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Extreme couponing show on TLC


chellebelle

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I missed the first 10 minutes, but what I did watch was amazing!!! Thousands of dollars worth of groceries for almost nothing. Of course they have to be very organized, which I totally am not. These folks had binders and shopping game plans for their hundreds of coupons, and went to great lengths to get that many.

Several of the people showed how they store the items, and their garages looked like little grocery stores. The best part for me was the young man at the end who got something like a thousand boxes of cereal free, and donated it to the local food bank.

If you get a chanced to watch it, it's really interesting. Especially in this economy. I do use coupons, but surely not to that extent!

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I DID! I was talking about that on FB last night. I want to learn how to do that but not to that extreme. I want free groceries but umm. I do not want to have to rent a semi to get it home.

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Hmmm... I didn't know there was a show, I bet it would be fun to watch. I used to be a little like that, now I've dwindled way down. Starting minis definitely slowed down my couponing. I do have my moments though. A few weeks ago Kroger paid me $12.50 (I absorbed it in other groceries) to take 65 bottles of Gatorade out of their store. Other things I've gotten free are Chex Mix, shampoo, razors, toothpaste, boxed mashed potatoes ($.08, not free), toilet paper, spaghetti sauce, noodles and pasta. But I don't get hundreds, just 5-20. Unless it's Chex Mix or toilet paper, then I might get 40 or more. It really is fun and addicting, and it's really hard then to pay a higher price for things once you get used to it.

I used to get at least 5 copies of the paper and clip all the coupons and store them in a 3 ring binder. That did take way too much time, so when I started working I changed my procedure. Now I'm really lazy and only get coupons off eBay or a coupon clipping service. BTW, you can't buy or sell coupons, but you can pay for someone's time and effort to clip them for you... It does take a lot of planning and organization, but there are several websites out that can help tremendously with making your list.

If anyone has any questions or help getting started, I'll be glad to help! :)

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Since we no longer have our big dish and cable isn't available out here in the woods, we no longer get TLC, but they ran a teaser on GMA earlier and one of the points they made is that for some folks this is a form of hoarding, and one of the questions that came up was how much food do the hoarders have to throw out from spoilage. Donating the excess to a food bank, especially in this economy but even considering how many folks really do live in poverty, makes so much more sense!

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Yeah, Holly, spoiled food can be a problem, and there have been a few times I've had to throw things out. :) But, that also happens with just "normal" shopping that ends up in my cabinets instead of the stockpile too, sometimes I'm just not good at using things I think I will. And I have gotten better, like anything it takes practice. But, whenever there is a food drive at the school or somewhere, oh yeah, they get very hefty donations!!

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Tracy!

Yup, they all had three ring binders. This one lady did not over do it though. She would buy big on certain items but others she would just get 5 or 6. See that is what I want to do. You have to watch the sales flyers, clip mega coupons, there were services were you could pay for the coupons to be clipped for you (i do not think I would do that). I think spending the $10 a sunday on the newspapers is a deal if it saves you money. I am trying to find ways to save a buck. My friend and I are thinking of doing this together.

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Yep Heidi, I just try and get what I'll need until the next sale, and maybe a little extra if I think I can donate it (for a few months last year I was also providing food to my dad, so that came in super helpful!). It takes a little bit to learn the sales and coupon cycles. But there are cycles. And you'll be surprised how often sales and coupons coincide! It's all advertising. The beginning of January is a really big coupon time, there will be several inserts in the paper. Vitamins, heath food, and soup will be abundant.

One year I only had to go to the grocery store for milk, bread, and fresh things for all of November and December. I even had meat stockpiled. That was nice because I could spend that time (and money) Christmas (bargain) shopping!

Here in Georgia, we have double coupons $.50 and under at some stores, so that helps a lot. I also will buy the double pack (early and late editions) of the Atlanta paper for $3, cheaper than buying 2 papers. Back when I was buying papers, I would still use a clipping service for some things I knew I would want a lot of, and buy 10-20 coupons instead of that many papers. It came out cheaper if there were just a couple I needed that many of. Also, different geographic areas sometimes get different values, so it sometimes pays to look around at what else is available. Like I might get $1/2, and somewhere that doesn't double might get $.50 off 1. It seems that would be the same, but for me the $.50 is more valuable because it translates into $1 if I use it at a doubling store. Plus, a $.50 coupon typically has a lower handling fee than $1 anyway. Just some things to think about.

Some people keep price books, basically a spreadsheet with prices of your most bought things, so you'll know if it's really a good deal. I'm a number person, so I actually could remember all that in my head, so never kept up with one. But my organizer has one in it, so that's handy if I ever wanted to do it.

