The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

RM,
I just read your article on Extreme Couponers on TW. 

http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=62&articleid=20110612_62_0_Idoapp816163

Good article.  I can't imagine going so far as to scavenge other people's trash and recycling for coupons.  My wife is a coupon nut, and a member of many of the coupon forums.  I am having her post your article.  I may have some insight to offer on the culture.

We used to spend around $600+ a month on groceries (family of 4) and most everything we bought was Always Save, or Best Value crap.  We also burnt around $200 eating out every m,onth.  About two years ago Megan discovered the coupon culture (after an episode of Opra, or Dr. Phil or something like that).  I ridiculed the whole idea because I hate getting in line behind someone with a bag full of coupons.

Here is the result.  We spend less than $50 a month on groceries.  She shops every day with her coupon portfolio and most of her trips result in a car full of groceries for two or three bucks.   Each weekend she gets the Sunday Tulsa World from my parents or her parents or both and clips for an hour or so, but most of the coupons she uses come directly from the companies.  You just have to know how to send for them.  Certain things, like soda, we haven't purchased in years (we have cases of it in the garage).

My wife has never paid for coupons but a huge number of people do.  Here's where your problem lies.

The people who are dumpster diving for coupons are doing it as a business.  They are not the coupon users.  Coupons have become a huge source of income for people.  A typical Sunday Tulsa World is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, find a dumpster behind a convenience store with a stack of them, and you have several thousand bucks!

The web is now full of forums where you can purchase coupons in bulk from individuals who dumpster dive and spend their days clipping.  These people can make thousands every day by just clipping coupons and selling them online for a fraction of their face value.  To these people coupons represent income, not discounts. 

For example, you can spend $10 to buy a 100 coupons each for $3 off a 12 pack of diet coke.  Take those to Homeland (double coupons) and you have 100 twelve packs of coke for FREE! (bring a large car). 

Or, notice a sale at Target on all Chef Boyardee products for $.75.  Go online and spend $20 for 400 $.72 coupons, and go get 400 cans of ravioli for $12.

You can find these entrepreneurs on almost every forum and they make a ton of money doing this.

I thought Homeland only doubles up to a face value of $1.00. 

I don't get the Sunday paper, just the unsolicited stack of coupons and sale flyers mid-week and val-pak.  I rarely find coupons of interest to me as most seem to be for canned goods or boxed, prepared meals which I don't use.  I tend more to follow meat and produce sales for my savings.

Since I live by myself during the week, I don't consume much in the way of soap, paper goods or other items a family of four would use more of.

They may.  I was just using that as an example.  I am not the coupon nut in the family.  I pay full price for convenience!  Just don't let Megs know that!

I watched the show but they seemed to mostly rely on Frequent Store Cards and Double Coupons.  Do any Oklahoma grocery stores do either?

I too saw RM's letter to TW and thought that whoever is doing the dumpster diving is turning them for a penitence. But my advice to you Gaspar would be to cut out soda pop completely and can the chef boyardee. You'll not only save some bucks but a little off the midsection and in the arteries.

I can't argue with that, but it is nice having hundreds of name brand products around the house instead of the nasty cheap stuff. 

I've got enough shampoo, body wash, and deodorant to bathe the homeless of San Francisco!

(we do donate quite a bit of stuff!)

I'm with Conan.  We rarely have the opportunity to use coupons.

We may get a store coupon for $5 off $50 or something like that but they rarely have coupons on veg/fruit/meats.

We go to Sams and nothing we buy at the grocery, due to healthy eating, has coupons for it.

You have to buy cookies/canned stuff/fatty foods to get coupons to work.

Interesting Gaspar. Ever given thought to buying just what you need for now? Do the coupons lead to stockpiling?
I'm curious because in my next reincarnation I plan to be a life councilor. : ;D

I did an interview on Channel 6 this morning that will run tonight at 5pm.

It is a weird problem.

I'm amazed that it persists.  You would think that the manufacturers and grocery stores would lose enough money and stop it, but they have just built the discounts into the markup they give to non-coupon users.

Here is a link to the channel 6 story...

http://www.newson6.com/story/14899576/oklahoma-families-dumpster-diving-for-coupons

That's not true. I have about 15 boxes of Kashi, tons of fresh vegetables, and meats, as well as lots of fruit and vegtables.  Today she came home with 11 boxes of fresh pasta (not dry) to freeze.  We eat very healthy.

They actually do.  We have shelves of TP and other non-perishable items.

