So by now you have probably heard that season two of TLC’s Extreme Couponing is set to air on September 28th. And for those of us that have been couponing before it was “cool” it just needs to be said that the show is anything but reality TV. Why it is even going to air a second season is beyond me after the uproar that was caused after season 1. What with the coupon fraud committed, the changes in just about every stores coupon policies. I won’t personally be watching this season for a number of reasons. One I don’t want to show my support for the show. I would like to see the show slip into oblivion and get my couponing back the way I knew it before the show. The second reason is because I have given up TV. It has been a little over a month, and frankly I am not missing it at all and feel more productive since we moved the TV into the basement.
So without further ado, here are my top 10 reasons why Extreme Couponing is not reality TV:
God does not deliver coupons. While I am a believer in the Almighty, I am pretty sure that God does not deliver coupon magically on ones doorstep each week. Whomever spurts off nonsense like that on national TV is either delusional or they have a source for coupons that they don’t want to divulge, maybe an illegal source…something to ponder.
Most stores will not let you do multiple back to back transactions. While the policies at each store vary greatly the fact of the matter is most stores will not let you do 10, 15, 20, 30+ back to back transactions. Most stores will tolerate 2-3 consecutive transactions but anything more than that is just pushing your luck. There is a reason why there are limits on how many coupons you can use written into store coupon policies, to prevent one person from snagging all the deals.
Some featured couponers used the wrong coupons and committed possible coupon fraud. Yep that’s right, some of them admitted to using the wrong coupons on the wrong items and were not sorry, did not care, and claimed they were going to keep on doing it. I have just one thing to say – SHAME ON YOU!
Most stores do not double coupons. Out of all the grocery stores nationwide less than 25% of them offer double coupons. You can still save money without double coupons but it usually takes a little more work. However the show has not fairly represented shoppers who do not have double coupon offers. Only a very small percentage of those on the show did not use double coupons to do their extreme coupon shopping.
Most stores do not allow overage. Want the store to pay you cash back for using coupons or apply the left over money from buying a 99¢ item and using a $1.50 coupon. Good luck with that, only a very small handful of stores nationwide allow overage. Most stores just adjust the amount of the coupon down to the price you are paying. If you get overage consider yourself lucky.
Many of the stores broke their own coupon policies for the show but expect regular customers to play by the rules. The stores where these extreme couponers shopped at, yeah, just about every single one of them broke their own coupon policy. In season two expect more of the same. Lowes Foods already admitted that they bent the rules for the show, but they fully expect everyone else to abide by the rules.
Many people on show ordered their mass amounts of coupons from a coupon clipping service yet the cost of the coupons was not factored into their total savings. When you see these extreme couponers using hundreds of the same coupon and buying hundreds of the same item, you can almost bet that they bought their coupons from a coupon clipping service. Nothing inherently wrong with that, my beef is that it is not disclosed on the show that in order to get 100 bottles shampoo the shopper spent $40 on coupons.
While donating to a cause is great, spending money to buy 1000 boxes of cereal is not actually saving money. I am all for donating items to your local food bank or other charity of choice. But when you are spending money on items (even if you are getting a great discount) you are not really saving money. Saving money means actually having money left over to, well, save. You know put in your bank account, put towards a bill, or pay off your debt. Just because you got a deal, does not mean you saved anything. Plus some of the charity shown on the show, just felt like it was done for show.
The massive stockpiles shown were built up over time, 1 year or more. You know those massive stockpiles that were shown on the show, if you are new you cannot just go to the store one or two times and buy a bunch of stuff with a few coupons and voila you have a stockpile. Those stockpiles were built over the course of 1, 2, 3, 4 years or more. Stockpiles, when done right are built up over time, one or two deals at a time.
The store personnel and other customers are not all going to treat you like you’re the queen or king of the world. Let’s get real here, since this is supposed to be a reality TV show. The truth of the matter is a lot of cashiers and other customers hate couponers. We take longer in line, something always scans wrong, we have a lot of stuff. When you see those smiling cashiers on the show and the manager, bag boy and staff lined up cheering on the extreme couponer know this, it is staged. The store is getting free publicity so of course they don’t want to look like buttheads and be all rude on TV. I have done media and let me tell you it is an outer body experience! When I did my media piece many moons ago, I was greeted at the store by the manager, as I went up and down each aisle I there was a staff member asking me if I needed anything, as I rounded the corner with my cart and camera man in tow in front of the butcher counter the butcher came out from around the counter and practically chased me down the aisle to see if I needed any fresh meat. I was checked out by the best cashier who cheered me on, the manager bagged my groceries and they bag boy insisted on helping me with my bags out to my car. It was surreal. I expected the staff to break out in “Be Our Guest” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Sorry folks this is not reality!
