It's Called Extreme for a Reason

I have yet to actually see the show, Extreme Couponing, but I have seen tidbits on the concept on other programs. At first I watched in excitement, what did they mean by 'extreme'? Then I watched in horror as these people filled their homes with things they didn't need, didn't want and probably wouldn't use. And it was all in the name of saving money. But wait, if you don't need, want or use the product isn't it still a waste, regardless of price? In my book, yes. So here is how I coupon.

1. I have my favorite brands; some are the off-brand, others are the dreaded name brands. Perhaps it is the scent of the toilet cleaner, the feel of the dish soap on my poor old hands or how the laundry detergent doesn't make the kiddos breakout in a rash. No matter reason, I know there are a lot of items that I won't stray from the three or four kinds I call tried and true. That does not mean that I always pay top dollar for these. In fact, I never pay full price for them. Sure a coupon can be hard to come by for us non-extreme couponers. But I know I need, want and use these particular products, so when they are on sale I buy all I can. Sometimes the store has a limit, that's fine. But believe me, if there is no limit I will buy all that is on the shelf.....and sometimes then ask if there are more in the back.



When The Ladybug was still drinking formula I found her brand on sale. She was on the store label, which was the cheapest but never had a coupon. The day I found it on sale I stood in that isle and calculated how many cans she would need to finish out her formula days. I double checked expiration dates on every single can and then cleared the shelf, loaded my cart and went home with 16 cans of generic baby formula. It took a chunk of change that day to buy that stock but I saved just shy of $50.

There is certainly a give and take to even my form of stocking up. You have to budget in such a way that you can buy 12 giant jugs of sale priced laundry detergent at once without sacrificing your family's ability to eat for the next month. The savings comes from the fact that you won't have to buy laundry detergent for several months and those dollars that would have gone to that purchase can instead be funneled to other items on sale, say your favorite shampoo.

A potential downfall is that you have to know what your favs cost on a regular basis. If your go to dish soap is usually $6 for the giant bucket-size. Don't waste your time buying (and then storing) a cart-full for a declined price of $5.79. I mean, sure if you want to, go for it. But I would save my stocking power (cash and storage space) for a price decline that makes me do a double take.

Another detail not to get tripped up on, check dates on everything, every item. Perhaps those little dates don't matter to you; they matter to me, in my house products live and die by those dates. So I do some serious calculating in the isle if I am purchasing a shortdate item.

2. I do clip some coupons, but only if it requires little hunting. I am not interested in having five subscriptions to the same paper so I can clip coupons and run to five different stores. Yikes, too extreme for me.

Instead, I have a few online sites I watch and I clip the coupons that actually come on items I've already bought. Then I plan my meals for the next week on the food item coupons I just clipped.

For instance, one of my favorite coupons is for a marinated pork tenderloin that my family loves. It comes in four or five different flavors and I think it is super easy to cook. The tenderloin is usually $3.40ish each. This coupon is 10 tenderloins for $10.....a buck a piece?! Yep, love that coupon. I've only seen it a handful of times but I use it each time and we begin having tenderloin once a week until they are used up. I refuse to risk them going to waste in the bottom of my deep-freeze.

3. This is a little abstract but possibly the biggest saving tip I have. Buy only what you need. What in the world does that mean? Let me share with you the truth about OJ and eggs.

In our house we all really love OJ. We love to pour that first tall glass. It is so good. And the second is pretty good. Oh, and the third, sure whatever. The fourth? Good gracious, how much of this stuff do we have to drink?? What I am trying to share is that I used to buy my family the biggest size of our favorite OJ; really it was like a pony keg of juice. It was giant and per ounce was cheaper than the regular size bottle. I thought I was so thrifty for "buying in bulk" but what I had not realized was I was also throwing away "in bulk".

Finally I estimated the number of ounces we actually drank from the keg of juice (which was less than the amount in the regular size bottle ) and then calculated the cost per ounce. I was floored; I was paying 12 cents more per "used" ounce than if I bought the regular size bottle.

This left me so rattled I started looking at other items I tended to have to throw away once past their expiration date. Eggs. Hmmm. I thought those were a staple, like you always should get a dozen eggs at the store. Pause.....why a dozen? In the past I would have answered that the per egg cost was so much higher for a half dozen. But with my new found perspective I realized I was paying the price for a dozen eggs, just to use a half dozen. My way of buying eggs was in fact the most expensive way.

So I do buy in bulk if something has a long shelf life. Otherwise I think long and hard about how much we use and compare the price of "used" ounces before picking which size is the cheapest per ounce.

4. My final way of couponing and saving at the grocery store is bonus points and cash back systems. The store I use has something called Baby Bucks. You get a slip with your receipt that has an amount equal to what you spent on baby items. Then you save up those slips until the amount equals $150. You take the $150 Baby Bucks to customer service and get a $10 gift card. That is a lot of math and really it goes down to a few pennies per previous purchase. But it doesn't take any effort to use this system so why not. The cashier gives you the slip, you hold on to the slip and eventually they give you $10. Not bad, better than not getting $10.

The keychain swipe cards for additional savings are another must. If the system does not cost you anything, then every bit helps.

The only other program I use is UPromise. At participating stores you can swipe your UPromise card and it applies special coupon savings to certain items. But instead of this amount being deducted from your bill the savings is sent to a college savings fund. It takes a few minutes to set up but is well worth it. These are savings you would not otherwise be getting and even though it is not cash back in your pocket, it is cash in the bank for your children's college funds. And the best part is, you don't have to clip coupons, remember codes or tell the cashier to mark something special. The system manages itself. You can bulk up your UPromise savings by looking at their online list of items before you go to the store to see if you need any of the items listed. Just be sure not to get too extreme with it and buy things just because they were listed.

That's it. That's all I do. I coupon, code, stock and save.....but it is far from extreme.