Extreme Couponing: Can You Make it Work for You?

Most people are aware that “extreme couponing” is all the rage nowadays, thanks in part to a television program aired on TLC of the same name. Extreme Couponing features ordinary people who can come out of a grocery retailer with a full cart or even multiple cartloads of goodies, for mere pennies compared to what they would have paid full price. Sure, it all sounds well and good, but it’s not without it’s downside.

I have never personally watched the TLC program, but before it began airing, I had one time watched a special program about “extreme couponers”. I was stunned at the amount of goods they were able to purchase for only a few dollars, or even cents in some cases.

I was even more stunned at the effort it took for them to be able to accomplish this. One woman basically devoted her life, much like having a job, to acquiring and printing out these coupons for her weekly and monthly trips to the store. One woman wasn’t even able to go shopping alone, because she needed two carts heaped to the top and had to have her husband on hand to push the other one.

The special program then showed us these people at home, and we got to see where and how they stored all of these cartloads of items. Some actually had entire rooms of their homes devoted to storing their coupon purchased goods.

After viewing this, several questions came to mind.It made me wonder how the average family living in a smaller home or apartment could have this much space available, especially for perishable and frozen foods. Could these families actually use all of the products they purchased, in a timely fashion, so as not to have the items expire or go to waste? Also, how many of the items would these families actually use and purchase if not for the coupons? Are they actually buying the brands they like, or simply buying what brand they have a coupon for? These are all things to be considered before starting your own extreme couponing expedition.

I agree that it’s pretty impressive to watch these extreme couponers in action, but seriously have to wonder if I could devote so much of my life to acquiring and using coupons. Sure, like everyone else, I use them from time to time, on things that I normally use. A few of my friends are giving it a whirl, and I think I’ll sit back and see how it works for them before I jump on the bandwagon.

If you are interested in learning the ropes of extreme couponing, please visit the TLC site and look up extreme couponing, or visit thekrazycouponlady.com .


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