My manager says your wrong so I'm going to go with it.

[Kittykat]

Cecily, just a heads up never, ever place coupons on the conveyor belt. I've seen many a coupon get eaten.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Now shut the fuck up & get out of the way, because other people have places to be and they don't expect applause for taking up everyone elses' time.

Took the words out of my mouth . . . especially the spending all day organizing the coupons.

Not everyone has all day to spend clipping and organizing and driving around searching for more coupons for stuff I'll never use up by the time it expires.

I do use a coupon once in a while but most of the time, what I see in the Sunday paper or get back at the store when I shop are for items I don't use - I'll do check the ads in paper and plan my shopping around that (especially either 12pk or 2 ltr Pepsi products/24 packs of water/toilet paper, et al) but outside of that, I just buy what we need at the time and move on with life.

[Deserted]

I do use a coupon once in a while but most of the time, what I see in the Sunday paper or get back at the store when I shop are for items I don't use - I'll do check the ads in paper and plan my shopping around that (especially either 12pk or 2 ltr Pepsi products/24 packs of water/toilet paper, et al) but outside of that, I just buy what we need at the time and move on with life.

This. Oh my gods, this. Also:
friend: "Hey look, Deserted, I've got a $1 off coupon for [INSERT NAME BRAND HERE]."
me: "...or I could save $3 by buying the just-as-good generic."

[lupo pazzesco]

I've started couponing, but I'm a lot like wagegoth said upthread. I coupon for things we use. Occasionally, if I see a coupon for something we've been wanting to try, I'll go for it. And sometimes I DO do the big trips to stock up on shelf stable stuff we USE. Example, Target had their "new year, new you" promo going on a few weeks back. Their Market Pantry brand pasta was Buy 3, get 1 free, and I had coupons for $1 off 3. I grabbed a dozen different boxes because pasta is a go to lunch or dinner staple for us.

But I'm not an Extreme Couponer. I can shave anywhere from 20-40% off our shopping totals, but I'm also organized. I don't spend more than an hour, (two if it's a HUGE trip), and that's planning the menu, checking what I have, making the list for what I need, and grabbing coupons for what I'm grabbing. We grocery shop once a week. That's it.

I do hate the stigma that couponing has garnered thanks to that show, but I do it to save us money, because things are tight right now, especially recently, and since I seem to have a penchant for breaking expensive possessions.

Idiots like in the OP drive me nutsoid bonkers, and I think they should be banned for abusing the policy...

[mjr]

I know this is going to sound like a dumb request, but can someone explain "extreme couponing" to me, and where this "craze" came from?

I'm actually surprised a lot of places still allow it, to tell you the truth. I have heard stories of certain stores, retail, and restaurants not honoring "groupons", so I'm just a bit surprised that they haven't gone, "sorry, no extreme couponing".

[prjkt]

"not valid with any other offer" is printed on almost EVERYTHING distributed here, does that happen on your side of the pacific?

[lupo pazzesco]

I know this is going to sound like a dumb request, but can someone explain "extreme couponing" to me, and where this "craze" came from?

I'm actually surprised a lot of places still allow it, to tell you the truth. I have heard stories of certain stores, retail, and restaurants not honoring "groupons", so I'm just a bit surprised that they haven't gone, "sorry, no extreme couponing".

I have no idea how/where it started, but from what I can tell, "Extreme" means getting high quantities/values for very little, usually about 90% off. Some of these people have enough stockpiled to live on for YEARS, and I think it's crazy. They're also the type that clear a shelf completely because they can't pass up a coupon, even if they've NEVER tried the product before.

I'll never be an extreme couponer myself. I mean, I won't dumpster dive for coupons, I won't steal inserts out of papers, I won't steal papers, I won't beg for inserts (No joke, I've seen people on my local freecycle group, every Sunday "WANTED: All the coupon inserts you can give me, so I can save money for my family!! " *gag*)

I work with buying 2 papers every Sunday, and printing stuff from social media, from online sites, and I only print what we use. So many coupons for food are junk food, and since we try to stay somewhat healthy, I probably only take advantage of about 30-35% of the coupons offered.

[Kheldarson]

"not valid with any other offer" is printed on almost EVERYTHING distributed here, does that happen on your side of the pacific?

We've got coupons like that, but that's mostly store level sales (like 40% off entire order type sales). Most extreme couponing is done with manufacturer's coupons which means so much off one item. And since the point is to make you buy more of a brand, why would they limit that?

[lupo pazzesco]

True, but I've seen more and more lately, manufacturer's coupons that start to limit, i.e. "Limit 4 like coupons per person", and that's become store policy in a lot of places as well. Target, for example (Where I do most of my shopping) at least down here, will let you stack manufacturer's coupons with store coupons and their Cartwheel coupon app. But it limits 4. So, I've got coupons from the manufacturer for Bounty paper towels, Target coupons for Bounty paper towels, and their cartwheel is running a special, 10% off of any Bounty paper towel pack, 6 rolls or higher. I can get 4 packs where I use the 2 coupons and the cartwheel, but that's it.

Unless I want to split transactions. Which I hate doing. I've done it a grand total of twice, and that's when things were REALLY tight, so we took advantage of one of the "Buy X products, get a free $XX gift card!" We bought the products, got the gift cards and applied them on the next transaction, to get groceries and supplies for a couple weeks.

[crazylegs]

Some of these people have enough stockpiled to live on for YEARS, and I think it's crazy. They're also the type that clear a shelf completely because they can't pass up a coupon, even if they've NEVER tried the product before.

