Extreme Couponing Show**Update pic heavy**

[platinum dragon]

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yes we all do actually.

 

[bethandjoeync]

once you start to use coupons more frequently and start saving more and more, it really gets addictive and becomes almost a game to see how much you can save each time vs. how much you pay out of pocket. I definitely am not to the extreme that this show portrays, but I have my stock of cereals, pastas, condiments, health and beauty items, and paper products. It's like seeing a trophy everytime you go to the cabinet. and it makes cooking so much easier because you have so much to choose from, and the only thing you may need to pick up (or grow) is the produce.

to save $600 realistically in one shopping trip will take hours of planning, clipping and sorting. and realistically, no store is going to double that many coupons in one transaction or in one day (unless you are followed around by a camera crew and going to be on national tv)

I do my best to save 60% or more each week that I shop. I have a budget of $320 to $350 a month for groceries and such, so smart shopping is a must.

what I can't get super cheap I will certainly try to find a rebate for and get money back in the mail!! so far this month I have gotten almost $60 worth of rebate checks for things that I bought! that is almost a week's worth of grocery budget!! I love checking the mail now

one thing I don't like about this show though, is they don't mention how much money they all spend in coupons and buying newspapers and such. I do my best to factor all that in and make my grocery trips worth the gas. if I don't then what is the point?

just remember that these shows are somewhat staged and not necessarily realistic coupon shopping.

 

[Mallory]

Yep, I haven't watched that show but even hearing things about it I could tell that it was really amping up the whole "how much I saved on ONE shopping trip!"

I used to coupon, and yes, it was fun, challenging and worth it to me. I had a large stock pile of cereal in my closet by the kitchen, and yes we used it ALL.

I stopped though because as others have said, most of the coupons weren't for healthy things, even if they claim to be the healthy ones, I just know better. lol I never could get free TP, but deodorant yes, toothpaste, yes, toothbrushes, you bet!

And anyone who coupons and has mega-stock should DO something with it, not just let it sit and rot. Some people who go and buy all that mustard, for example, will have a garage sale, and sell it for a buck. Some people MAKE money couponing like this.

Anywho- There are some awesome deals out there worth going out and getting, but no reason not to stay realistic about the whole thing.

 

[redhen]

Well..heres my update..
I looove couponing now! I'm addicted..

Heres my little stock pile(so far) since April... every week i add to it.
I turned my spare bedroom into a storage room... and i have 3 freezers full of food also. (actually 4 freezers...with the one inside the house..) *dam..no wonder why my electric bill is so high..

*
Its really a comfort to know that, if hard times come, we'll have some food to last us a few weeks.
So next week will be tight here..i wont have to go shopping for anything. Its a good feeling.
Hubbys even into it with me..

All of this stuff was super cheap and some was free.

 

[redhen]

Sorry about all the pics..

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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That's awesome. Unfortunately, we have no real newspaper--where do you get all of your coupons? I'd love to learn how to do this!

 

[farmerlor]

The problem for me with couponing is that the coupons are always for packaged and convenience foods that we don't use. If I could find coupons for flour or sugar or vegetables or fruit that I could can I'd be all over that.

 

[redhen]

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I know! Theres never any coupons for flour/sugar/milk... etc...
They do sometimes coupons for bags of frozen veggies though... i got quite a bit of them very cheap.

 

[farmerlor]

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I know! Theres never any coupons for flour/sugar/milk... etc...
They do sometimes coupons for bags of frozen veggies though... i got quite a bit of them very cheap.

I actually ran across a sale for Hamburger Helper the other day. Fifty cents a box and I thought about buying some for the college boy and thought to myself "now if I had some coupons for this rotten crap, it would almost be worth buying."

 

[klf73]

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That's awesome. Unfortunately, we have no real newspaper--where do you get all of your coupons? I'd love to learn how to do this!

I too would like to do it, just don't know where to start....with 7 kids my food budget is HUGE