Extreme Couponing

I was flipping through the t.v. channels last weekend and came across the Extreme Couponing show on TLC.  At first I bypassed it, but then decided to check it out.  I figured, why not, I'll probably learn something from it.

The show turned out to be very interesting.  It showed how these women would spend an enormous amount of time finding coupons, cutting them out and then logging them into their coupon system.  Each lady had her very own way of doing this.  Some of them used spreadsheets to keep track of it all.  Fancy, huh?  To get all of those coupons, they actually went through a lot.  One lady went dumpster diving for Sunday papers. 

I thought, "Wow, this couponing takes up a lot of time.  No wonder I always clip a few and then end up not using them.".  So as I'm sitting there watching and seeing how much money these ladies are saving, I decided that maybe couponing wasn't such a bad idea.  I mean I spend lots of money on paper towel and tissue...way too much...and I'm always paying more than I'd like to for everything else I purchase.    One lady on the show showed over 100 rolls of paper towel and said that she always get it for free.  FREE!!!  I was jealous and amazed. :)  One lady actually purchased over $1500 worth of food and other products and only paid $51 out of pocket.  I know...amazing right?!?!  So, yes, I now think couponing is well worth the extra time and effort.  Maybe I won't go to the extreme with couponing, but I will begin to use coupons to my advantage.  There are so many other things I can do with my money.

These ladies purchased every thing from dog food to pasta to cleaning products.  One lady got 150 candy bars, 218 boxes of pasta, over 40 bottles of mustard, boxes and boxes of cereal.  Really?  How can they possibly use all of that before the expiration date?  With as much stuff that these extreme couponers where purchasing, it gave me an idea.  I'll share it with you on a later blog post.

A few tips I learned while watching the show:

• Mustard never spoils.  Really?  This sorta makes me afraid to eat mustard now.
• Pre-order if you are planning to purchase a large amount (over 10) of any one item.
• If the store is out of something, ask for a rain check.
• Use your coupons with store coupons.
• Some stores offer double coupon days.
• Everything goes on sale at least every 30 months. (I'm not quite sure about the number of months but that is what I scribbled on my note pad.)
• Coupons can be found online in addition to those found in the Sunday paper.

One thing I didn't like about the extreme couponing was that the grocery carts were filled with mostly processed foods like cereal, pasta, candy, and sauces.  Of course, seeing all of that really turned me off because I'm trying so hard not to eat a lot of processed foods.  A couple of the ladies said they were able to buy produce, but I never saw any in the carts.  Then as I thought about it I realized there are a lot of things I can get by using coupons.  Things such as toilet paper, laundry detergent, trash bags, toothpaste, cleaning products, paper towel and deodorants are good items to go couponing for.

As I said before, I don't think I'll be an extreme couponer but I am going to begin using more coupons.  The holidays are fast approaching and I could sure use some extra money.  Besides, every little bit helps.

Question:  Do you use coupons?  If so, share your experience.  If not, do you plan to use coupons in the future?