You make me feel so much better about my meager and often very difficult couponing successes! I’ve never been a fan of reality TV from the beginning, knowing all too well how staged and scripted it was, but your list confirms it for that show. Thanks for reminding me that it’s okay to be a not-THAT-extreme Extreme Couponer. :)
Hi Emily, thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. The show is indeed very misleading and for those new to couponing it is also disheartening to learn that the chances of having the same sort of success is almost impossible to achieve. Couponing can be done, you can save money with coupons, but it takes work, work that many are not willing to put into it, and it takes time. Never compare your successes no matter how big or small to others. I think that is a philosophy that applies to life in general and not just to couponing.
Great article! I’m enjoying listening to “Be our Guest” and thinking of cashiers who act like I’m stealing their paycheck by using coupons :)
Thanks Maya for dropping by and enjoying the music! I wish every shopping experience was like that too. The reality is we get a lot of dirty looks, huffs and puffs and eye rolls a lot of the time.
This article was really informative. Im new to couponing and started using them because I have to buy 2 bags of diapers and 5 gallons of milk each week so I was looking for the best possible way to save money on my grocery bill. I wondered how these extreme couponers could actually get overage and where on earth were these stores that offered double coupons because they are not in my neck of the woods!
Thanks for the comment Laura, i am glad you enjoyed the post. I think it is important to let’s new coupon users like yourself that the percentage of numbers of stores that double coupons is pretty small. And overage is too. However there ARE stores that allow overage, Walmart for example is one of the nationwide stores that allow overage. So if you have a Walmart you could find some nice deals there with overage to help offset the cost of your diapers and milk. I wish you luck and please me know if you have any coupon questions!
Great article! I know when I first started, I had expectations of saving 80%+ that first week. I was pretty down about my 50% savings, but soon realized there are a lot of other factors. Even with doubling coupons, most stores have a minimum transaction total, and they limit the number you can double. Many of the featured shoppers have “free” coupons or catelinas that they have saved for a month or two. In order to get those coupons, you had to have spent some money in the past. They fail to mention that.
Thanks Wisconsin Coupons for the comment, I forgot about the stocking up on Free Item Coupons and Catalina coupons too…yes many of the shoppers shown did that too. I totally get it. When you are in the media you want to do the best shopping trip possible and put your best foot forward. But it was still not very real nor explained very well on the show. There have been very few teachable moments.
Loved your article!! This show definitely isn’t reality! I hate watching the show to see all the repetitive items and the “WOW” factor that isn’t all that. When I meet a new ‘couponer’ I tell them right off the bat this show isn’t reality and to remember that even if they are walking out the store saving 50% they’re still saving and it’s money in their pocket they wouldn’t have had if they weren’t couponing.
Thanks Gina for stopping by and leaving a comment, it is always nice to hear from our readers. It is important to remember and advocate that saving is saving. Whether that be 20% or 90% as long as you are really saving money and not just buying something because you have a coupon.
Excellent article! I wish they would just take this show off the air. It is not only misleading, but it encourages people to commit fraud. hmmm…wonder if that would be a violation of FCC standards!
I agree with the others, tried watching that show once (gag) and found it to be a joke. I’ve learned a lot from HCW and have to thank you gals for that. Though I rarely save more than about 50%, I rather enjoy knowing that I’m doing things legitimately, unlike the folks in that “show”.
Thanks for the great article.
Thanks for dropping by Lev8mysoul and leaving a comment. 50% savings is great and nothing to be sad about. That is realistic. I could go in and save 95% at the store too if I wanted to but for some odd reason I like to eat fresh produce, meat and other things that don’t always have coupons!
Hi! I have been a follower of you even before they HCW days! I always have admired you and the others who started HCW because you have always been big advocates of using coupons properly and abiding by the stores policies (including reminding and even educating stores, cashiers and store managers of their own policies often times!). I applaud this article and hope I have permission to share it with several couponing friends. The show does nothing to show what real couponing can be and instead creates a false pretense from the couponers all the way through stores bending their rules to be on TV. There is nothing real about any of that!
