How to do extreme couponing?

Anonymous
Please explain how to do extreme couponing to me. Where do you get the coupons? How do you get the types of deals where things are either free or cheap, or even free plus extra discounts for other items?

I'm very interested in learning how to do this. Thanks in advance!
Anonymous
I don't think you jump right into extreme couponing. I think you start small. Find coupons for things you normally buy. Get in the habit of using those regularly.

But the extreme ones seem to need an entire room to store the 100 tubes of toothpaste that will take them 5 years to use. So not sure why you're aspiring to that...
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Please explain how to do extreme couponing to me. Where do you get the coupons? How do you get the types of deals where things are either free or cheap, or even free plus extra discounts for other items?

I'm very interested in learning how to do this. Thanks in advance!


I briefly looked into it and it was not for me. You should join the Facebook groups because those women have a lot of experience and you can see how they match and stack sales and coupons. It’s a pretty elaborate set up a lot of them even keep spreadsheets.

But some turn into hoarders and have stashes of stuff that they never use and expire so don’t turn into one of those people!
Anonymous
Subscribe to the major newspapers or make a 'friend' who will sell/give you the coupons.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Please explain how to do extreme couponing to me. Where do you get the coupons? How do you get the types of deals where things are either free or cheap, or even free plus extra discounts for other items?

I'm very interested in learning how to do this. Thanks in advance!


I briefly looked into it and it was not for me. You should join the Facebook groups because those women have a lot of experience and you can see how they match and stack sales and coupons. It’s a pretty elaborate set up a lot of them even keep spreadsheets.

But some turn into hoarders and have stashes of stuff that they never use and expire so don’t turn into one of those people!


I have a friend who does this. Her garage is filled with 60 tubs of tide at a time plus fabric softener, dish detergent etc. More than she could ever use.

She has a problem getting rid of the stuff bcs no one in her neighborhood wants to buy it and there's nowhere really to take it.

Personally I don't trust detergent off places like eBay (no factory seals) so its a problem.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Please explain how to do extreme couponing to me. Where do you get the coupons? How do you get the types of deals where things are either free or cheap, or even free plus extra discounts for other items?

I'm very interested in learning how to do this. Thanks in advance!


I briefly looked into it and it was not for me. You should join the Facebook groups because those women have a lot of experience and you can see how they match and stack sales and coupons. It’s a pretty elaborate set up a lot of them even keep spreadsheets.

But some turn into hoarders and have stashes of stuff that they never use and expire so don’t turn into one of those people!


I have a friend who does this. Her garage is filled with 60 tubs of tide at a time plus fabric softener, dish detergent etc. More than she could ever use.

She has a problem getting rid of the stuff bcs no one in her neighborhood wants to buy it and there's nowhere really to take it.

Personally I don't trust detergent off places like eBay (no factory seals) so its a problem.


I feel like many of them do it for the thrill of getting stuff for really cheap or for free. I will say some women donate their surplus stashes to fire houses or homeless shelters. Like I said I don’t do it because it’s not for me and I saw a lot of hoarding but I did see a lot of women putting their couponing skills to really good use.
Anonymous
It's very time consuming - can be up to 10 hours a week just looking for coupons and matching them with sales, then you will have to go around to various stores.

Anonymous
I have a friend who does this as well - she is in facebook groups and that is how she knows which items are on sale where/which stores are doubling coupons etc. she gets a whole lot of items for pennies. That's great and all -- but most of what she gets we don't even use.

One thing I did learn from her was to always cut the toothpaste coupons. When its on sale you can almost always get it for free. Last time the store paid me .50.

You have to decide if the time spent on this is worth the reduction in price. I'm not sure it is overall.
Anonymous
You need to build to. it, and find systems that work for you.

I used to. coupon regularly and averaged saving 20% of my grocery bill. That's not too shabby. And all I did was get the Sunday paper and clip coupons from there. I kept them organized in categories.

Then I read the ads, and. shopped accordingly. If something was on sale, that's when I used the coupon. I tracked which of the stores near me had double coupons and shopped there when they did.

My mom is more into couponing and she would bring coupons to the library - the library had a coupon exchange, where you. would leave coupons and you could sort what they had and take coupons. More stores where she is do double coupons and special days and special promotions.

I think the DC area does not have as many options - Harris Teeter is the best for coupons I've found in DC. proper.

It would take me about 40 minutes or so a week to clip and sort coupons, then my grocery trips also took about 50% longer, as I would stand in the aisle and check to see If I had a coupon when I noticed a sale tag.

