Most everyone loves coupons when they can save them a couple
dollars on things that they buy all the time. Unfortunately, TLC’s show Extreme
Couponing has glamorized couponing and most think they can get a whole grocery
cart full of food for free. It doesn’t work that way in most every store. Here
are some of the reasons why.
If you never noticed, many of the couponers on the show
casually mention that most of them spend 25-30 hours a week couponing. If you
already have a full time job, you are adding another to your schedule but
committing to that kind of coupon clipping each week. On top of this, they
spend a lot of time traveling back and forth to various grocery stores because
they cannot use all their coupons at one store for everything on their list. If
you are a parent, you already have a very important full time job.
Most grocery stores have a policy about how many items can
be purchased in a single transaction. Unless you are grocery shopping in the
wee hours of the morning when there are fewer people and multiple transactions are
possible without causing a disturbance, you are going to make many people very
angry. Many stores will even limit how many sale items a person can have per
day, or per group if you are shopping with a spouse or friend. Most stores in
the Portland area and all throughout the country also have a policy on how many
coupons you can use in any given transaction as well.
Many extreme coupon clippers will try to use combined
coupons on items to get the maximum amount of savings when possible. They will
load coupons onto their loyalty cards that often times give a discount on a
product already. Many chain stores such as Fred Meyer have figured out this
extreme savings that people have earned and now state that coupons cannot be
combined with sales prices or other coupons.
There are many other reasons that extreme couponing does not
work out for the average grocery shopper. One of the biggest reasons is that
grocery stores only carry so much of a specific product. Often times there are
limited quantities to begin with and large ticket items such as sports drinks,
laundry soap, and soda go quickly when they are on sale. What the show does not
show you on camera is that many people take advantage of rain checks for not
having specific items that they use later when shopping. Combine this with
other savings such as a certificate for spending so much in one trip and you
are making severe earnings that most people do not have the opportunity to
make. Also, many of these sale items are limited to a specific number before
you have to pay full price for them. This allows more people to receive the
savings over one person purchasing them all at once.
Overall, there are many reasons that extreme couponing is
not feasible for the average person. Not only does it take a lot of time to do,
but consider the gas and mileage you are adding to your car and the irritation
you are causing by limiting your time with your friends and family to clip
coupons. When you spend so much in gas going from grocery store to grocery
store, in the long run, you really aren’t saving much of anything.
