I have a confession to make: I have become enthralled with TLC’s show Extreme Couponing. The stingy saver in me is fascinated by how these (mostly) women save SO MUCH MONEY on so much food/lifestyle products. The show is over for this season (WOE), but one thought lingers with me.
After watching episode after episode, something began to niggle in the back of my mind. As the camera flashed over stockpiles and items spilling into carts, I noticed a pattern: by only purchasing food with coupons that make the food incredibly cheap or free, these shoppers are, by and large, feeding their families — and children! — ABSOLUTE CRAP.
Some of the products I saw families buy in bulk to feed their families:
- frozen pizza (and not the “good” kind)
- Mentos candies
- Butterfinger bars (in bulk?!?!)
- Gatorade
- Mountain Dew (and all manner of soft drinks)
- ramen noodles (and all possible permutations on this/brands)
- potato chips/Chex Mix (etc.)
- juice boxes
- high fat crackers (such as Cheez-Its)
- instant Mac & Cheese (ie: Kraft)
- cake mix
- high sugar cereals (all varieties)
- instant rice (and other high sodium “instant” items)
- ice cream
- salad dressing
- Pilsbury frozen crescent rolls (and similar)
And you know what I saw only TWO families buy all season? Fresh produce.
I am no saint — I eat some of the above, or grew up eating it. But I did not and do not subsist of an entire diet of these highly processed, heavily marketed “foods.” Watching these families buy 200 packages of ramen, it made me sick to my stomach knowing they were raising their KIDS on this “food.” Most of these products aren’t ones that any family *needs*. But if you have a coupon and it is cheap or “free,” they’ll buy it.
The problem is, food manufacturers tend to provide coupons for the worst of their foods — the brands they want to push onto American families, and especially to their children — high sugar drinks, snacks and the like. These foods have little to no natural ingredients, are high in sugar, sodium and “flavor enhancers.” The expense of buying in bulk and eating cheap may be these families’ health.
I am all about the non-food items these extreme couponers get – I am jealous of their deodorant & shave gel stockpiles. But you couldn’t PAY me to eat all that processed junk… but is essentially what food companies are doing via their coupon deals. Paying American families to buy their crap, and perpetuate their brands as essential.
What do you think? Did you watch? Do you extreme coupon?
Here is one of the moms who actually bought produce. There were no coupons in the paper, so she emailed the company and asked for a deal on bananas.
You can watch more videos here.
As you know, I’ve become a bit obsessed with seeing this show too. I’ve even dabbled in couponing since it started. But I’ve noticed the same thing…there are lots of coupons for junk. While I see their point – it’s free..why shouldn’t they take it? I’m more concerned with finding coupons for things I use.
This month, I’ve saved over 35 dollars using coupons on things I use – Tom’s toothpaste and deodorant, fresh potatoes, cereal and toilet paper. The show has definitely made me more aware, but just like everything else in reality TV, it’s extreme…thus its name.
My iPhone changed its to it’s, and I didn’t catch it before hitting send! I know the difference..feel free to edit that for me, will you please?
Done
I do read flyers for sales and am on the mailing list for coupons for craft supplies but I dont’ use food coupons for that very reason.
I need to get better at couponing for the non-food stuff. There are some great deals. I used to craft more and I used them for that, too
I have watched the show a few times. I used to coupon and did ok, not as much as those people. It was fun and a little addictive. Very time consuming. Since we have been eating healthier, the coupons don’t really help on the food front. I agree with you, the coupons are usually not for the healthier food. It’s too bad. My favorite used to be to go to CVS and het tons of items and just pay a few dollars and then get extra care bucks. It was be greatest. We had tons of toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste. LOL
I can totally see it being addictive! A friend on Twitter mentioned hoarders, and honestly I think it comes from the same place of personality: obsessive compulsive tendencies. I might be dangerous couponing, lol.
I wish there were coupons for better food. The best I’ve been able to find is the coupons Fresh & Easy sends, but it’s usually just $5 off an order of $25 or more, so it’s not extreme savings.
I’ve been couponing since before the show aired, and the ramifications of the show are pretty irritating for the rest of us. Whenever there are supposed to be good coupons in the paper, it’s become impossible to buy a Sunday paper after 10am. So many people are trying to “extreme” coupon now that stores across the country are changing their policies to limit the amount you can save, and manufacturers are giving less valuable coupons.
Anyway, I normally save around 50% of my shopping bills by watching for sales and occasionally using coupons. Most of the items I buy at really discounted prices are either non-edibles (I have so much toothpaste that I’ve decided not to buy anymore for at least a year or two) or are on rare sale. For instance, Propel Zero is on sale for $0.49 per bottle at Kroger this week through the Mega Event (buy 10 participating items, get $5 off). Even Amazon’s low bulk prices aren’t that good! Target also has a coupon right now for a certain amount off when you buy their bread and milk. It’s not impossible to buy good foods with coupons, but you have to watch. Besides, if you’re getting your toiletries, household goods, and other supplies for next to nothing, it’s not a big deal to pay full price for produce.
