Tag Archives: Extreme Couponing

Not-So-Extreme Couponing

I found an old but very useful article at HowStuffWorks.com entitled “10 Extreme Coupon Tips for Normal People.” It was from a time when Extreme Couponing was becoming the big thing (is it still a thing?) and it was fun to point and laugh at the weirdos stockpiling 10,000 rolls of toilet paper.

People making a bizarre consumer religion out of coupons is, well, bizarre. That doesn’t mean that their tactics are useless, however. And that’s the point of the article – to remove the goofiness and pass on some useful tips and tricks. Here are the bullet points (with bonus dumb commentary!

  • Acquire Advanced Couponing Techniques : Newspapers, magazines, online sources of coupons
  • Join in on the Jargon-fest: OYNO? MIR? BOGO? Stackable? Apparently, these words mean something!
  • Turn Couponing into a Cottage Industry : You will need to build a cottage in your backyard to store all of that toilet paper. Just kidding… these are methods of organizing your coupons.
  • Get Familiar with Navigating the Marketplace: Start small by mapping out one store at a time
  • Know Your Rights for Smoother Sailing : Cashiers and managers are sometimes unfriendly to people trying to pay for four carts worth of stuff with 1,000 coupons and six dollars. Imagine!
  • Give Time, Save Money : Couponing requires a big investment of time. Too bad there’s not a coupon for that!
  • Buy in Bulk : And hope that you have the space for it all!
  • Forget Brand Loyalty : Really—what has Captain Crunch ever done for YOU!? I mean, besides defeating Hitler’s navy.
  • Go Where the Sales Are : This will take time and gas money!
  • Buy Items You Use: Or, as the survivalists say, “Hoard what you eat, eat what you hoard.”

For me, the hardest part of all of this is that I really can’t tell you the price of anything. They say people know the prices of 4 things, and I can’t even claim that. I imagine that is a big first step. Anyway, those were the bullet points. MUCH more info at the original piece

How about YOU? Any of these look like worthy tips? Any others you’d like to share? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

Extreme Measures for Extreme Couponers?

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We talked a while back about the Extreme Coupon trend currently sweeping the land. Now, it seems like retailers are tightening their policies.

Supermarkets have a delicate balance to maintain: They don’t want to alienate their coupon-loving customers, but they also don’t want to disappoint non-extreme shoppers who can’t buy sale items because some (extreme couponer) has just emptied the entire shelf. Time.com

What are the stores doing to frustrate Extremes? Well, one lady figured out a way to get chocolate milk for free – plus an 11-cent bonus. So she bought 34 of them! Wal-Mart made her purchase all 34 individually. 34 transactions, 34 receipts, 34 hands full of pennies! Meanwhile, Kroger’s is moving to prevent you from “stacking”…that is, combining paper and online coupons for the same item.

So, are you an Extreme-r? Have you experienced any pushback from the retailers? Tell us about it! You can read the original Time article here.

Coupon Crazy!

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A shopper snags $4,000 worth of razors and pays zero. Couponers dive into Dumpsters in search of newspaper inserts. They purchase $1,000 worth of groceries and pay a few dollars. One man has a “wall of toothpaste” with 1,000 tubes. Twin sisters brag they have cleaned out a store’s supply of dental floss. Others boast of lifetime supplies of paper towels and toilet paper.             Palm Beach Post

So, did the coupon craze inspire that wacky “Extreme Couponing” show on TLC? Or has the show inspired the couponing craze? Seems like it’s true both ways.

Somehow I managed to catch the premiere back in the spring (in between shows about guns and monster trucks!) Much of it was pretty interesting. First of all it was shot in my hometown of Cincinnati – I recognized the Kroger that lady shopped in, and her neighborhood.

Anyway, there were some really practical aspects to the show, and couponing in general. Who doesn’t like to save money, especially these days? Other aspects gave me a “Hoarders” vibe. Couponing as an obsession, you know. Still other aspects made me angry. I worked in a grocery store once. You get to tie up a register, and a cashier, and ten carts for two hours, AND crash the computer system, just so you can get $1000 worth of groceries for twenty bucks? Grrr.

Anyway, in this economy, I don’t think couponing is going away anytime soon. What do you think? Practical? Obsession? Menace to grocery stores everywhere? Let us know!