My twitter feed was abuzz yesterday with a bunch of PF bloggers talking about a new show on TLC, “Extreme Couponing.” I watched it last night for my first time and I have to be honest with you, I hated everything about it. EVERYTHING.
In last night’s episode, one of the featured extreme couponers bought $1,800 worth of merchandise. After giving the cashier over 500 coupons, her grand total came out to $104. Homegirl walked away with $1,696 worth of free crap.
But who wants crap? I don’t care how much you save, there is no reason you need 97 bags of croutons. No joke, she bought 97 bags of croutons!!!! I watched two episodes last night and have zero desire to see another. There is nothing practical, logical, or admirable about buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need, even if that stuff is virtually free.
Maybe I’m weird, but if someone approached me today and was like “Hey Ninja, I’d like to sell you 58 bottles of laundry detergent for $8.50”, I’d politely respond “What the hell-o am I going to do with 58 bottles of laundry detergent?”
These extreme couponers are no different than Hoarders. Their houses look more like grocery stores than homes. One ladies bathtub was full of hundreds of rolls of paper towel, another had to keep her canned food on a rack in her bedroom, one had over 1,200 coupon magazines in her garage, and my personal favorite; a women who had over 20 bags of cat food…AND SHE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A CAT!!!!
I don’t know if I’m as upset with the show as I am with all the PFers out there that seem to think these extreme couponers are cool. What is cool about getting 70 bottles of mustard for free? I was majorly disappointed because I was expecting to learn tips and tricks to save on our everyday grocery bill, but instead I just learned I can occasionally get 200 jars of pickles for $3. LAME.
The only person who didn’t totally annoy me was a lady that uses her extreme couponing for a greater good. Charity. No human being needs 40 boxes of cereal on reserves, but the local food bank could definitely use them. So if you are an extreme couponer who gives away 90% of your haul, then I commend you for being awesome. If you are keeping it all for yourself, I think you have serious hoarding issues.
If anyone wants to point me in the direction of more practical couponing tactics I’d be stoked, cause Girl Ninja and I would definitely enjoy cutting our grocery bill in half. That is as long as I don’t have to buy 232 rolls of toilet paper to get a deal.
Have you seen the show? Am I the only one that thinks these extreme couponers are crazy? Do you coupon? If so, is it possible to do so without having to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need? How much does it save you?
