Everyone likes to save a buck but the latest couponing craze, AKA Extreme Couponing, has taken frugality to new heights. Think penny-pinching on steroids.
I recently had my first real-life encounter with an Extreme Couponer. I stood in line at the grocery store perusing the magazine covers in complete oblivion to the woman in front of me. The cashier was chattering away when suddenly she grew quiet. I picked up on the change in atmosphere and noticed 11 bags of industrial-sized, non-caloric sweetener on the conveyer belt. Good grief, I thought, who uses that much saccharin? Then I noticed fifty or so packages of gum and bottles of travel-sized hand sanitizer too numerous to count. The woman was poised with a small file box in hand, facing off with the cashier. I figured I was either in the presence of a gum-smacking, calorie conscious germaphobe or an Extreme Couponer.
Miss Extreme Couponer had a nifty filing system in a container slightly smaller than a shoe box. It was stuffed with coupons, tabbed index dividers and colored sticky notes. Next to her purse was a 2-page, computer generated list of items complete with sizes, quantities and aisle numbers. I was dumfounded by this woman’s organization skills. My seven coupons – paper clipped to my super saver card – seemed paltry in comparison.
I wish I could say that everyone was as fascinated with Miss Extreme Couponer as I was but most of the people behind me in line quickly assessed the situation and moved to a different aisle. The cashier wasn’t rude but she was far from enthusiastic since it seems to be store policy to ring e-v-e-r-y item over the scanner, one at a time. (As a side note, whatever happened to cashiers doing simple math on the registers? One package of Juicy Fruit multiplied by 117 packages – using function keys on the register – would be so much faster than 117 blips over the scanner.)
The TLC Television Network has escalated public awareness of extreme couponing with a show called, you guessed it, “Extreme Couponing.” The network has combed the nation looking for the most fanatical coupon clippers and fashioned an entire television show around them. In one episode, the extreme couponer purchased 100 packages of dehydrated noodle meals, 210 packets of instant drink mix and was at the checkout counter for an hour and a half. The cashier admitted begrudging surprise at the customer’s total bill but was otherwise not a happy camper.
In another episode, the extreme couponer used her coupons at a store that doubles coupon values and accepts them on sale items. This couponer actually accrued a negative balance for which the store owed her money. She used the overage to purchase other items on her list and left the store with 2 shopping carts full of merchandise and a payout of thirty one cents from the store.
I’ll admit that the concept of extreme couponing is impressive, if not brilliant. (If only there was a way to pay our income taxes the same way!) Still there are a few things to consider before jumping onto the extreme couponing bandwagon.
Couponing and organization are two sides of the same coin. If you are a person who constantly misplaces your car keys or can’t ever find a pair of matching socks in your drawer then clipping coupons will only add to your daily disarray. You’re going to need a plan. Normal couponers thumbtack the coupons they’re going to use to the bulletin board and hopefully remember them on shopping day. Extreme couponers clip every coupon that crosses their path and file them accordingly. Hundreds of coupons need to be filed by item, expiration date, participating store, etc. You may need a binder with slide-in slots (think photo album) or something more like a recipe box.
Storage area is a must. Whether you put up shelves in your garage or basement or dedicate a closet in your home to stockpile items, you’re going to need a moderate area to store your booty. Here again, organization is the key to knowing what you have. If you don’t have a shelving system you’re going to discover – too late – the stale crackers and flat soda pop behind the mountain of Styrofoam cups and toilet bowl brushes.
Couponing takes time; time to gather, time to clip, time to file and catalogue in some say. If you don’t have several hours a week to do the work (and maintain it) so that you know what you have and can retrieve it quickly, you’re going to fall out of love with couponing in a hurry. Many extreme couponers get together with each other to swap coupons and share ideas. Personally I think it’s a good idea to have a support group if you are involved with anything with the word “extreme” in front of it.
Finally, take caution in extreme couponing just for the sale of getting a deal. You may be able to bilk your grocer out of 68 boxes of contact lens solution but if you have 20/20 vision, what’s the point? Yes, there IS an underlying theme with extreme couponers that they are couponing with the intention of donating many items to Food Pantries and the like. This is a noble and worthwhile cause to be sure. But keep in mind that an organization that needs peanut butter and breakfast cereal might be less than thrilled to receive 37 cases of antacid however selfless it may seem to the giver.
See you at the checkout.