I watched one episode and saw one family get an incredible discount on loads of stuff. They took what they needed (i.e. a regular weekly shopping trips worth) then donated the rest to the local foodbank, which I thought was an excellent way of doing it.

[lupo pazzesco]

I watched one episode and saw one family get an incredible discount on loads of stuff. They took what they needed (i.e. a regular weekly shopping trips worth) then donated the rest to the local foodbank, which I thought was an excellent way of doing it.

Yeah, if everyone were doing that, it'd be great. One of my favorite people on that show is a ministry student. He coupons all week, and on the weekend, they clear out the basement/stockpile and donate it all. If that were the case, I'd probably not cringe over it as much. He also pre-orders by the pallet, so as not to clean the store out of the sale product.

Now, it's the people who think they absolutely NEED 82 bottles of detergent, because they're down to ONLY 20 that make my eyebrow twitch.

Fun fact: There's an extreme couponing workshop offered here in town next month, I signed up for it with a couple friends. It's featuring one of the people from season 1 of the show. I figure we'll either learn something new, be it a good tip/trick or what NOT to do, or we can sit and quietly roll our eyes at the whole thing, while having fun together. Either way, win/win!!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I HATE when the couponers try to get the cashier enthusiastic about the whole thing. Guess what? The cashier is spending hours getting you through while you question each and every price, double check every coupon and start "chatting" to everyone within earshot how much money you'll be saving.
Getting all your groceries for free? Good for you.
Spend hours and hours collecting coupons every day? Good for you.

Now shut the fuck up & get out of the way, because other people have places to be and they don't expect applause for taking up everyone elses' time.

This. The thing I hate most about "extreme couponing" is it's very disruptive to store operations.

All it takes is one or two of these people and the checkout lines will soon back up to Timbuktu, the managers will be on the PA screaming for people to come off the salesfloor and swarm the checkouts so the people who aren't extreme couponing can get through the lines faster, and other shoppers will become frustrated that they can't find anybody to answer a question for them, or check the backroom for something, and leave.

If it's so important for you to save all this money, fine; just be quiet about it since the store is being turned inside out for an undetermined period of time just to humor you.

I watched one episode and saw one family get an incredible discount on loads of stuff. They took what they needed (i.e. a regular weekly shopping trips worth) then donated the rest to the local foodbank, which I thought was an excellent way of doing it.

At least somebody will get use out of those products, unlike those wonderful wonderful people (let's reach deep into our Bag of Descriptions and call them "assholes") who will buy a ton stuff with coupons, then return it all so they can walk out with more money than they paid for the products.

[Kagato]

Fun little anecdote, was at the supermarket a while back and saw a special on 1.5 litre bottles of coke for 99 cents, while also saying in the fine print "maximum 4 per customer, else $3.20 each"

Enter EW, obviously not reading the fine print, grabbing a good 20 or so bottles, probably to resell at their corner shop for profit (people DO do it here...), starts making one hell of a fuss. I quickly sneak over to the display and snap a photo of the ad on my phone.

EW: IT SAID 99 CENTS EACH, THERE WAS NOTHING ABOUT A LIMIT ARGLEBLARGHRANTRAVEBITCHEHWOHTEY
Me: *shows the photo I just took* perhaps your prescription on your glasses needs to be renewed. Now pay for your products or put them back on the bloody shelf, some of us would like to get home before midnight.
EW: *catbutt face* I AM NEVER SHOPPING HERE AGAIN! *Starts to walk off, leaving his trolley behind*
Me: *calling after him in an apu impersonation* thank you, please don't come again!
Cashier:

[EricKei]

...probably to resell at their corner shop for profit (people DO do it here...),

People do that in many places. That's part of the reason for those limits ^_^ The risk of having one person buy out the entire stock, resulting in a dozen pissed off other customers or more, is another.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

People do that in many places. That's part of the reason for those limits ^_^ The risk of having one person buy out the entire stock, resulting in a dozen pissed off other customers or more, is another.

Especially when we only get in two deliveries a week, for example.

Excellent case in point: 99 cent 2 ltr Cheerwine or Canada Dry products. Shelf only holds, for example (dependent on planogram layout) 2 rows of Cheerwine (top and next shelf down) and each slot holds 4 bottles.

4 x 2=8x2=16.

16 bottles total on the shelf allocation (and it's currently set.) One customer comes in and loads up on all 16 bottles PLUS all the Sunkist Orange (2 rows on 2 shelfs, another 16 bottles) PLUS another buggy full of Canada Dry Ginger Ale (4 facings on 2 shelves for a total of 32 bottles) and takes them up front to the checkout.

This happened as I got off work Tuesday afternoon (we had a truck on Tuesday and another one tomorrow) meaning we had major out of stocks on 3 core items that had to be refilled.

Now my Cheerwine guy doesn't come by twice a day and sometimes we don't have the night staff to send someone to the back room and load some up and fill the shelves. Even though I had an order arrive that day, my new guy is still learning how much to order for our store, we only had enough on hand (with it being last of the month) to hold until Thursday.

Thursday's truck is usually larger and will carry us through until the next Tuesday unless we have someone raiding the Canada Dry and buying up all of it on the shelf. That means we're out (unless my guy can transfer some in from another Litter Box that's in his territory) to hold us until the next delivery.

We can't plan for these reseller types - and we never know when they're going to hit us up. Most of the time when we have plenty on hand, they don't show up, meaning we're left with surplus back stock at the end of the sale period.

I don't mind extra product coming in but dammit it needs to sell and go out the front door.