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Extreme Couponing ~ How do These People Do It

April 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment

extreme couponingHave any of you seen the show Extreme Couponing on TLC? I’ll go ahead and admit that my husband and I are not great at using coupons, we aren’t even really good at it. We try to use them occasionally — but we either forget to use them, or we end up spending more than we wanted to, because we end up buying things we probably wouldn’t have purchased. It just never seems like there are ever coupons for the things we actually do use.

This is why, when I watched Extreme Couponing I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How on Earth do these people rack up a $300, $400, $500 or even $1000+ grocery bill and get away with spending $40 or less? In some cases they even get money back! It is crazy!!! Not only that — but they shop in some of the more expensive grocery stores that we try to avoid — especially when we are doing our weekly grocery shopping.

The drawbacks of extreme couponing

As far as I can tell, there is a lot of research that goes into extreme couponing. The people who are master couponers — have to know what the coupon policies are for each store, they need to know what is on sale, what coupons can be double and those that cannot. Also, extreme couponers have to be very organized and most put in as many hours (or more) as you would at a full-time job! This is not an activity that you can do, and do in an extreme way, unless you are very dedicated and super organized. I think it also becomes a sort of game and in some cases an obsession.

In doing some research, I was disappointed to learn that one of the extreme couponers featured, has allegedly committed coupon fraud and apparently did so on the TLC show. I won’t go into all the details – because there are a lot of them – but if you want to read about it, visit Jill Cataldo’s blog.

Another thing I noticed – is that when they show the homes of most of these couponing people – they have their own little mini-mart set up. They just have so much stuff and it’s everywhere. My husband would seriously freak out if we had that much clutter around our house — but I get it, they are saving boat loads of money so it makes sense to buy 70 bottles of mustard at one time…right?

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with extreme couponing. I think it’s great! If people can do this (if they do so without committing coupon fraud, which I think is how most people do it), I think they are very smart and dedicated individuals.

It would sure be nice if there was a show teaching people how to properly and effectively use coupons, instead of a show where we just stare at the screen – eyes wide is disbelieve – as these super couponers work their magic. It probably wouldn’t be as entertaining though.

Since I’m not great at coupons, I don’t have any fantastic advice on the subject. Do you?

How do you use coupons most effectively? Do you buy a bunch of Sunday papers to get coupons? Do you spend hours searching for deals on line?

Brian
Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

 
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Filed Under: Coupons, Money and Finances Tagged With: Couponing, Coupons, Grocery Shopping

The Best Deal Sites

February 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment

With a title like that, I would be remiss to mention that I love the features on KidsAintCheap and use both the family coupon directory and parents shopping directory regularly but this article is not about my own site.  This article is about other sites that I use. It’s about the Best Deal Sites that I know of.

Groupon.comGroupon is a popular deal site

Groupon.com – It’s tough to have not heard of one of the fastest growing companies in the United States.  While much of the rest of corporate America is standing still, this company is growing at an unbelievable rate and it’s not hard to see why.   Groupon specializes in local deals.  You sign up and every day Groupon delivers a new deal directly to you for your local area.  Most of the deals end up being 40% – 60% off.

The service is addictive and the savings can be HUGE.  Ever since I missed out on a huge savings on movie tickets at my local theater(the deal had sold out) I have become obsessed with checking to see what my local daily deal is first thing in the morning on my iphone.  The trick is to not jump on something just because it’s exciting, the trick is to jump on something you would have spent money on even if you didn’t have the coupon.  Of all of the new sites that have cropped up, this is most certainly one of the best daily deal sites.

You can check them out at Groupon.com

Living Social

LivingSocial.com – Living Social is similar to Groupon.  It’s not as big so it isn’t as available in as many areas but they are still a major player and as such have some great local bargains.  I make it a habit to check Groupon and Living Social every morning.  I must admit, I have purchased more from Groupon than I have from Living Social but it’s still a great site to get a good deal.  The key, as with all of these places, is to not buy something you don’t need or can’t use.  While not as big as Groupon, it is still impressive and deserves to be on the best deal sites list.

You can check them out at LivingSocial.com

Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com – We don’t go out to eat very often, it’s one of the things we eliminated as we work todays becoming debt free.   When we do splurge and go out to someplace night, we almost always refer to Restaurant.com first.  The savings are amazing and there are a lot of participating restaurants.  The way it works is you find the restaurant you want to eat at and you purchase a gift certificate to that restaurant at a significant discount.  Most of the discounts I have come across are 50% – 60%.  The thing to be careful about is the fine print.  There are almost always stipulations, the most common being a minimum amount that must be spent at the restaurant in order to use the coupon.  Choose your deal carefully.  As long as you pay attention to the conditions, it is one of the best deal sites online.  I have had some really great meals, really cheaply.

You can check them out at Restaurant.com

Woot!

Kids.Woot.com – Woot has several different sites but the one I check regularly is their kids web site.  It’s an Ecommerce site but it’s unique in that they only sell one item per day.  Each day they post an item at a set price and you have the opportunity to buy it until they run out.  I have only ever jumped on a deal from Woot once so I can’t say I have a lot of experience with them but the experience I had was good.  They were selling something I had already planned on buying for a gift but I got it cheaper than I would have been able to get elsewhere.

You can check them out at Kids.Woot.com

Craigslist

Craigslist – Okay, so this one is a no-brainer.  I have had mixed results with Craigslist but for the most part, my experience has been positive with both buying and selling.   Whenever I am looking for a larger item I look to Craigslist first.  It’s the monster of all classifieds site and you can get a great deal if you are smart.

You can check it out at Craigslist

ebay

ebay.com – This one is another no-brainer.   You would have to be living in a very remote corner of the world to not know about ebay.  It’s the biggest and best auction web site online and there is a massive amount of product being sold on ebay every day.  You can find some great deals as long as you don’t get carried away with the bidding.   The key is to not bid until you have a concrete number you aren’t willing to go over.  ebay works so well because it works people up into bidding frenzy and inevitably some people will spend more than an item is worth because of it.

You can check it out at ebay.com

Other Coupon Sites

If the KidsAintCheap family coupons directory doesn’t have a coupon for a site that I want to buy something at, I do a search to see if one of the other coupons sites does.  It’s fairly easy and a good percentage of the time I find a coupon I can use.  I simply search for SITE NAME coupon in google to see what comes up. Obviously, I replace SITE NAME with the actual web site name so if I am looking for a coupon to use on Amazon I search for Amazon coupon or Amazon coupon code.  Try it out before you hit the check out button next time you buy something online.

Okay, those are the best deal sites that I check and use on a regular basis.

What is your favorite coupon or deal site?

Brian
Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

 
Email • Google + • Facebook • Twitter

Filed Under: Coupons, Money and Finances, Shopping Tagged With: Deals, Dining Out, Groupon, Living Social, Restaurant.com, Saving Money, Woot

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