The way extreme couponing works, and I'm sure I'm not explaining it well, is that you buy so many multiples of an item that is both on sale and you have a coupon for, that you end up actually making money, which you then use to purchase the stuff you really need, stuff that doesn't go on sale or have coupons- like milk and fresh produce. I'm sure there is more nuance than in this explanation, but that's the idea, right? You also split your purchases into multiple transactions to get the largest possible return on all these coupons. Now I'm all for saving a buck and (you can ask my husband), I'm the cheapest person on earth, but I am disgusted and horrified by this trend.
Here's why- if you have to buy 40 boxes of a product you haven't tried and don't know if you family would eat, as one woman did on the last episode I saw, in order to make enough money to buy your veggies, you are wasting that product. In her case it was couscous. Let's say they didn't like it, now they have 39 more boxes. Oh sure, they can donate it somewhere, but here's what I bet happens, I bet it sits in their pantry until it expires because they keep thinking they will try it again a different way and maybe it'll be better. And then they donate the expired food or toss it. Meanwhile, those of us who DO like couscous have to pay a higher price on ours because the store just had to pay someone to take home 40 boxes and throw them away. On that same show a family without pets had a coupon for catfood. She put in a request that the store order extra cases of this particular brand, because she need to buy a large number of packages in order to maximize her return. She filled a shopping cart with catfood for the cat she did not own. Yes, she planned to donate the food to the local shelter (and I am happy for the shelter) but what do you think is going to happen to the price of catfood now that the store had to give away all that? I have a cat (two, actually) and if each of those packages was $7, she easily just took hundreds of dollars of product she didn't need, so she could buy a couple things she did.
I'm sure many of you are reading this and thinking how you'd love to get stuff for free and what kind of idiot (Lisa) would not?? And hey, I love free stuff! Give me a coupon for a free box of catfood and I am all over it. Send me a coupon for half off my gallon of milk and I will be in line. But here's the deal- we use both catfood and milk at our house. I already know I enjoy (if you will) both products. Give me a coupon for an item I've never tasted and I will happily get my one (or two if the coupon is buy one get one free) and try it out. I will not fill my pantry with a food I might not eat for the sake of saving a buck. I would happily take a product for review that I've never tried (in fact, I'll have a software review soon and I have ads here on this very blog) but I won't do it at the expense of everyone else and I won't take an unreasonable amount.
Additionally, have you ever noticed which products have coupons? Sure, sometimes it's toilet paper or Windex, but usually it's pre-packaged processed food- like Hamburger Helper or Pop-Tarts. Yeah, we eat both those things, but we don't have a pantry full of them. In this age of obesity and couch potatoes, do we really need to eat MORE of that stuff? But Lisa, how'm I supposed to afford milk if I don't buy Hamburger Helper? Yeah, I know, times are tight. They are for me too, but it doesn't help if extreme coupon shoppers are making it worse out there.
There are some stores, like Walgreens, who have a system of Register Rewards that often lead to free items as well. For example (and I'm making this example up rather than find a flyer, but this is how it works), you buy 2 of a certain makeup brand and you get a coupon for $5 off your next purchase. Your next trip you find an item that also offers rewards and use your $5 coupon to get another reward coupon. The trick is, the rewards expire very quickly and you have to keep buying stuff to keep it up. Miss a week and you start over. You can certainly game this to maximize your return (sorry to repeat that phrase, but I'm so sick of hearing it) but here's how it's different to me- it's a system created BY Walgreens, for use AT Walgreens. You can't walk into any store with your Walgreens Register Rewards and spend them. And I've yet to hear of anyone buying three shopping carts worth of crap they don't need to get a free bag of apples.
This has also changed the way people behave when shopping for other items. It doesn't hurt to ask for a discount, no, but if the store refuses, or doesn't give you the item for less than cost, don't take it out on the store. Give away too much for too little and you'll soon discover that your town no longer has an Ace Hardware or a Small-Town furniture store or an Independent Bookstore. You'll be buying all your food at Wal-mart because the local Grocery Mart can't compete. You won't have a bookstore or a fabric store. If you ask for more than they can give and then refuse to shop there when they can't give more, don't be surprised when it's gone. I just read that north Texas Kroger stores will no long double coupons, because they are losing money. One of my local grocery stores (not a chain) has large signs in the window that they will no longer accept any coupons printed off the internet, because of fraud. We continually hear cries of "buy local" and "buy independent" but at the same time those stores are going out of business because they are forced to compete in ways they can't. No profit= no stores.
To be clear, I don't have a problem with coupons. I don't have a problem with saving money or getting a good deal. If you can buy all your groceries and save more than you spend I'm happy for you- if they are the groceries you'd have bought anyway. If you find a great Groupon and get free ice cream cones for life, more power to ya. If you are a pro at spotting the free nugget day at Chik-Fil-A or the free scoop day at TCBY or whatever, that's awesome, I wish I had that ability. My issue lies with buying bulk quantities of stuff you don't need in order to get the things that are really on your list. Or buying your 38th package of toilet paper because you needed some eggs. These are the things that drive up prices for everyone.
And don't even get me started on how I feel about getting caught in line behind someone who believes themself to be an extreme couponer...
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