, magazines, websites, swap groups, and anyone not fast enough to run away from them. Then they scour store ads for all the sales, and strategically orchestrate a battle plan to swoop into all markets and marts within their area and cherrypick the best deals. Some extreme couponers save 90% or better on their grocery bills and get many items for free.

Ya know, I think that's great. I mean, I cut coupons, sure. And I usually save between $20 and $50 a trip by using them. But it takes some planning, and a lot of comparison shopping. And to be honest, I just can't make my shopping trips a full-time job, I don't care what the bill adds up (or down) to. I go to one store - the one I think has the best prices overall - that's it. Besides money, my time is valuable to me as well, and I've got other crap to do.

Hey, Godspeed to all you extreme couponers out there, though. Can a borrow some money? I spent all mine at the store today.

6 comments:

mooderino said...

Must be exhausting.

Stacy said...

My daughter-in-law just commented on this on Facebook...must be a hot topic this week. Anyway, I think when it takes over and becomes a lifestyle rather than just a way to save money it's a problem. Can we say OCD? Or as my DIL pointed out, 200 sticks of deodorant....a new form of hoarding?

Coffeypot said...

You know we accountants have this thing about considering ‘labor’ into finances. And if it takes $2 worth of labor to save ten cents on a item, it isn’t worth it. That $2 equates to time…time that could that could be spent on other projects like munching on the snacks you just saved a dime purchasing. It’s a vicious circle.

Unknown said...

I don't know I mean I understand coupons but sometimes you buy things you would not normally buy because it has a coupon. Or a lot of times you can't get brands you actually want in a coupon.

I think shopping without them as fine and i dont want to take the time out to cut them out

Maude Lynn said...

I agree with you. I mean, my time is valuable, too!

poet said...

Did you happen to watch Extreme Coupon show last night? I can't remember the channel it was on, but holy crow, some of those people were saving super amounts of money. It is a real science. There was one lady who's bill before coupons was $1900 and after the coupons, was around $100. Wicked cool.