Extreme Couponing Thoughts

The internet is all a buzz with thoughts and reactions to the new TLC show Extreme Couponing that debuted last night.  I finally had a chance this morning to watch last night's two episodes and I felt the need to share my two cents.

First, I think the next show TLC should come up with is Extreme Couponing: Hoarders Edition. It irked me to no end that these people had entire grocery stores sitting in their house and they continued to buy.  One lady kept bugging her husband to put more mustard in the cart because she could get it for 39 cents each. He then commented that they don't even eat mustard and she said she tends to forget things like that when couponing.  

I would have been ok with them wiping the shelf clean if they showed her donating the mustard to charity.  Instead, I'm sure she added it to her stockpile. She was going for the thrill of the hunt instead of the practicality of buying something like 60 bottles of mustard.

Second, people said they dedicated their entire day to couponing so they could save money for their family.  Yes, you can save money but if you do not need the massive amounts you are buying, are you really saving money?  You can put your time and talents towards other things to help save money too.

I'm not knocking couponing at all.  I am a couponer and love a good sale, I'm just stating that you need to be realistic with the amount of time you spend on it and how much you buy.  If you find an amazing sale and you know you will not use it all then I suggest donating it to charity.  In fact, I keep an area in my pantry that is just for charity and everything in that area was bought for probably a quarter or less.

I will continue to watch the show as I think it is interesting but I want everyone to know, this is not reality.  Most of us couponers are not this obsessed and you can save money for your family without spending your entire week trying to do it.