Just my random thought for the day:

I am big in to couponing, which I think a few people on here are as well. I saw that show on TV, Extreme Couponing, and I'm really, really, really glad that there will NEVER be a reality show for Extreme Mystery Shopping! HAHaha!

We'd have to gray out all the faces. Show our stockpiles of stuff we forgot to return. Let people see all the wasted paper from printing out thousands of pages of shop instructions. It would wind up being more like Hoarders than Extreme Couponing. lol

I have learned some things about couponing after watching that show and just set up a cool system for storing, categorizing and working with coupons based on www.couponmom.com that has been working to save me money for the last couple of weeks. I have no room for stockpiles, but if I can get 10 free tubes of toothpaste, I know seminary students and homeless persons and disaster relief programs that can use what I get for free. I cut all the diaper coupons and take them to a box I set up at church for the Moms that need them.

I was an extreme couponer but I never had huge stockpiles because I donated the surplus stuff. These people on the show are just plain greedy in my opinon.

I'm greedy for the deals, but can't stockpile more than we will use in the month. So giving it away, shipping it to the troops or to senior citizens I know makes good sense. I can't leave it on the shelf if it's free. lol

I just send my daughter a box every month or so and I include many of the purchases she could use, that I can't. I also started to not take too many of these purchase only (no fee) shops, unless it is something I can use or exchange for something worthwhile.

Spent a little less than $50 on clearance items to wear because I need new wardrobe after losing weight and I get $45 of it back! Got some jeans, two pairs of knit pants, a blouse and a dressy top. Whooooooo hooooooooo.

The stores here are now limiting the amount of items that a persom buy so that expteme couponers dont empty the shelves. We also do not double them so it is almost imposible to get all the items for free.

The extreme couponing will cause manufacturers and stores to think twice about continuing any type of couponing. Someone has to pay for all these *free* things and I think that *someone* is us.

Maybe I am just old and have been through cycles of things but extreme couponing is soooo old hat - and by that I mean the couponing going on now is similiar (if not less extreme) that the couponing that was going on in the 70s and 80s...there was just no internet or reality television showing it. There would be the occasional fluff news piece or class at the Y about it though.

This is soooo not new. I remember how much easier coupons were to get then - when every Sunday and Wednesday paper had four and five inserts, when there were clubs and conventions to trade coupons and magazines devoted to the subject (anyone remember Refunding Makes Cents?).

I did far more couponing then than I do now (it was honestly easier with the abundance of coupons and refunds and doubles and triples).

I looked at it as a hobby then and do some now. It's just changed. Do I hoard? No, but twice now I have had enough shampoo and toilietries to get us through two times my husband as been out of work without having to worry about spending the money on those necessities.

Liz

Of course it has been going on for years. It is only recently that it has gotten more exposure in the media. It is a fad which will fade fairly quickly when folks realize that the coupons are not usually for the things they want/need to buy and very few stores double or triple coupons any more to make items "free".

Manufacturers use coupons for two primary reasons. First is to introduce product and second is to create an artificial sale environment to stimulate sales. I am sitting on $1.50 coupons off a new product that is on sale every other week for $2. These are introductory situations, hoping I will find the item so handy I will spring for the normal $3.49 suggested price. Certainly without the coupon I would never have tried the stuff. For 50 cents it is worth it, for $2 or $3.49 I will keep walking. The continuing artificial sale environment is typically breakfast cereals. For my household those are not worth bothering with because the house brand cereals in plastic bags we find every bit as good as the name brand boxed stuff and at less than half the price per ounce.

I am delighted that for my grocery shops I am allowed to use coupons, and on BOGO items the store will allow 1 coupon per item. So I have $1 off coupons on Wishbone Salad dressing and the stuff is BOGO at about $2.95. I will use 2 coupons and buy it for about 43 cents a bottle. I use the dressings often as a quick and inexpensive marinade. On a recent series of shops, with the BOGOs I supposedly saved a total of about $70 and also used about $40 worth of coupons so my reimbursements went a long, long way. But if I can't use an item or it be something useful to donate, I don't bother, even if it is free.

The stores usually make a little profit for handling manufacturer coupons. I note one of my 75 cent off coupons the manufacturer will pay the store 8 cents beyond the face value of the coupon. For many stores that is more than enough incentive to handle coupons because that is an easy 10%+ profit while overall most grocery stores have less than a 5% margin on goods they sell.

Back during the grocery wars of 10 and 15 years ago, the grocery stores were offering to redeem coupons at triple the face value. At the same time, they ran specials like a 20-pound turkey with a $25 purchase. At that point it was well worth it to me and I clipped coupons and never shopped without them. It wasn't unusual for me to load my basket with $100 worth of groceries and hand over a stack of coupons.....and end up paying $5 or $6. It's not as lucrative now, and, although I still clip coupons, most of the coupons I see are not for items I want.

Yeah, I see them doubling $1.00 coupons on that show and wonder where in the world they find that deal. I do get 6 Sunday papers and have my Sunday school class bring me their coupons. I get lots of free stuff which I donate to various ministries. I found Men's deoderant free for our homeless ministry and got 10 for free. I got 109 bottles of Nivea body wash for our teen Mom's ministry. I got a bunch of denture stuff to start a box for a nursing home. All of it was free so it's worth it to me to spend a little time doing it. I can hunt and clip during any down time and watch TV or listen to music. Hrandkids help with the project too. I don't get crazy and do the stockpile thing much but I'll never pay for toothpaste or soap or that type of product again.

I sit on coupons too and won't use them until I get a good enough deal. If I can get the better mac and cheese dinner that's usually $1.87 for $.37 and it tastes better than the generic mac and cheese for $.30 then I'll spring for it. But I won't pay $1.87 ever because the kids will eat the other stuff. I'm going to use it as a base anyway and fill it full of tuna or veggies. There is a store near me that doubles everything up to $.50 but they usually don't have the brand or the specific product. I clip the .50 ones I think I'll use and keep everything in scrapbook clear pockets in a binder that I can grab and run. If they have it, fine. If they don't, I have them when I go to my main grocery store. It doubles the first two on an item. But I'm not crazy enough to stand in line twice or more. My time and energy are more valuable than that.

The other biggy is to load my loyalty card or perks accounts with digital savings. When I do that, my main grocery will surprise me every other week or so with $2- $5 off just for shopping and using my card. Krogers quit doubling completely a few weeks ago but Ron works for their warehouse and we get 10% off all Kroger brand products just using his loyalty card. In November, they make it 20% so we stockpile thinks that we can find space for that has a long shelf life. And during that time of year, you can get a turkey cheap or free for a certain spending limit.

Bottom line, extreme couponing taught me alot about how to save money. My extreme mystery shopping is teaching me the same thing. It's a skill base that I'm learning I guess which is another perk.

Our trip out this past few days may not have netted the cash profit we hoped for, but we have a system for these shops down now that will save us loads of time in the future. We also spent time enjoying beautiful weather. Just wish my old allergy eyes hadn't cost us another motel bill with no reimbursement. It was a nice Super 8 though and it had a great free breakfast. lol

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2011 08:02AM by iblessyah@yahoo.com.

sky they do have a show... except its not called that its called undercover boss... pretty much the same things...

i got pretty excited when i signed up for various companies that give you money back or points to use coupons... then i realised that the name brands with the coupons were still so much more than the generices that it isnt really worth it.. to much of a pain.. unless it is fast food or resteraunts that you are going to go to anyway... then it is worth it... otherwise... no...