Why extreme couponing is wasteful and GREEDY.

[Anonymous]

All I know is I can't stand being stuck behind them in line. Specifically at Target when only one person is working the line. Coupons are fine...but then if he said she couldn't use one of them, she would stand there for 2 minutes arguing about the freakin' coupon. One particular argument was over $0.50. You can't use it, suck it up and move on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you, OP. Extreme couponing is just another case of hoarding and a shopping addiction rolled together. A few things bother me about extreme couponing. First, who needs a 30 year supply of deoderant? Second, coupons are for processed foods usually, which is totally unheathly for people. So not only are the ladies cheating the store and fellow shoppers BUT they also are likely to run up huge medical bills, due to the ramifications of their sh*tastic diet, that cost our society. They should focus on eating healthy not trying to get a can of discontinued salt..eer I mean soup (well really chicken flavored salt). There are much healthier ways to reduce your grocery bill AND still eat nutritious foods, but I guess it lacks the thrill of getting 250 bottles of shampoo for nothing.

I am the poster who purchased the soup. I bought the soup at the request of my husband because that's what he likes to eat for lunch and he brings it to work and leaves it in a cupboard there. I am not crazy about him eating it everyday but if I don't pack soup for his lunch he goes out to Mcdonald's. He focuses on things being cheap not how crappy it is for him. He gave me a hard time once because I picked up sushi for a quick lunch when the dollar menu at McDonald's would have been more economical. As far as his food choices, they are not what I feed myself or my children.
I get a box of organic produce every week delivered to my door by the Washington Green Grocer and base our weekly meals off of that box of produce. I use coupons for additional items I will use. Yes, some of them are for processed foods but not the majority of them. I have coupons for lactose free milk, organic coffee creamer, Tylenol, Motrin, vitamins, laundry detergent, diapers, roasted nuts, hair dye, body wash, make-up, razors and lots of other things I tend to use. Sure, I used over 50 coupons the other day, but it wasn't for things I was hoarding, wouldn't use, or to fuel my craptastic diet. It's not like I am out getting all the free ramen noodles I could get my hands on. Yes, I cleared that shelf of soup, that was incidentally low sodium, but that was the first shelf I had ever cleared and probably will ever clear. I won't have a room dedicated to "my stockpile" but I do have a pantry that is stocked with things like coffee, laundry detergent and zip-lock bags.

Simmer down Soup Hoarder! HA!

[Anonymous]

I was never an extreme couponer, and I felt like it was a victory to save $20. But after DC2 arrived, I needed that 30 minutes spent clipping to care for my child. Plus I didn't have the time while I shopped to figure out if I'd save more with brand A with a 50 cent coupon or brand B with a 30 cent coupon or brand C with no coupon. I'd rather spend 30 more minutes with my kids than save $15-$20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you, OP. Extreme couponing is just another case of hoarding and a shopping addiction rolled together. A few things bother me about extreme couponing. First, who needs a 30 year supply of deoderant? Second, coupons are for processed foods usually, which is totally unheathly for people. So not only are the ladies cheating the store and fellow shoppers BUT they also are likely to run up huge medical bills, due to the ramifications of their sh*tastic diet, that cost our society. They should focus on eating healthy not trying to get a can of discontinued salt..eer I mean soup (well really chicken flavored salt). There are much healthier ways to reduce your grocery bill AND still eat nutritious foods, but I guess it lacks the thrill of getting 250 bottles of shampoo for nothing.

I am the poster who purchased the soup. I bought the soup at the request of my husband because that's what he likes to eat for lunch and he brings it to work and leaves it in a cupboard there. I am not crazy about him eating it everyday but if I don't pack soup for his lunch he goes out to Mcdonald's. He focuses on things being cheap not how crappy it is for him. He gave me a hard time once because I picked up sushi for a quick lunch when the dollar menu at McDonald's would have been more economical. As far as his food choices, they are not what I feed myself or my children.
I get a box of organic produce every week delivered to my door by the Washington Green Grocer and base our weekly meals off of that box of produce. I use coupons for additional items I will use. Yes, some of them are for processed foods but not the majority of them. I have coupons for lactose free milk, organic coffee creamer, Tylenol, Motrin, vitamins, laundry detergent, diapers, roasted nuts, hair dye, body wash, make-up, razors and lots of other things I tend to use. Sure, I used over 50 coupons the other day, but it wasn't for things I was hoarding, wouldn't use, or to fuel my craptastic diet. It's not like I am out getting all the free ramen noodles I could get my hands on. Yes, I cleared that shelf of soup, that was incidentally low sodium, but that was the first shelf I had ever cleared and probably will ever clear. I won't have a room dedicated to "my stockpile" but I do have a pantry that is stocked with things like coffee, laundry detergent and zip-lock bags.

