Extreme couponing, its all the craze right now. Suburban stay at home moms across the country are going TLC crazy for this "sport" and I want on a team damn it! I am smitten with the idea of saving hundreds of dollars each time I go to the grocery store. However, I do think some people use couponing as a way of unleashing their inner organized hoarder. Hoarding is a fear I have, or rather a fear of becoming one. I am constantly reminding myself to just throw shit out, sometimes I regret it but usually I always forget about what I threw out so therefore making the toss a good decision. Clutter, I have enough of that, I do not need to stock pile my pantry with 96 bags of croutons regardless if I get them for free or not.
I do agree with stock piling, but this is why I think that I would be a bad extreme couponer because I really only want to stock pile certain things in a reasonable quantity such as 20 tubes of toothpaste, not 200. 20 packages of TP and Paper towels sure but 200 deodrants? 200 bags of pork rhines? I dont think that is totally necessary. I do wish I had couponed the shit out of baby supplies when Ana was little, diapers are expensive and when I have seen some pamper stock piles floor to ceiling high I want to cry out with envy and rush those hoarder's house and mug their converted grocery store garage! After reading a ton of websites and ordering a "how to guide" I realized that the consensuses is - if you have a coupon and its on sale and therefore free or next to free stock up regardless of what it is. That is not going to work for me, so picking and choosing coupons that work for me and my family is a little more difficult. But I still wanted to try this extreme sport out.
I clipped my weeks worth of savings and organized them in an old photo album. It was getting late and by the time I was done organizing the Safeway in town was closed so I had to go to Fred Meyer which I was concerned about because it is typically much more expensive. My first mistake was not having a real plan other than "buy shit on the cheap with coupons and try not to look like an asshole while doing it". Two hours later I was finally done with the house hold isles! I hadn't even gotten to the food portion of my shopping and I was exhausted. My back was spazzing out and my feet were cursing my name. I finished up the isle I was on and decided to call it a night and go back the next day for round two. My cart was FULL and I was sure my bill was going to be at least $100 worth of body soap, deodorant, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, toilet cleaner, air fresheners, lotions, and hair products galore!
I wheeled my big ass cart up to the check out and realized I was the very last person in the store - averting "asshole" status = FAIL. I immediately started apologizing for my being tardy to check out, for my ridiculous cart contents, my unorganized coupons, and my pajamas, and my over all inability to function properly in a public setting.
So how did my aimless planless extreme couponing trip go? Well, I got over $120.00 worth of loot for only $60!!!! A 50% savings at a super spendy store like Freddy's = success in my book. Did I cry and scream and blush and crap my pants like the ladies on TLC? No, but I was pretty damn proud of myself. I went to Safeway the next day and walk away with a shit ton of condements (which I love) with the same 50% savings. So, at the end of the extreme couponing extravaganza day two I spent $100 on over $200 worth of crap I may or may not ever use or consume.
I like couponing and will continue to do so. Since this challenge I have created a really nice coupon binder that is very well organized, I plan on going to a coupon class this summer because I feel a little lost on how to find the really good (read free) deals. Its really hard work, you would think that cutting a few coupons would not be a big deal, but to get the good savings you have to have multiple papers and cut out thousands of coupons, some of these addicts on TLC spend 40-60 hours a week preparing for their coupon trips (to get their 500th bag of cat liter for a cat they dont have!) but even to get mild savings like I experienced a plan is a must and hours of organization and preparation are a must!
links I like -
http://thekrazycouponlady.com
http://www.coupons.com
http://www.restaurant.com
http://www.frugallivingnw.com
Clipping coupons
Day one's loot
Day two's loot
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