This is what I use for my organizer, and I love it. I've had it for about 6 years now, and it's much more convenient and easier to keep up than the binder. It's the size of a day planner. For a little while I got a separate dayplanner and put half the dividers in it, and had one for food, and one for non-food.

http://www.couponorganizer.com/

Something else I do is file my uncut inserts. Then when I do my shopping list for the week, I just go to the insert I need, and just cut out what I need when I need it. Most internet generated lists will tell you the date of the insert.

And this is my favorite clipping service. http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ The lady that runs it is super.

Here's another service I've used before, she's closer to you, and is also nice. And it looks like she was mentioned on the show!

http://www.thecouponmaster.com/

Good luck and please let me know if there's anything I can do to help! It'll be fun! :)

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The funniest part was where the one lady was going through the grocery store admonishing all the other shoppers about getting better deals on their purchases!

Watching that show made me feel a bit bad though because I probably end up using a coupon about once or twice a year, and that by accident... Though I work long hours and don't have much time to get too involved in it, it is something that I could improve on, and save some $$...

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Tracy, I wish they'd feature you on the show, you explained it better than any of the ones on the show did! I turned it on when the first couple were starting to shop, so I didn't see how she gets her coupons. I did notice all of them bought tons of pasta and sauce. That's good if you have a family.

I use coupons for things I am buying anyway, I wouldn't purchase something I didn't need no matter how cheap. Our local grocery doubles coupons up tp 99 cents, but even with that things are not as cheap as Marc's.That's where we get dry goods, and then get meat at the grocery or butcher. Years ago, we had a freezer, and I'd but beef by the side, and freeze or can veggies I grew in my garden. Sure can't do that now!

Since shopping wears me out really badly, Dan does it, so I'm not up on prices.

The nice lady who was helping other shoppers did mention contacting manufactures to ask for coupons and discounts. Friends of ours did that many years ago, because of something gross in their bag of name brand potato chips. They just wanted the company to be aware of it, not expecting anything back. The company sent them apologies and many coupons.

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Thanks Michelle! :)

The basic concept is simple, executing it is little harder. And it takes practice, and also everyone will have the one way that works best for them. I read about it and a neat website that helps with your lists twice before I finally caught on. And it took my husband a few months to catch on and realize I had not totally lost my mind.

And I've had lots of people tell me the same kinds of things, this store is cheaper, generic is cheaper, it doesn't help to use the coupon at this store, etc. Or that they forget to use them, or coupons are not on things they normally buy. Using coupons has allowed us to try things we wouldn't have normally, and find new things. Also, we are not as brand specific, or found that we like another better. And, I never buy generic store brand anymore, not that there's anything wrong with store brand, but I can always find the name brand cheaper with a sale AND a coupon. And like I said, that happens together much more than you probably expect. I also shop at the "expensive" stores, because those double, run promotions more (buy 10 get $5 off instantly for example), and since they are more expensive they have higher mark-ups, which means they can have more loss leaders during sales. When I do have to go "big" grocery shopping, if I've been lazy coupon shopping for a while and actually need stuff, I will go to Target because they are cheaper with no sale or coupon.

I do try to be helpful too, and share deals with other shoppers that look like they might appreciate it. Like one lady was looking at all the toilet paper one day trying to find the cheapest. I shared a couple of my coupons so she could get 2 packs free. She was excited. And I also sometimes play Coupon Fairy, if I have extras I'm not going to use I may leave one on top of a product. And I've found some too for things I needed, so I'm not the only one around here!

And this isn't for everybody, obviously. I've tried to explain this to many people, and only 1 that I know has actually started it. And now I'm embarrassed when I see her in the store, and she asks how much I'm saving, and I just have to hang my head... I just don't have the time or motivation I used to, with my job and minis. I really need to get better. Maybe we can start a support group here! Share and post deals we found to help keep each other motivated.

I would love for others to try it. Good luck to all who do! :blink:

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I seriously want to learn. I have the time because I do not work and I have to do it because at the end of this year..we lose the money I get for Natalie thru SS. Almost $500 a month. :) I have gotten my budget to where we are fine with losing it but I want to do more so that I can have extra money.

So you throw those websites at me on here.

Now I have a expensive store that will have buy 10 for $10 but you can buy them for $1 a piece. But that store most of the time does not have a limit. There is another grocery store in town that always has a buy four at this price..so this would not really work for this. Unless I only wanted four of that item.

Once I got all excited because I bought a very very large boneless pork loin and it was half off. LOL I am saving it for Easter.

I also know there are cycles of foods. Like all the barilla pasta is $1 a piece this week. So now I have to pay attention to when it goes on sale again to see what the pattern is. I am going to buy up newspapers this Sunday.