Well you didn't post that information and you aren't part of the problem. I used soup as an example because it is often cheaper and healthier (not to mention better tasteing) to make it yourself. You recognize process food is bad. If the primary bulk of one's diet isn't process food then I have no issue with this (or with you!). I do have issues with the women on Extreme Couponing who have freezer jammed with process food items and rooms full of soda that are obese with obese kids. They are ticking time bombs that tax payers must pay for. We have criminalized smoking on public health grounds, why not this type of behavior?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

Maybe she means the "REAL" Housewives

[Anonymous]

I bet the people who are complaining here are the same ones who would argue against tax hikes digging into their pockets and taking their hard earned money. These folks played by the rules, found an angle, and exploited it. Why hate? You can do the same thing... but you don't. Tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

Terri Hatchett? Is she related to Molly Hatchett? Or Lizzie Borden?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if extreme couponing over a certain amount is taxable income? Just like how monetary gifts (from family, etc.) above a certain $$ are taxable.

Anonymous wrote:

If you didn't pay anything for it you can't write off anything.

Anything they sell at the garage sale is taxable income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

Terri Hatchett? Is she related to Molly Hatchett? Or Lizzie Borden?

Oh god, ok got the name wrong...Hatcher. There you go. FWIW, I don't watch the show. Thank you wkikpedia for helping me with the DCUM crowd. At least I know it is scripted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

But it IS real! Those ladies are my neighbors! It's weird that they're on teevee. I never see any cameras around. How dare you say it's a scripted television show! I think you're nuts! Nutso! Nuthead!

[Anonymous]

I kinda have to agree with OP. There is no way those couponers use all that product before it goes bad/expires. I've only watched the show a couple of times, but at least one of the people featured was a minister and donated all of the items which I thought was awesome and really the only productive way to use that couponing obsession/talent.

[Anonymous]

I would actually like to know how to do this on a smaller scale. I have a friend who gets free toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, etc. and donates it to a women's shelter. Alternately, she organizes care packages to be sent to soliders overseas (her husband is in the Navy so this cause is close to her heart). She does not have the means to make these purchases without coupons and it is not hurting anyone to take a few extra tubes of toothpaste.

To say that ANYONE who coupons is greedy is simply ridiculous.

It is easy to do this on a small scale. I do it with toothpaste, deodorant, pain relievers, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors, various detergents, etc. I never pay more than $1 and frequently the items are free. I always follow the store's coupon policy and never try to use coupons I'm not entitled to use. And before people jump all over me, the most of any item I have ever taken is 4. And if there are only 4 left on the shelf, I wouldn't take them all.

Extreme couponers have a large number of coupons for the same item, so that's how they are able to get 20+ of the same item. They get multiple copies of the Sunday paper & scavenge/dumpster dive for more Sunday inserts. It's nuts. I get one Sunday paper and if the coupons are really great that Sunday, I might buy an extra paper if I'm out. I have a 10-yr old who loves to clip & organize the coupons and I pay her 10% of whatever I save each week by using coupons, so it takes me very little time to do this. If there's a week she doesn't feel like doing it, I may do it myself or just skip the coupons that week. I am not obsessed with it but I do enjoy getting this stuff for free or almost free. Who wouldn't? And I'm not hoarding. Right now I have 4 extra tubes of toothpaste in my bathroom - that is about the deepest I go with my "stockpile.". The sale/coupon cycle is such that you don't need more than that - toothpaste will be free again before I use all 4 tubes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to make rash decisions based on tv shows, than so am I. Starting with...Desperate Housewives. I can't believe all people act like that!

Desperate Housewives is a scripted show. People don't act like that, honey, it is fictional!

No it's not! It's REAL!

It isn't real. The women are actresses! Marcia Cross was on Melrose Place. Terri Hatchett was on Superman. Eva Longoria was on..well I can't remember what other shows she was on. It is a scripted television show! It is NOT a reality show!

Terri Hatchett? Is she related to Molly Hatchett? Or Lizzie Borden?

Oh god, ok got the name wrong...Hatcher. There you go. FWIW, I don't watch the show. Thank you wkikpedia for helping me with the DCUM crowd. At least I know it is scripted!

Ummm.....you realize that "Reality TV" is loosely scripted, yes? It varies per show as to how "loosely" scripted, but...umm....it is entertainment television. The only part of 94% of reality shows that is different from shows like DH is that the talent on DH is recognizable and gets paid decently.