We saved $9,227 last year over what we spent on groceries the previous year without them.  The way she looks at it, an hour a week is well worth it. it has become a hobby for her and she loves it.

Just keep her out of our recycling bins and I have no problem.

So weird how often I hear that these days.  So weird.

Not a problem.  I don't think anyone in our neighborhood takes the paper!

For example, you can spend $10 to buy a 100 coupons each for $3 off a 12 pack of diet coke.  Take those to Homeland (double coupons) and you have 100 twelve packs of coke for FREE! (bring a large car)

Homeland has actually stopped allowing MASS BUYING with coupons, a friend of mine was doing it for a few months..they no longer allow anyone to use multiple coupons on the same day. This is good for me, I never did it but when I did have a coupon the store was out of them.

I'm calling BS, per Homeland's stated coupon policy:

"Doubling Coupons
~ Manufacturers' coupons with a face value of $1.00 or less will be doubled when customers use their rewards card. Coupons with a face value greater than $1.00 will be redeemed at face value.
~ Doubling is limited to one like-item coupon per family, per day. Additional like-item coupons will be redeemed at face value.
~ The doubling amount cannot exceed the current purchase price of the merchandise. If the doubled coupon's value is greater than the current purchase price, no cash back will be given and it will not be applied to the remaining balance of the transaction.
~ Carbonated beverage, soda pop, cigarette, beer, retailer, in-store, free-item, and coupons stating "do not double" cannot be doubled.
Multiple Coupons
~ Only one valid manufacturer and one valid Homeland coupon can be accepted for the purchase of a single item. If the coupons' combined value is greater than the current purchase price, no cash back will be given and it will not be applied to the remaining balance of the transaction.
~ For in-store coupons valued at a flat dollar amount off total purchase, the specified total purchase must be attained after all other coupons and discounts have been applied.
Sale Items
~ Valid coupons are accepted for sale items.
~ The value of the coupon cannot exceed the current purchase price of the item. If the coupon's value is greater than the current purchase price, no cash back will be given and it will not be applied to the remaining balance of the transaction.
~ When items are priced at Buy One Get One FREE, one coupon can be used per item, but the net purchase price cannot fall below $0.00 for the items when the coupons are applied. Only one applicable coupon can be doubled. If the coupons' combined value is greater than the current purchase price, no cash back will be given and it will not be applied to the remaining balance of the transaction."

http://www.homelandstores.com/Loyalty.aspx

If they double I could see them losing money on it.  But each coupon they get paid for redeeming it.  So I am not quite sure if its that big of a problem.  One thing people don't realize about these shows or message boards.  If you help people do stuff like extreme couponing you are only speeding up the time when nobody will let you do it.  If every customer used 100 coupons they would need more cashiers.

They only get paid the face value of the coupon by the manufacturer.  Interesting to note though that when I do go to Homeland, the shelf prices don't seem vastly higher to compensate for what they lose on doubling down.

I watched an episode of Extreme Couponing where a couple saved x amount of money on so many cans of cat food. They kept it stored in their stockpile along with hundreds of cans and other stuff they saved on. Their stockpile took over the garage. I don't thing they donated anything. Looked like a mini grocery store. Funny thing about it was its just the 2 of them and they don't even own a cat.

Wait, there's actually a reality series based on this?

Google reality tv.  You'll guido yourself.

Yes. Its on TLC. Wednesday night I think.

I just never see huge savings in coupons, it normally only a few cents and the coupons expire in a month or two anyhow. Other coupons are for rebates or have all sorts of strings attached.

Don't you end up buying things you wouldn't normally use?

I'll never open a can of raviolli, at least not before the rapture or armegeddon. I don't need a stockpile of Chinet or liqui-gels and I don't need any cat liter.

Calling BS on what? I got lost in your cut and paste reply...

How can you get a $6.00 12 pack of Coke with a $3.00 off coupon for free if they don't double the face value of coupons over $1.00?

The little lady and I for over a year have been printing and cutting coupons to try and save anything we can, as we spend close to 300 dollars a week at the grocery store. 4 boys 2 cats and 2 dogs. Sounds insane I know and trust me. If I could legally starve them I would.
The most we have EVER taken off the total bill is the State tax which I think our record was a whopping 28 Dollars and some change. And I am talking a thick amount of coupons being scanned. You know, the rolling of the eyes from the people behind you kind of amount.
So I am calling BS on all the coupon queen type or like stories I keep hearing about. I use coupons towards things we actually want.
And whats made it worse is now with this whole blown out of proportion phenominon. The coupon sites that we go to have all but stopped putting up coupons worth a sh!t. So now we are down to saving probably 6 bucks which makes it vertually worthless to even bother with.
So thank you all you dumpster diving coupon queen fanatics out there for ruining a good thing for all of us who actually BUY GROCERIES !