These are two of my favorite blog entries from my favorite couponing blogger about Extreme Couponing (the real deal and the show). She even comments on how you can’t possibly buy everything a family would need to eat using these methods.
http://www.southernsavers.com/2011/04/extreme-couponing-tlc-review-not-a-reality/
http://www.southernsavers.com/2011/06/real-extreme-couponing-getting-started/
Okay, one more thing, and then I’ll get off my soapbox. Southern Savers also posts something every week called Need It Now, Best Prices. Each list usually has these categories: Beef, Pork, Poultry, Seafood, Hot Dogs, Produce, Breakfast, Soft Drinks, Cleaning Supplies, Paper Products, Pet. The lists tell you where you can find the best prices on the sorts of things that either you must have now and can’t wait for a coupon deal (like pet food) or that you generally can’t buy with coupons anyway (like beef).
It’s possible to use coupons and sale cycles to buy healthy food, but the big difference is that you can’t build a stock pile of healthy, unprocessed foods because they’ll go bad! But, because I have enough toothpaste to last until…well…a while, I can appropriate the money I would have spent on that to go toward produce.
I wish I were in the South b/c Southern Savers sounds awesome! I may have to forward it to my mom (Krogers is her local grocery in ATL). What I would really want is what you do — the toiletries and so on. You’re right — if you’re saving on those items, you can redirect those savings to good food.
I can’t wait to read those blog entries. Something about the show smacked of unrealistic, so it will be good to read an insider perspective.
The show also smacked of “illegal.” One of the women on the show has been caught committing coupon fraud: http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/16258
We admire deals, not theft.
Woah! Thanks for that link. It was really good reading.
You touched on exactly what my problem with couponing is. Most of the product that is pushed with coupons is absolute crap. To actually live off of only things that you buy with coupons would be really bad to your health. You are saving money on food, but racking up medical bills.
I can’t find it anywhere but I recently read an article about the backlash Extreme Couponing is causing amongst retailers. People are watching these shows and going nuts with combining manufacturer coupons with buy one get one promotions and things like that so a lot of the retailers are changing their coupon policies.
The article also mentioned that for some people watching the show makes them feel worse about couponing because they are not saving anywhere near as much as the people on the shows.
I have tried couponing in the past and gave up for the exact same reason. Anything we got coupons for were things we didn’t use or didn’t need including LOTS of overly processed essentially fake food.
Unfortunately this is honestly how a lot of people eat in this country. I shop at one of those big box grocery stores (Winco) for most of my shopping and its stocked to the brim with fake food. And I always see lots of people with carts overflowing with boxes of instant everything and no produce of any kind. Its sad and frustrating. Especially when you know they are feeding their kids that crap.
Exactly! I think it really illustrates a problem in our country: the cheapest, most readily available food to the average American (and American families) is processed junk. Even *without* coupons. There’s a number of reasons for this, including but not limited to the corn subsidy (which means almost EVERYTHING has high fructose corn syrup in it and that food is cheap to make). It makes me sad.
Now, are these people SOLELY feeding their families off what they buy for coupons? If so, not okay. If they’re buying less desirable food in bulk because it’ll keep for years and supplementing with non-coupon items (cut from the show?) to round it out, I’m okay with it.
I’ve been recced the show a million times because I’m so cheap but don’t feel I’m going to learn anything new.
They should call it Extreme Sales Hunting because even though a lot of produce doesn’t have actual coupons, Food4Less, for instance will have the most ridiculous sales and you can pay less than 10 cents per veggie/fruit.
Living in Canada, I just don’t see the same coupons or retailer competition/deals as you seem to get in several areas in the US; that said, the few coupons I do see I rarely use, as I buy very little processed food for my family (I’m all over cleaning products, etc., though!).
I’ve watched the show a couple of times, and reached the same conclusion as you – no way could I feed that junk to my family! There was one couple who used their coupon habits to donate to charity – tons and tons of soap, shampoo, deodorant, gatorade, juices, etc were all donated to shelters/church groups. I thought that was pretty cool.
I used to do extreme couponing well before the show aired. I used to follow a bunch of “mommy saving bloggers” to get the amazing deals. Then I realized I don’t want majority of the food that the coupons are for. I still see pictures of these “i only spend $2″ shopping adventures and I cringe because these people are feeding their family processed crap and are proud of it. Granted, it’s their choice, but it’s not the choice for me.
Now I do couponing for health and beauty items, but within reason. If it’s something we use regularly (deodorant, Crest mouthwash) then yes, I will buy a few extras if I can get a really good deal. I don’t need massive amounts of items taking up space in my already too small linen closet. I’m still trying to whittle down my stock pile of body wash that’s a year old.
I’m late to this post…but I noticed that just about everyone of them had a stock pile of those chow mein instant lunch things. there obviously was a good coupon, because everyone felt the need to get it, one lady saying they were “great” for lunch. I’m not judging because I have had one of those for lunch on occasion, but really? all that salt – I can’t even think of the water retention
And it seems like these people don’t even stop to use up their stockpiles…just keep adding. But I will still watch its fascinating. I felt really proud yesterday when I used 2.50 extra bucks and $2 coupon to get powder for free. I’m happy with my one container of powder
I only recently tried that product – Yakisoba – and while it is fine and all, it’s 14 WW Points+, which is almost HALF my daily quotient (a little less) and I wasn’t even full after. It’s all starchy nothingness and salt. Not a substantive food for anyone, I don’t think.
I do wonder if they ever stop stock-piling and start using. Then again, from what I’ve read, many of those featured on the shows were only allowed to do such massive orders because the grocery stores wanted publicity… so many they’re normally taking in smaller, more consumable amounts?