Now that summer is here, I pause sometimes in my daily productivity to work at being a couch potato (usually after 7 or 8pm). Tonight I decided to flick around my many channels to see what stupid TV I've been missing this year, carefully avoiding the news because I know how worked up I tend to get and I'm trying to remain calm and relaxed for as many days as possible (noble goal, yes?).
As my title suggests, my channel surfing landed me on TLC's Extreme Couponing. "Anytime I can land a really big deal, it kinda feels like I'm on crack," says one extreme couponer in a room full of canned, packaged, preservative-laced, salt-packed food. A diet of sports drinks, noodles, and candy? Not a fresh veggie, fruit, meat, or egg in sight. There's the first problem. Fresh food can't be hoarded. No fresh food? No thanks.
Second problem: Extreme Couponers are just Hoarders with more organized shelf space. Hoarding is hoarding, regardless of how much money you save. Buying stuff you don't need, don't want, and aren't going to use is wasteful - one woman bought 60 bottles of hot sauce. NOBODY needs 60 bottles of hot sauce! Another woman's husband said he doesn't even eat mustard, but that didn't stop his insane spouse from buying hundreds of bottles of the stuff.
Third problem: Buying a bunch of products simply because they are on sale, not because you NEED that much of something is not sane or healthy. Saving money is an admirable goal, but anything taken to the extreme is wasteful and terribly selfish. In the case of extreme couponers, they end up with whole rooms full of food and product that they will never use up and they usually hang on to it instead of donating some of it to a food bank.
Even though much of the food these crazies are buying is unhealthy, some of it is good such as frozen vegetables, canned soups, and healthy breads. If you are buying $1500 worth of food and products for $50 and you DON'T donate some of your loot, then you are a selfish, addicted human being. (Aside: One featured extreme couponer on the TLC show DOES donate a majority of his haul, which does seem saner to me...hoarding the loot greedily does not seem sane by comparison.)
Fanatical, addictive behavior is a behavioral disorder, not something to be emulated. If you happen to be one of these people who thinks extreme couponing is cool or fun or useful, think again. Why would you want to give yourself a behavioral disorder? Just because we are in a recession does not give you carte blanche to become a hoarder of food and products that you will never use. It is NOT "being smart and saving money," no matter what the one woman's grandmother observed. Buying a 12-pack of toilet paper and a five-pack of toothpaste is sane bulk-buying...you will use these products within the next few months and can likely stash the items in a cabinet or closet. Buying 120 12-packs of toilet paper and 240 toothpaste tubes is wasteful, unnecessary, and reflective of a psychological disorder bordering on OCD that involves the acquiring and stockpiling of consumer products for the sake of it.
And evidently, I'm not the only one who holds this opinion of this mortifying recession sickness.
Just say no to extreme couponing. Go for a hike in a beautiful park or spend some time with friends or develop a hobby that doesn't involve addiction and might actually benefit your mental and physical health in particular and humanity in general. If this is what passes for "entertainment" now, I think I'll stick with books and movies.
8 comments:
Totally agree! Plus it makes me angry how the people on that show almost feel entitled to a good deal and prideful that they are basically gaming the system. Coupons are profit hits that companies take in order to reach new clientele. I know in my company we've had to stop doing coupons because it is really starting to cut into our profit margins to the point that we end up canceling unprofitable classes and therefore leave teachers with no work for that term. What I mean to say is that "free" pasta sauce/candy bars, etc., is not really free-- either the grocery store or the brand is paying for that discount, and that ends up hurting the bottom line and ultimately the salaries of the people who are working for the company doing the promo. Nothing in life is free and we are not entitled to pay less than what a product is worth. Now on the other hand, if a product is priced too high perhaps that indicates a schism between what the market will bear and what the producers want to charge. But still...we should be respectful of the fact that we are not entitled to pay less than market value for things. It sickens me to watch the people on that show be rude to grocery story clerks who are ringing up their thousands of dollars in groceries, who make minimum wage, and whose companies are actually suffering from this trend. There are some grocery stores that have had to start refusing to take certain coupons (usually online printoffs, which are easily duplicated) to abate this madness!
Excellent point, Cristine! I hadn't considered that, but you are so right...someone IS paying for it and that's a shame that companies could actually have their bottom line or employees hurt by this selfish, prideful couponing. Have you been to TLC'S site? They have links to sites that provide lots of coupons and tips on how to extreme coupon...they are not just glorifying this behavior by giving it a show, they are also promoting it by helping viewers become this way! Sick!
I saved $60 on my groceries the other day with simple coupons combined with sale items (using coupons that I sat down and clipped from the Sunday paper!) No hoarding--just a mom trying to get good deals on the things WE ACTUALLY USE. I love using coupons and save at least a few dollars on most shopping trips with them. I think this show and those who do this extreme couponing are going to ruin it for those of us who use coupons like they were intended. :(
Wll said, Karen! And what a shame that would be if companies and stores stopped offering so many coupons as a push-back against these extremists.
I totally agree! Like Karen said, using coupons to save a few dollars when you get groceries is good and responsible, but when it gets to the point where you are buying truckloads of hot sauce or mustard that you will probably never use just because it's on sale, then it just gets to be silly and wasteful.
Great post, Amanda. Too many people are abusing coupons these days. Coupons are meant to save a few cents here and there on things you will USE. If it just sits for months and months in your garage or your pantry, what is the use of buying and "extreme couponing" in the first place?
I rarely ever use a coupon. I think I can actually recall the couple of times I've relied on coupons to help me afford food--pet food. The three times I've used a coupon have been in order to feed my animals. PetCo has a system in place that customers get a discount or even a free bag of food with so many purchases of pet food on a single PetCo PALS card. Lol, those have literally been the only times I've used coupons.
I have gloriously never seen this show or been in line behind one of these people, so I can't really speak to the specifics of the program or the habit. However. You and Cristine both make great points. I think if you're going to use a coupon because you need it, then obviously you should use it. If you're using coupons as substitutes for cash (which these extremists seem to be doing), then I think you should reconsider what you're doing.
I do want to clarify that there is a difference between using coupons in place of cash because otherwise you will be bankrupted by the cost of necessities and using coupons as dollar bills simply because they exist. I know that there are people who can't afford to feed their families. Those people absolutely should use coupons so that they can eat. I have no problems with that. But the people who are trying to "stick it to the man" or who feel entitled (as Cristine brilliantly points out) to pay less than the value of the product, those are the people who need to go to therapy.
Thanks for reviewing this show, Amanda. I have a generally "ickiness" when I encounter people who identify as "extreme" in any way. I'll be sure to avoid this show in the future. ;)
I agree with the hoarding, but the show has taught me a few tips on how to save my family some hard earned money. I picked up couponing about two months ago. I buy what we'll use, but not just because it's a good deal. I ended up saving about $300 a month on groceries, which helps me out as a grad-school mom. I don't plan on stockpiling anytime soon, but having an extra box of pasta or hamburger helper in the cupboard (while not impressively healthy) is a nice break from running to the grocery store after a long day of grading...
On a side note, though, I've been unable to get coupons for the last month because some crazed couponer has been stealing the Sunday paper inserts from the machines around Auburn.
Stef from the UK. Not a problem in the UK as the 2 4 1 deals don't allow additional coupons to be used. Vey little way to beat the system over here. Great site.
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