Nice smackdown  ;)

Not even close.

Totally not true.  Obviously you have not taken the time to read the web site and truly understand how couponing in this way DOES WORK.  If you had, you would know that half of what you are saying is not true.  I do believe you when you say you are not saving enough but that is not from a lack of coupons or resources to allow you to.  It is from not knowing how to correctly do it.  I have proof from myself and 100s of others that DO know how to correctly do it and DO save tons on money even on items you would already buy.  If you would like, I wouldn't mind even teaching you how.  There's no reason anybody should have to pay retail for everything when there are so many resources that allow you not to.

I think the key is to plan everything around your coupons. If you have a coupon for something, that is what you eat for dinner.

It also helps to be a litter bit of a hoarder. A lifetime supply of dish detergent can be a badge of honor for some.

Not a chance that'd work for me.

Don't Mormons have something like an Armageddon closet or pantry in their homes?

That can be done but is NOT needed to save money and purchase what you normally would.  Often a stock pile happens from doing this.  We have a medium sized one right now and it grows fast.  We have 4 kids so they keep it at a reasonable size.

I'm glad you are doing something that you love. If groceries were important to me and I bought pre-packaged goods or soda then this might appeal to me.

Not sure what web site that you are talking about but if it subcribes to me driving all over town spending gas money shopping at 10 or more stores to do my grocery hoarding. Then true. You are right. I refuse to buy into the idea of spending the two days off that I get doing that.
So then kudos to you who have unlimited time to be the stay at home "Coupon Queen" shopping at multiple stores and countless hours on the net as the little uns nap. Not all of us can or will take that kind of time and effort to do so.
Just dont make it sound as easy as turning on a light or opening a newspaper. It isnt that easy. And if you have some secret web site to print off actual coupons that are worth using. Please share. Just dont point me in a direction without a compass.
Oh and one other thing. Writing and e-mailing your favorite products in hopes of them giving you coupons.............please  ::)

ROFLMAO, sorry, at this point I think trying to show you how doing this would not require all that work you describe, as well as the "unlimited time" that I somehow have (that one really made me laugh) would be hopeless for you. 

Although you could be right.  This whole thing could be a dream.  Am I really getting all these groceries for next to nothing and saving my family 100s of dollars a month with not much effort?  Damn I hope I never wake up! 

I truly feel sorry for you.  Not the kind of sorry I feel for a homeless person down on their luck but the kind of sorry you feel when you see somebody trying so hard to open a door by pulling on it with all their might and a sticker next to the handle that reads "push".

ROFLMAO!! WOW THAT WAS ...EPIC

I know, e-pity and net-bigotry all in one post.

Which web site are you referring to?  If I structured some shopping trips around household cleaners and paper goods, those are the kinds of things I could use coupons for.  For me to remember to take coupons on a normal grocery trip just never seems to work out for me.

Giving it more thought I might be able to use coupons for tuna packs, canola or olive oil, and a few other cooking staples like sugars or spices and salt.  Again, those would have to be planned trips for me.

I'm not much up on text messaging so, What the he!! does that mean ?
I may be a old dog but I like new tricks so there again.
What web site are you referring too that will open my eyes to coupon mecca ?
Maybe I too can ROFLMNGQRXYNZ

Also this was not directed at you zstyles. It is intended for our newbee who knows all and tells nothing.

I think this is the one my wife uses the most.
http://moneysavingqueen.com/

Conan, you too can be a money saving queen!

How about a money-saving hetero instead?

Newbee?  LOL Hi POT.  again, I just don't think it would be worth it for you.  you might want to give up that dream.

12 posts and your not new here......ok
and there again ya got me with the HI POT ?

Yeah I thought you might understand that phrase.

No I still have no idea what you are referring too and where is that elusive web site that you are so on about ?

figures.  one of them is www.moneysavingqueen.com and there are many more (coupondivas.com ect.) but again, I don't think you should look into it anymore.  it might hurt.

Good lord dude. Money saving queen is not anything new or anymore helpful than just going to pch coupons yourself. Thats all her website does is redirect you to some other site. This whole coversation was about dumpster diving people getting newspaper coupons dangerously.
Im going to start getting the Sunday paper and check and see if they have changed since I last took the paper.
I sure was hoping that you had better websites then the ones I already knew about.
Oh well, keep it real and keep on extreming.  :D