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my stores have already gone into more detail with their coupon policies.
as for J'aime and all her mustard. as a seasoned couponer and mild stockpiler .39 per bottle of mustard is way too much to pay as a stock up price. maybe if I get 3 or 4 at that price but certainly not that many. also wanted to add that after watching many clips from the show myself and many of my coupon gooroo friends realized she isn't using the right coupons for a lot of the items that she bought. that is why she saved so much.
and I wanted to add that this is a "reality" show where things are set up to make better drama. no store that I know of would let you use that many coupons at one time or even in one day. the registers are designed to take 500 scans and then they lock up or they get to a certain dollar amount and lock up as well, which I think happened to j'aime.
I think it is a horrible model to show someone committing coupon fraud on camera!! coupons are coded a certain way, and some will work for other name brands ( like the cereal) when they state a different one, but using them for a product that isn't specified in the wording of the coupon, is considered coupon fraud. but I am sure that TLC and the stores overlooked that fact, for the sake of drama and entertainment.
It's great to stockpile. but they were a bit overboard. Store sales and coupons reaccure about every 4 to 6 weeks. I try to stock up on enough cheap things for 2 to 3 months that way they will last me through to the next sale cycle. but what I have excess of I do tend to send home with my parents or friends. My DH still rolls his eyes a bit, when I come home with lots of things....but he still likes eating them!
in this cabinet I have stocked up for some time. but 90% of it I got with a coupon and for less than $.75 or free.
there are 20 boxes of cereal (for ever 3 boxes of special k cereal I bought I got a coupon for free milk! so I stocked up on both!)
15 boxes of storage bags(.50 each)
6 boxes of popcorn(free)
10 canisters of plain oatmeal(.65 each)
lots of brown sugar and confectioners sugar(.24 each)
bread flour(.19 each)
7 grain pancake mix (best pancakes ever!)(FREE)
salsa (should be in another cabinet) (.49)
jello(free)
taco shells(.25)
cookie mix(.67)
and all of this will get used at some point
the thing about expiration dates on stuff like this is, it just means the store can't sell it past that date because the manufacturer can't guarantee freshness past it. but usually products are good 3 to 6 months more so that gives you plenty of time to eat it. we go through at least a box of cereal a week here between two kids, snacks and such. it's not that realistic when you think about it, wouldn't you stock up if you were getting something super cheap?
www.coupons.com www.smartsource.com www.redplum.com and many manufacturer sites have lots of coupons on there, alls you have to do is clip promotions/offers and print away! these are what i frequently use
also for forums and blog sites I use
www.hotcouponworld.com. it is very much like byc in the information that they provide for everytype of store you may shop at!
wow ok this post got long, I will end it now