Former ‘Extreme Couponer’ Admits: It’s a Waste of Time

[JEDI]

http://business.time.com/2012/11/05/former-extreme-couponer-admits-its-a-waste-of-time/

There’s a strong argument to be made that utilizing couponing as something of a part-time job is pointless because, considering the amount of time that’s required, you’d wind up making (or saving, as it were) far more money with an actual part-time job. What’s more, a paycheck is generally considered superior to, say, a stockpile of 50 jars of tomato sauce.

I didn’t have a lot of free time because I was going to stores whenever I had spare time on my hands to try to get, you know, the next deal. A lot of the stuff, the coupons would expire, so you feel like you have to go before they are going to expire. And if the stuff sold out, well, you got to go back again the next day and see if you can find it.


i'm not an extreme couponer. I clip coupons for stuff I will use. I try to use the coupons when the supermarket has the item on sale.
my supermarkets weekly online ad is searchable. so I just enter keywords for the coupons I have and note which is on sale.

simple and not that time consuming.

 

[Kaido]

I dunno. A couple of my wife's friends are pretty heavy couponers and it seems to work out well for them. Both are stay-at-home moms, so they're full-time child caretakers where having a separate job doesn't make sense. Nice to have a stockpile of stuff for when you run out too, although I don't think they're big on the hoarding aspect of it.

 

[MontyAC]

Good thing Costco's done away with their coupons.

 

[Red Storm]

Extreme couponing is for people who don't value their time.

In other words they're stupid.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Extreme couponing might be, but I generally flip through the coupon supplements that come in the Sunday paper and clip the ones for products I use. Probably saves about $5-10 a week for less than 5 minutes work.

 

[waggy]

I tried it. then it dawned on me i was putting in so much time i wasn't getting the other shit i needed to get done.

Sure we saved a ton. but at the cost of a dirty house, ignored kids, etc. I didn't think it was worth my time.

I do look in the paper and clip ones that i see. but i dont' spend the hours and hours on sites, and such anymore.

One of of the regs here had a spouse that had a coupon site. it was great at first but man it took a ton of time and not all were accepted.

 

[SunnyD]

This biggest issue I see with extreme couponing is that you end up with shit you don't need/want/use just to get a good deal. Extreme couponing imho is like a gateway drug to hoarding.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Extreme couponing is for people who don't value their time.

In other words they're stupid.

If there's any stupidity here, it's on the part of people who can't see the applications for something where it makes sense, and instead thoughtlessly write off the entire thing by saying "they're stupid".

The benefits of doing this depend on your life situation. Like anything, you can go overboard with it, and like anything, that doesn't mean doing it reasonably is of no value.

The comparison to a part-time job is flawed both because many people aren't in a position to get one, as someone pointed out above, and because saving a dollar is worth more than earning a dollar if you pay anything in income taxes.

 

[Red Storm]

If there's any stupidity here, it's on the part of people who can't see the applications for something where it makes sense, and instead thoughtlessly write off the entire thing by saying "they're stupid".

The benefits of doing this depend on your life situation. Like anything, you can go overboard with it, and like anything, that doesn't mean doing it reasonably is of no value.

I specifically said extreme couponing, not just couponing.

A person that spends an extreme amount of time on something like couponing means they value a little bit of savings much more than they do their own time, which is stupid. Money comes and goes, time is something you never get back.

 

[gsaldivar]

The law of diminishing returns.

 

[gorcorps]

I specifically said extreme couponing, not just couponing.

A person that spends an extreme amount of time on something like couponing means they value a little bit of savings much more than they do their own time, which is stupid. Money comes and goes, time is something you never get back.

If you start splitting hairs with the definition of "extreme" this thread is screwed

 

[dank69]

Dammit, I've been training for the past 5 years to be a full-time couponer!

 

[JimKiler]

I wonder how much of the extreme couponing is a high/addiction like anything else. I love finding good deals such as fatwallet or slickdeals but the law of diminishing returns kick in.

But if have people have the time to extreme coupon go for it, there are far worse things to do in life.

 

[Kaido]

I've been training for the past 5 years to be a full-time couponer!

http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/7/c/7caee-Lady_in_the_Water__Freddy_Rodriguez.jpg

 

[Kaido]

I wonder how much of the extreme couponing is a high/addiction like anything else. I love finding good deals such as fatwallet or slickdeals but the law of diminishing returns kick in.

But if have people have the time to extreme coupon go for it, there are far worse things to do in life.

I caught an episode where they had shopping carts full of stuff, and one of the coupons didn't work and the lady had a meltdown in the middle of the store because she didn't know how she was going to pay for it all.