I remember you Queenofhive, Heidi, NRpeace and hotcouponmomma (I know there are more!) from the days of Fatwallet and then Dealagogo. I am not very active anymore with trading and stuff but you and HCW are my first go to source for my weekly shopping/coupons needs even after allthese years! Thank you so much for all the great work you and everyone at HCW does forbus everyday couponers!!!!
Hi Lynda…nice to see old friends from FatWallet and Deal-a-go-go! Of course you are welcome to share this article…pass it around! Couponing ethically and honestly is what we are all about. There are REAL people behind HotCouponWorld who care about the REAL people who come to us with REAL money saving needs. And we just want to help them learn how to do it the right way and it totally can be done!
Hi, Lynda! Nice to ‘see’ you again. It’s been a long time since FW days.
I hate that show. So much. Every time someone mentions it to me, I get angry. People act so surprised when I tell them that those people on the show almost certainly bought all those coupons. What did they think, that they just fell out of the sky? People don’t think about where the coupons come from.
It angers me when I see someone clear a shelf then say “oh, I’m gonna donate it”…great, but what about the people barely getting by that might need to buy those (with coupons)? What about the rest of us? Donating is no excuse for clearing a shelf on the first day of a sale. It’s just rude.
I would like to agree with you about this not being reality!! I have told my girls that this is just staged many times. Do these families live on cereal and laundry detergent? You never see them buy everything you need for a week of living! When I go to the store weekly, I need meats, fruits, vegetables, snacks, paper goods, a wide variety of products. These ladies leave with 100 jars of mustard, 200 rolls of paper towels, 75 bottles of shampoo, can their families live on that for the week? I think not!! When I do my shopping, I save from 65-85 percent on my grocery list by watching for the good sales, like BOGO sales and sometimes BOG2 and I do it without clearing shelves and buying what I know will last my family for at least that week! Thats saving money!Sometimes my trip will last for 2 weeks or more but I am not hoarding things!Last trip I spent 679.00 and paid 295.00! I appreciate you telling it like it should be! A fan, Donna Janovsky
Hi Lynda,
It’s great to hear from you at HCW. Many of us are still at it helping others learn how to get the best deals while couponing ethically. It is a passion that we all share here at HCW.
Thank you so much for the information. I am new to this coupon thing and watching that show last season is what made me decide to want to start couponing but I always thought that it was crazy to think that you could save that much. I am a stay at home mom with 4 kids (ages 17-1.5) with another one on the way in November so I am trying to save money the best way I know how. Watching that show does not teach a new-bie like me anything…I don’t see where anything that they buy during their shopping trips could be a meal for a family and I can’t just go to the store and spend that much with having bought things that will make a meal. I’m lost when it comes to figuring out how to make a list and using the coupons…I have been able to find coupons but I haven’t been able to find many for the things I need, any suggestions!?!?!
Hi everybody for all the great comments! Rebecca I understand your frustration on not being able to find the coupons for the things you need to feed your crew. It can be hard. I remember when I first started I was stockpiling things that were great deals but I could not feed my own crew on dish soap and brownie mix. The key really is to build up your stockpile slowly over time. In the meantime you are going to need to buy real groceries that you need with or without a coupon…but you slowly replace items on your list with a few items that you stockpile, and then as your stockpile grows you have more items that you saved money on hand in your stockpile and you don’t need to buy those items. I wrote a really good article on this that breaks it down a little bit more that I suggest you read: http://www.hotcouponworld.com/2011/05/couponing-and-budgets/
Your article hit all the nails right on the head. I started seriously couponing in May of this year. It took me some time to realize that coupons go in cycles, and it is better to wait a bit to see if an item goes on sale before you purchase it. I think what bothers me the most about this show, is the fact that they almost encourage shelf clearing. I LOATHE it. I am the kind of person that will go in and get what I need. I see no reason to have 40 or 50 bottles of anything on hand. I am happy to see that some of the people on the show do donate some things, but overall this show does much more harm than good.
Thanks for your article. I agree with you 100%. Only ever watched the show once, and after using coupons for 17 years, I know that no one can do that without breaking rules. I also had to turn off 2 other shows this week when they were interviewing people from the Extreem Couponing show. Makes me sick. Keep doing what you are doing. Love hotcoupon world.
Thanks purduegirl! Thanks for the comments. I must admit making the decision to not watch tv at all has freed up a lot of time plus I am not even tempted to watch the show or the 15 minutes of fame thing on other shows.
