Monday, June 20, 2011

What Real Extreme Couponing Looks Like


While the show Extreme Couponing is great... It is unrealistic.

Cart after cart  loaded with items is great but Most "extreme couponers" do not shop like that all the time.
That may happen when stores are having mega sales or inentives but for the most part, real extreme  couponing looks like this.



I check the Sunday Ads and see what is on sale at my favorite stores.
I match up items on sale with coupons that I have.
Then I make detailed lists of what to get.
I do this with envelopes.
I make the lists on the outside and put the coupons inside.



Tip #1
Use Blogs to find coupon match ups.
This save a tremendous amount of time!

Tip #2
You will notice that my lists are not a "super haul" or
a complete grocery list by any means
Once you have a stockpile of items amassed
You can just shop for deal or sale items.

***********

Now let's look at my Walgreens Receipt for this week


You will note that almost all items I got were on sale.
Usually, I do not buy an item unless it is on sale.
The only exception is the Pledge Fabric Sweepers. I had $1.00 off coupons that were about to expire.



So in this trip:
I saved $11.86 by buying sale items.
I had $5.75 in coupon savings.
I got a free toothpaste tube and toothbrush in a buy one get one promo

3 comments:

Unknown said...

That's pretty good!

You're right, the extreme couponers don't tell the whole story. They purchase coupons online and buy many newspapers to pull that kind of savings off.
I wish I had a local Walgreens, they have some great bargains for couponers.

ChristyACB said...

I agree also. Those shows are so unrealistic and also show people who border on the OCD/Hoarding scale.

After all, deordorant has a shelf life of about 5 years if held under absolutely ideal conditions. After that, it is just a brick or crumbles like chalk. So exactly why is it a great thing to have more than a lifetimes worth of it in your basement? ::shakes head::

Like you, I try to buy when the sale happens, am careful to watch my coupons and use those that are truly useful...and hopefully at the same time as a sale price.

Buying for a few months or more of an object does help, but after a years worth, it becomes a storage problem in my view.

Great job on the sale catch!

Nancy said...

I don't get a paper, so I usually don't do coupons, unless they are store coupons. It's only me and the hubby and he's out of town most of the time.

You really did well on this trip. I can see where your organization really pays off. :)