Community Chat

[sidsmom]

They usually buy a lot of junk food...and junk drinks w/ these coupons. Also...thinking 'Green', a lot of plastic is being wasted. Lots of laundry detergent in smaller bottles, when a larger bottle using less plastic would be greener...less packaging is important.

If you REALLY want to save money, head over to the 'frugal' websites. These ladies can, grow & cook their own food. They make their own soap, shampoo, lotions, etc. Organization is key. They trend grocery stores sales so they know in 2014 what will be on sale in 2015 & prepare accordingly. THOSE are the families that really know how to save.

[kittymomNC]

I watched a couple of episodes of that today, and I have one main thing to say. Going to the grocery store is one of my least favorite things to do, and I definitely don't want one in my house!

That said, I have seen a few shows where people do give to food banks, etc. and in that case, I applaud the work it took to get that much food and other products to donate. Otherwise, I think it probably is a form of hoarding. No one can use all the stuff they accumulate on these shows in a reasonable time or before expiration dates in some cases. I opened a box of elbow macaroni the other day which was a couple of months prior to its expiration date, dumped it into the water, and when I looked again, there were a few little bugs floating on top of the water! Ugh - it wasn't even expired yet!

I use coupons only for the things I know I will use within a reasonable period of time. I try to use them when one of my stores does double coupons up to $2.00 ($4.00 off the price), or when they do triple coupons up to 99 cents, and when I can combine those with a sale price, that's terrific. I save quite a bit of money, but it does take time to do it. There are some products that I refuse to pay full price for, so I stock up during sales and by using coupons.

[jackthebear]

It is so weird. There was only one show I watched where a young(ish) man was collecting HBA items for a shelter. The others are just collecting stuff that they will never use and wasting their money

[Snowpuppy]

I was very heavy into couponing and rebates when I was a SAHM.

We had a club that met at the local public library once a month. We would trade coupons and share info. I needed coupons for diapers and pet food and would happily trade for say Stouffer's entree's.

While some kept a well stocked pantry it wasn't hard to bring in trade items, too. You could trade toilet paper/paper towels for bath soaps, detergent, shampoos, etc.

[Tinkrbl44]

What network is this on?

I remember a financial advisor mentioning once that this couponing and buying several items at a time is fine ..... IF you can afford to tie up your money on the accumulating inventory.

They said that, if you're on a budget, sometimes it's better to just buy one or two when it's on sale and not have hundreds (or thousands) of dollars tied up in "inventory" .... makes a lot of sense, IMO.

[nun ya]

Our stores have a limit on the number of coupons you can use. I think the stores they use allow it for the show.

[KYToby]

Many of the scenarios shown are contrived. First, many supermarkets have now put policies in place to prohibit this type of behavior, and this includes many of the stores shown on the show (with many of those shown relaxing their policy specifically for that particular episode of the show). Additionally, the producers of the show exaggerate stories in order to sensationalize and gain viewers.

One episode featured a fraternity that was using couponing to buy supplies for a party. It just so happened that I caught this while flipping channels, and the university looked familiar. I watched the episode, and while the university was not named, the mascot (quite distinctive) was shown, and I happen to live next to the university. The story implied that this was a private university (which it is not) with costs of $40,000+ per year (it does not). It showed the fraternity "singing for coupons" on campus and going door-to-door in the neighborhood (my neighborhood) collecting coupons, the show implied these activities take place on a regular basis. None of the dozen+ students I spoke with or neighbors of mine had ever heard of these things. The show then showed the frat members shopping at a store tha tis not even located here (its closest location is 90 miles from here). After this, I realized what a sham the show is.

[Snowpuppy]

I no longer coupon but I do stock a deep pantry because I live rural. I bought 25lbs of LOL butter when it was $2.50/lb during the holidays. Stocked in my deep freeze.

If you can get say $300 worth of goods for under $50 it's a great return on investment if the items have a good shelf life and they are items you use.

Grocery prices are going to continue to climb. It's the price we're paying for the money we've printed. If you can get a jar of peanut butter for $1 today and can afford to buy more, do so according to shelf life.

It will be $2 the next time you need a jar.

[Irshgrl31201]

These shows aren't even in the realm of normal. I can see if you have a couple of kids stocking up on even 20 boxes of cereal as they have a good amount of time before they go bad, so you would know they would get used. I don't see normal couponing though, I see people buying junk they won't need to use for years. That isn't normal. I agree with the poster that admires those who coupon and give to food banks. That is completely appropriate in those cases. What isn't normal is having 100 tubes of toothpaste and getting more just because they are on sale. I have watched a couple of these shows where these nut jobs completely buy up ALL the items on sale and go from store to store to do the same and leaving none for anyone else.

You have to be a little mental to feel the need to do it in such an extreme.

I know people who are serious couponers and save a good amount of money. They don't have back ups that would supply their neighbors for the apocalypse though. It is just so tacky and cheap. These people will do nothing unless they can get a deal or get if for free. How does that make life even enjoyable? I just really have no patience for people like this.

[chickenbutt]

For the most part, it really does seem like hoarding. I didn't know they till had new episodes. I've seen quite a few episodes and only twice did I see people who actually donated items to help others. The rest just set up areas of their house (or some just crammed the products wherever they could) and seemed quite proud of their hoards.

In terms of perishables - what an awful waste. So much of it will go bad before they could even use it.

What strikes me the most, however, is the amount of time and money they will spend to save money. Many of them seem to join sites, for a fee, to get coupons and purchase newspapers and such for coupons, and spend many hours clipping and setting up.

I saw one where the woman was being driven around to steal newspapers from the driveways of others and some of them raiding recycling bins for papers and stealing stuff from there. It's definitely an obsession.