Loved this article!! This show needs to be taken OFF AIR! I have NEVER been treated like they treat these shoppers! I am targeted if anything by the managers who come to my register to REVIEW my coupons before they are scanned by the clerks and have frequent run ins with the general manager following me about to make sure I only get the limit. My binder is a red flag for the staff at these stores so no I have to leave it in the car since this show aired. And I have YET to find a store that allows you to pre-order items to use with your coupons. I have been told flat out NO at Publix, Kroger, Target, Food Lion and WalMart that pre ordering isnt allowed due to “people abusing it by using coupons” I thought the stores get their money back then some from the manufacturers, and why should we allow them to adjust down our coupons that they are submitting for full value?!?! My couponing is more of a chore now than ever but I will continue to do so… Also, if someone asks me where I get my coupons from now on Im also going to say God because I am suspicious of why a store manager needs to know that!
Smokahontas, it is pretty amazing how the show has changed the landscape of couponing. For the first time in 8+ years I have been couponing, I just learned that my Smith’s Food & Drug (part of the Kroger Chain) has started to impose limits. And they don’t even double! Most ridiculous. They are allowing 5 like coupons per transaction. But I can do back to back transactions…what.is.the.point? Do they limit cash users from only using 5 quarters, or 5 dollar bills?
I still carry my binder in the store, but I feel like I need to sort of hide it with a jacket or stash it under the shopping cart so that I am not called “one of THOSE couponers”.
But like you I too WILL continue…I WILL save money and I will do it within the rules whatever they may be at any given time the managers want to pull something new out of their…um…rear ends. I also don’t tell people where I get my coupons…you would not ask someone “where did you get all that cash to pay for your groceries”…MYOB
That was awesome, Heidi! Loved it! The only reason my daughter and I ever watch it (rarely) is to point out what they’re doing wrong to my husband. Luckily my blood pressure is good because it also makes it rise I’m sure.
Hey Kim, long time no see! Glad you enjoyed the article. I have not watched season two at all. It hurts my eyes from all the eye-rolling I did during season one!
“an outer body experience”?
Methinks you mean “out-of-body experience”, unless you have an inner body to go with the outer one.
i agree 100% with you. that show is a total fraud!
I dont know why people got upset about the God comment. If she is not buying coupons, relying on donations, family, friends, and trash she can legally harvest, then if she wants to believe God provides, so be it. I kind of have the same philosophy.
I do have a problem with some of the ungodly aspects of the show – the fraud on the first show, the encouraging of shelf clearing, the staging, and I have my suspicions about those toilet paper coupons the teenage couponer used. It seems silly to feature a couponer from Jacksonville, and then have her shop at a store in GA since NONE of the stores in Jax allow filming. And for good reasons. THey arent going to break their own rules and then “crack down” on couponers like Kroger does.
However – I got overage on bogos at publix tonight – they wont pay you to take it away, but it does apply to the rest of your order. I get overage at walmart a lot. I also stockpile, and I disagree about spending on 100 boxes of cereal – if they are free, you will eat them, or better if you get paid to take them away, you ARE saving money. You are not buying them later.
Most cashiers treat me really well, and some I give coupons to for their own personal use if they are interested in doing a particular deal and I have enough left. I live in an area that is small, and so you run into people. Doesnt pay to give them a hard time. Also, my area is really coupon friendly and both walmarts and publix tend to train their cashiers very well. I have lived places where that does not happen.
I wish the show went into DETAIL of how people like us do this week after week – but they just want the omigosh looky there register jams, incredible totals, and huge stockpiles. They stage drama and conflict and it stinks.
THANK YOU!!!! I watch that show in agonizing jealousy that they are doing so well and I can’t seem to get any good deals at all here. Once that woman said she got her coupon’s from God I was like alright, this show has gone from making me jealous to making me irritated. I no longer watch the show but I do participate on many couponing sites such as Hotcouponworld.com. It’s more realistic and MUCH more helpful!! But thank you for stating all of those!! It’s everything we all were thinking and more!! haha
cmsvmom, God did not send that woman her coupons. I’m sorry. It came from friends or a company or neighbors, not God. It’s ok to think that bc OF God, she has those people to give them to her but God himself did not come down from the heavens and hand her those mounds of coupon inserts. It just didn’t happen. I think that’s why the comment about God giving her them has upset people.