Am I An Extreme Couponer

The show Extreme Couponing will start airing on TLC tomorrow and I expect that, because of this, there will be a more heightened interest in couponing.

Extreme Couponing shows people checking out carts and carts of groceries valued at over $1000 and paying a mere 5-10% of the total cost. And when I got to watch an episode back in May, I wanted to find out how they did it. I wanted to do exactly what they were doing. I thought to myself, if they could do it, I could do it too!

But I soon found out that not everything on the show is for real. Stores accepted coupons that were not intended for the items purchased and lifted their coupon policy for the couponer. They gave special considerations just for the sake of the show. And this gave the viewers (especially the newbie couponer) unrealistic expectations.

I got disheartened when I discovered this. Add to that the fact that none of the stores here in the Bay Area would double the value of coupons, something that most stores on the east coast normally do. But I figured, I may not be able to mimic the extreme couponing portrayed on the show, but I know that I could still do regular couponing.

So I continued collecting coupons from newspaper inserts and magazines, internet coupons, mobile coupons and digital coupons. As a result, I normally save around 50-80% when I do some grocery shopping.

No, I’m not an extreme couponer. I don’t spend 60 hours just for couponing. I don’t check out several carts when I shop. I don’t usually pay only 5% of the bill.

But I save money. I also spend quality time with my baby and my husband. I blog. I do chores. I serve at our church.

I am still a couponer. But not of the extreme type.

*The 2nd Season of TLC’s Extreme Couponing will air tomorrow, Wednesday at 10pm. If you wanna watch Season 1 episodes, TLC will have a marathon from 3pm to 10pm.

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Comments

Am I An Extreme Couponer — 3 Comments

    • Hi! It really depends. Sometimes I pay as much as 60% of my total bill. Sometimes as low as 20%. I’m satisfied as long as I cut the bill to 50%. 🙂

  1. I am with you on that. I don’t have that many hours to spend on this but I love to save whenever I can. Thank you for sharing this