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Ouch, Heidi, $500/month. Glad you got your budget where you can handle that, but yes this sure will help. I feel you though. We got notification last week that the boys' school tuition is going up for next year, the best I can figure it will be an increase of about $400 for us. That won't start until July, but I'm already thinking on how we will do that. We have to make the decision in January on re-enrollment so that's why I have to start thinking ahead.

Oh and Heidi, before you go buy lots of papers, go to the Coupon Clippers and check and see what coupons are out this weekend. She already has them up. She also has a Coupon Tracker, that she puts up around Wednesday or Thursday each week, that shows which coupons will be out that weekend. Useful for planning.

There are 3 companies that put out inserts. SmartSource, RedPlum, and Proctor and Gamble. The SS and RP come out pretty much every week, sometimes there may be 2 different ones of one or another, or both. The P&G comes out once a month, usually the first or last weekend, I forget which.

On holiday weekends there are no inserts, unless it happens to be a P&G weekend. This weekend is a P&G only week, so you may not need to buy lots if those coupons/products don't appeal to you.

Tomorrow I will look through my stuff and see what links I can come up with. I'm really out of touch, so this is good motivation for me too to get updated on the latest sites. I will also pull out the document I wrote several years ago for people that were asking me questions, and post some more useful tips here.

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Nevermind on the P&G only weekend, Heidi! I just went and looked and it looks like they are planning on more inserts this weekend, even though it's a holiday! Yea! Usually the first weekend of the year has big inserts, so if it's like that this year, it will definitely be worth it to buy several papers.

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WooHoo, LOTS of good coupons this week! Hefty, Finish (dish detergent), Quaker Oatmeal, Chex Mix, Lots of Special K and vitamins, soup, Pillsbury bread stuffs, Boost, Cottage Cheese, yogurt, and every kind of V-8 juice there is.

Another tip: If a coupon says Do Not Double, Look at the barcode. If it starts with a 5, it will still automatically double in most registers (if that store doubles). A savvy cashier might still catch it though. If it starts with a 9, it will not double.

Happy couponing! :)

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Look online for a coupon class. I went to one and learned a lot and she gives you hand outs. Only cost 5 dollars and got tons of freebies for going.

First thing to do is get your binder and the plastic sleeves like you put football cards in. Amd make tabs for the different stores and certain coupons.

Make sure that you have printed copies of all the stores policies reguarding coupons. You will need it sometime or another.

Stockpile Couponing takes a lot of time and that was something I didn't have time for as it would have taken my mini time away.

But me and another gal are getting items for our Relay For Life time to raffle off.

I have tons of sites that are safe and will post them later today.

Becareful as some sites are not safe.

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Heidi also there is a huge coupon world on facebook. and some stores/products will give you a coupon for pressing "like" on their page.

Type Coupon in the search engine and see all the ones you can find.

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Wow!!

I am loving all of the help. I am thinking I need to go out and get a starter binder with plastic pocket inserts just to get the feel of it. I am going to start off small because you have to save your coupons and then wait until you see when something is on sale to use the coupon.

So buy up the newspapers this Sunday?? I was thinking of just buying 3 of them to start off. Like I am dipping my toe in the water..LOL

I am headed to FB now.

Thank you!

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Holly, I'm actually not sure about the steel-cut oats. The coupon description says "Quaker Instant Oatmeal or Quick or Old Fashioned Oats". I may can tell more when I get my coupons in, or tomorrow if I go buy extra papers. And yes, there is a Yoplait Greek Yogurt, $.60/2.

Heidi, You may want to hold off a tiny bit before you go out and buy a binder. There's a lot of time and expense in setting up a binder, and if you're starting small, your organizer can be small. And I actually prefer the smaller organizer I have to the big binder, it's easier to carry, and it works well for me. I would see how you do first and if you think you'll need that many coupons before you go through all that. The advantage of the baseball card pages is that you put 1 coupon in each slot, so you can at a glance see every coupon. Great if you have a lot. I now typically have only a few in each category so I don't really need that.

It looks like there are 4 inserts this week. So 3 papers will give you a ton of coupons to start with. As you start getting more comfortable, you'll see how many things you'd like to get at a time and not be overwhelmed, then you'll know how many papers will work for you.

Here's a good site to start with. It's the one I started with many years ago. http://www.couponmom.com/ She has a virtual coupon organizer that you canlook up dates of coupons, and also sale lists by state.

I know there are others, but I haven't kept up good.

I also like the forums here: http://www.afullcup.com/forums/index.php

There's another I've heard a lot about, but I can't think of it now. I'll get back to you on that.

And The Coupon Clippers also has a forum, but it's not near as busy as the others. http://www.thecouponclippers.com/forum/

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