The people on Extreme couponing are nuts. Most people do not shop that way.
The first rule of couponing is not to buy a bunch of crap you won’t use. The only time I get something I don’t need is if it’s free (cat litter for Grandma, etc).

It is a lot of work when you start, but you eventually find a rythm and it gets easier and less time consuming.

One of the pain points with couponing identified in this article is the sheer time it takes to do it well. Wouldn’t it be nice if a website did the searching for printable grocery coupons for you? Well, now there is such a site, http://www.valetdeals.com. You tell us what you want, once, and we continue to find and deliver the coupons that you’re interested in, it’s worth a try!

I think it’s worth it, because I made a commitment from the get-go to only buy things my family already ate (no hamburger helper for us, thanks… even if it IS free) and I would not go to more stores than I already went to. I admit, I bristle a little when people say that they don’t eat “that kind of food” that the coupons are for. I use coupons for tortillas, meat, produce, toiletries, yogurt, cheese, sugar, eggs, dry pasta, flour, olive oil, good quality cereal, oatmeal, bread, etc etc etc… and I think it’s silly of anyone to assume that because I use coupons, I must be buying Cocoa Puffs by the truckload. Having said that, I’m a low level couponer and I’m fine with that. I read a few blogs, buy a few newspapers, clip only the coupons that I will USE, and incorporate them into the shopping I already do. It’s rare that I really put the work into some big shopping trip and save the big bucks. But sometimes, it’s worth it.

Recently, I clipped the right coupons in order to score big on man stuff for the hubs (body wash, deodorant, etc- and all good,quality brands like Nivea, Old Spice, Gillette) and made out like a bandit at Target. I only do that every once in a while, though. If it’s taking enough of my time to cause me stress then I don’t do it. The problem is that many people find it addicting- can’t pass up a deal, will buy anything that’s free, think they need to stock up on ketchup like it’s Armageddon tomorrow, will feed their kids chocolate rolled in sugar and then deep fried and topped with sprinkles provided that they got it for a good deal, etc. That is something I am NOT interested in doing.

What Jess said. It does save me a lot of money and I don’t buy crap food for my family thank you very much. If I can get a pound of cheese fot 30 cents, its worth the 5 seconds it takes to clip/ print the coupon. Not every one that uses coupons is the kind to spend hours on it. I spend one hour a week total on coupons and save an average of 300 bucks a week. With three boys in the house we use all of it and I wouldn’t be able to afford the good meats, cheeses and eggs without coupons. If you are in the financial situation to be able to afford buying those things without worry, good for you but don’t go telling the people who can’t afford it that its not worth their time to clip the coupons. How uppity and disappointing this article is!

This article is absurd. The author clearly didn’t know what she was doing. There are tons of coupons for healthy foods! And if you don’t need the processed foods that the coupon is for, DON’T BUY THEM! I always laugh when people say there are no coupons for things they buy. Really? So you don’t buy dairy products like yogurt, cheese, butter, milk? How about baking products like flour, sugar, spices, olive oil? And let’s not forget personal hygiene — do you not bathe? Or wash your clothing?

And going to 3-4 stores?! You can….but why?! I go to one grocery store, and save 60-80% on each visit. Why not 100%? Because I buy meats and fresh produce too. But the other stuff I get really cheap or free with coupons. I utilize one website that does coupon match-ups, and I spend about 20-30 mins prepping my list and pulling my coupons. Is it worth the savings? Oh yeah! I keep my coupons all nicely organized in my binder I got at http://www.CouponOrganizerPro.com. That takes about 30 mins/week to clip and file….a bit more if it’s a heavy coupon week.

The author of this article needs to attend a coupon class and see how to REALLY do it.

“It turned into more work than my actual full-time job.” That is exactly what I thought after watching one episode. You cannot have a job but you have to have a big house to store all that crap. Yes! crap. If I ever feel ok with feeding my kids that much processed food, then I will become an extreme couponer. In the mean time, I will just wait until the asparagus go on sale again.

For a full-time-working mother with young children, like the author, couponing may not pay off. For me, semi-retired on a limited income with more time than money, it does. In the same way that cooking from scratch does. I don’t use coupons for processed foods because they are unhealthy and even with a coupon usually more expensive than my homemade. But I do on non-food household goods, and that saves me enough to buy better quality fresh foods. And, occasionally I run across coupons for fresh and frozen produce.

I do think that some people over-estimate their coupon savings. Cheerios have to get pretty darn cheap before my breakfast of that equals the cost of oatmeal cooked from bulk purchased oats, or even a homemade muffin. So a coupon/sale on it still isn’t a real savings. Likewise, no coupon on meat is going to pay off because beans from dried, and bulk-purchased grains will always cost less, and without the e coli, heart disease and cancer risks.