A lot of it is building up familiarity and using your memory to think, wait, I have a coupon for that. You also can get a sense for the sale cycle of stores and plan accordingly there, too. And the game has changed with online coupons and sales, too.

There are more places besides groceries. CVS has their program with the endless coupons you get from their sale receipts. I never got into it, but there are websites that can help you get organized and learn how to maximize. your savings.

Totally Target is one website I used to follow because they talk a lot about stacking (where you use a coupon plus a discount plus a sale to extra savings). It's a good way to learn how to do it.

The more into it you get, the more time it takes. Those extremes coupons are spending several hours building their efforts up. It's hard work.

I'd advise starting with basic couponing, see if you like it, and grow from there. Figure out where you shop, google around, and find the people who are successfully working the system, like Totally Target does for Target shoppers, and start doing that. Once you get the hang of it just keep adding more as you can.

Anonymous
Coupons are typically for processed food. When I looked into couponing, I concluded that cooking from scratch was a low cost, better use of my time/$ & resulted in healthier food for my family. I found recipes for making my own laundry detergent & household cleaners. I made my own reusable cloth napkins & paper towels. Extreme couponing requires much more time/effort, often requires running around to a bunch of different stores. Doesn’t answer the OP’s question but thought it might be helpful to share where I landed on the topic.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Coupons are typically for processed food. When I looked into couponing, I concluded that cooking from scratch was a low cost, better use of my time/$ & resulted in healthier food for my family. I found recipes for making my own laundry detergent & household cleaners. I made my own reusable cloth napkins & paper towels. Extreme couponing requires much more time/effort, often requires running around to a bunch of different stores. Doesn’t answer the OP’s question but thought it might be helpful to share where I landed on the topic.


+1. Very rarely are you going to find coupons for fresh meat or produce. It's important to only buy with coupons what you would buy anyway. Unlike the PP, I don't make my only laundry detergent so I buy what's on sale and I have a coupon for---I'm not brand loyal. But I don't buy packaged cookies so clipping coupons for Kebbler cookies or crackers does me no good.
Anonymous
I do extreme couponing. It takes about 4 hours a week for prep work and then the time it takes to going to different stores for the best deals. I typically shop at 3 grocery stores and CVS on a weekend night.

You stack coupons (get coupons through the newspaper like the Post), and I try to get two/three inserts if I can. Also ExtraCare bucks. Also online manufacturer coupons directly from websites or calling the company.

PP is right that not a lot of "fresh food/meat" is going to work but all toiletries like bath products/cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and yes some processed items but things that you may typically get like canned tuna, condiments, snacks for the kids (or yourself lol), and some frozen items like vegetables/fruit/snacks.

It works and it saves me TONS of money. i have knocked off $300 from a $400 bill. Bu it does time time and perseverance and most importantly - you can be a brand snob. So I have all kinds of toothpastes, shampoos, detergents, cleaning supplies, etc. I am NOT choosy with most items.
Anonymous
I am sure there is an app out there that can compare prices for you!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It's very time consuming - can be up to 10 hours a week just looking for coupons and matching them with sales, then you will have to go around to various stores.



+1 The people that do this aren't in it to save money, per se. They do it primarily because they enjoy it. I'm not an ECer, but I do really, really enjoy sale shopping and finding deals. For me, it's not so much about getting things I need for a price I can afford. I enjoy the whole process of researching, planning, shopping, and getting the deal. In fact, overall, I don't think I've saved that much money from it, I've just been able to give more things as gifts or donate more things to charity. For example, at my job, we do a holiday giving/angel tree type program. At least 3-4 people want to participate, but don't want to shop, so they give me their budget and the kids' wish list, and I go shop for them for the best deals. If I didn't enjoy it, it would be a chore. Extreme couponers, in my opinion, are the same way--the typical person who doesn't thrive off that very specific activity is not going to find the time and energy output worthwhile.
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks everyone, I didn't realize what a time commitment this would be. To be honest, I wasn't sure exactly what extreme couponing was, just that a few posters mentioned it as a way to save money. I'm not interested in stockpiling items, just getting stuff I'd already buy for a better price. We're facing a huge drop in income and I'm just looking for ways to save money. Maybe I need to just start small and look for coupons for the stuff we would buy anyway.

I'll check out the Totally Target site, see if I can get a Sunday paper from someone, and pay more attention to my CVS receipts. This should at least help some.
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