You’ve probably heard of the show on TLC called Extreme Couponing.
I’ll be honest. I’ve only seen bits of two episodes.
I’m not really a fan of extreme couponing. Either the show or the practice. And before some couponing guru hops on here and screeches at me, let me explain why.
First of all, from what I’ve seen in the show and from learning about extreme couponing online, it seems that the best deals are on junk food. Hamburger Helper, hot dogs, frozen pizzas, sugary juices, cookies, candy, etc. And the cereal… oh, the cereal. And it’s sugary cereal more often than not. Now, I’m not gonna say that my family never eats these things (except Hamburger Helper… NO. Just, NO. *shudder*) but we eat them pretty rarely. So it’s not really doing my family justice to save money buying foods that we wouldn’t normally eat anyway.
Hey, look on the bright side: the money these couponers are saving can be applied toward their healthcare costs later on in life when this horrible eating catches up with them!
Secondly, and this one really bothers me, it seems that on the show, they’re showing couponers clear off shelves by buying all the product there and using a bunch of the same coupon over again. Like the one where the lady had 70 mustards. WHO NEEDS 70 MUSTARDS?! Do they even care about the average shopper that only uses coupons as needed, and NEEDS mustard, and intended to use that coupon to just buy one or two mustards? I’ve BEEN that shopper and it’s really freaking annoying.
Third- the stockpiling. This, I’ve got mixed feelings on. If they’re buying a million of something and then are going to donate it to shelters or send it to the troops, as I have seen a guy on that show do, then it’s not so big a deal. But when you have 50 boxes of cereal in your pantry, there’s no way you are going to be able to eat them all before the expiration date. If you have 30 boxes of cold medicine in your cabinet, there’s no way you’re going to have enough colds to use them up before they pass their date. Stockpiling things that can’t go bad is one thing… but stockpiling things that do have a use by date makes no sense to me. (And again, I’d just like to stress that if these items are being donated obviously I am totally cool with that.)
And fourth… well, this: TLC ‘looking into’ allegations of coupon fraud on ‘Extreme Couponing’.
So… am I against couponing? Of course not! I love to save a buck as much as the next gal. And I do use coupons regularly (and legally!). But I do not agree with eating a diet of all processed, sugary, fatty, salty foods in order to save money, nor do I agree with accruing things you don’t want or use just because they were cheap or free.