I have mixed feelings on it. First of all, it seems like an enormous hassle to the people who work there, to have to spend 45 minutes processing all of the coupons while other customers have to either wait or find another line to go out of, and it seemed like they always had to get a manager over to verify the coupons. And it's not really fair to the store for consumers to do that to them, although you could argue corporate America and blah blah blah, it's all legally available and whatnot.

Second, I also think that a lot of people don't have the same set of circumstances that we do. On ATOT, most of us are into computers and have the ability to find and keep decent-paying jobs, whereas not everyone has those kinds of skills or the intellectual capabilities (not a knock to anyone in any way) to be able to pull in a decently livable wage, or maybe don't live in an area where it's easier to make ends meet, and so the extreme couponing really helps their family out financially and gives them the ability to provide better for themselves within their means. So in that regard, I think it's awesome and I'm glad there are resources out there for people in need.

 

[notposting]

Good thing Costco's done away with their coupons.

What? They still do coupons, unless this is a recent recent recent change...

 

[MontyAC]

What? They still do coupons, unless this is a recent recent recent change...

You don't have to cut them, the sale items are just scanned.

 

[rudeguy]

Every time I see one of these people at the store, I want to punch them in the face. They are rude, arrogant and act like the store owes them something and that paying customers are just interruptions.

Not to mention they are always fat, sweaty lesbians.

 

[DrPizza]

Extreme couponing is for people who don't value their time.

In other words they're stupid.

You don't get paid for posting here. Therefore, you're stupid.


In other words, people can pick and choose whatever hobbies they want. If their hobby is clipping coupons, more power to them. They save money, compared to some other hobbies. I personally don't find cutting out coupons to find bargains to be a pleasurable pastime, but if others do, more power to them. And, for some others, having that extra part time job isn't a possibility, due to having young children to watch. Thus, it's an activity they can engage in while at home with the children, to make (save) a little extra money for the family.

 

[Kaido]

You don't get paid for posting here. Therefore, you're stupid.


In other words, people can pick and choose whatever hobbies they want. If their hobby is clipping coupons, more power to them. They save money, compared to some other hobbies. I personally don't find cutting out coupons to find bargains to be a pleasurable pastime, but if others do, more power to them. And, for some others, having that extra part time job isn't a possibility, due to having young children to watch. Thus, it's an activity they can engage in while at home with the children, to make (save) a little extra money for the family.

Yeah, no kidding. It's a lot better than selling drugs on the street corner or something! Not illegal, not immoral, and beneficial to their family. Personally I'd rather put in an extra few hours at work and not have to ever look at a coupon (more time to nef here, yar!), but if I run across one that I can use I'll grab it just to save a buck or whatever. People act like it's a bad thing, but then most people spend all their free time online or watching the tube, so meh. At least they're doing something physical haha!

 

[jagec]

If you start splitting hairs with the definition of "extreme" this thread is screwed

I hereby define "extreme" couponing as the level at which the marginal value gained in savings exceeds the marginal value of the time spend clipping coupons.

Therefore, extreme couponing is a waste of time.

 

[PingSpike]

Most coupons I see are for stuff I wouldn't ever buy otherwise. I'm not buying a crate of juice boxes even if they're 90% because I don't drink juice boxes. Even stuff like granola bars or other processed crap I sometimes like I end up with to much of and throw a lot of it away after it gets lost in the back of the cupboard and expires.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

A person that spends an extreme amount of time on something like couponing means they value a little bit of savings much more than they do their own time, which is stupid. Money comes and goes, time is something you never get back.

A new mother with an infant at home can't go out and get a part-time job. If she can use some of the time between having to deal with the child to save money, that's pure win, compared to using that time for something completely unproductive.

Try seeing things from someone else's perspective.

Oh, I just realized DrPizza said most of what I did. Plus the nice ironic slam at the start.

 

[Kaido]

Most coupons I see are for stuff I wouldn't ever buy otherwise. I'm not buying a crate of juice boxes even if they're 90% because I don't drink juice boxes. Even stuff like granola bars or other processed crap I sometimes like I end up with to much of and throw a lot of it away after it gets lost in the back of the cupboard and expires.

Although, I do use online coupons a lot. I always hit up the bargain sites, Retail Me Not, and Groupon before shopping because there's almost always somewhere you can get save some moola.

 

[Imp]

This biggest issue I see with extreme couponing is that you end up with shit you don't need/want/use just to get a good deal. Extreme couponing imho is like a gateway drug to hoarding.

That sums up my thoughts. My mom buys shit in bulk, then buys a ton of it if there's a sale. A noticeable portion of the time, the stuff gets trashed because too much was bought and either it went bad, or we got sick of it.