Extreme Couponing????

Coupondivas.com has videos and information to help you coupon. They also tell you which coupons match up at what stores, which items you can get for free at each store, etc.

I second Jill Cataldo's site. Her method doesn't require much time (you don't have to cut out EVERY coupon and make a huge book to carry with you everywhere!) Jill's site has everything you need to get started, her deals of the week are easy to read and follow, and you'll be couponing and getting free stuff right away!

I spend about an hour every week checking her site and a few others and cutting out coupons. I get lots of free stuff and great deals. I stockpile only what I think I will use in the next month or so, anything beyond that to me is clutter in my home.

The extreme couponer shown that saved thousands of dollars was actually committing coupon FRAUD. Several blogs have been posted about J'aime and how she's committing a crime by using coupons for one product on another because she can "fool" the system. The coupon systems have been updated to keep this from happening, but I think the show is unrealistic, and it also makes us normal couponers look like hoarding lunatics!

ARRGGHHHHH!!!! That show pi$$e$ me off!!!! It is a reality show, NOT a show based in reality. It is edited for the audience. If you think you can get $1000 worth of stuff for $87, well forget it. You MIGHT be able to do it occasionallyy.....IF you spend hours watching the sales and ads, knowing long in advance what is going to be on sale, having hundreds of coupons for the right products and for the right amounts (some parts of the country may have a dollar off one product, while other areas have $.75 off three, and other places don't have it at all), and have a store that is willing to work with you.

That show is RUINING it for us "normal" couponers that get enough of a stockpile for a few weeks until the next sale. Companies will begin to scale back the sales, coupons, and store incentives. People will get the couponing bug, then it will fade because it is a LOT OF WORK to keep up. You have to be committed.....like it is a new part time job. By that time, the best deals will dry up, leaving us couponers (not the newbies) with way less.

Stocking up for Armageddon is just ridiculous!! You might as well watch Hoarders! It is the SAME THING, except (possibly) more organized. Seriously, how many hoarders do you know??

Thanks TLC. (That was sarcasm, folks.) And I thought it was supposed to be the LEARNING channel. Now it is all about sensationalism.

Go to supercouponing.com. The founder, Jill Cataldo, is local and teaches classes on how to effectively reduce your grocery bill by half or more. If you belong to an organization (church, library, mom's group, etc.) you can also request for her to come to your group. She also sells a DVD of her seminar. I read her blog, she's got some really great tips.

the skill those people have is........ addiction.. addiction to buying things and in some cases, hoarding... I mean c'mon... no one needs ALL the things they purchased and it seems like in most cases, apart from the one guy who donated all that cereal, keep everything..... to me.. that isn't smart.. it's compulsive...... if you want to coupon.. start out by going to your newspaper and see IF there are coupons you can use. thing about coupons, often they are for items you may not usually buy, which is why I seldom use them.. also, it would seem that in many cases, they are good for processed foods... which ok, if there is a disaster, then those keep well.. but really.. how much shampoo and cream cheese do people need..
Truly, when I saw that show I kept thinking.. HOARDERS........ COMPULSIVE DISORDER.. something just isn't right when you spend your entire day doing that and too, that one woman even went dumpster diving...... I don't know.. I just think those folks are addicted to it..

I like hip2save.com and coupon.com. I also get the Sun-Times and Daily Hearld on Sunday. I carry my coupons in a notebook in baseball card sleeves. It is just easier to keep them organized. I go through the ads every week and make out a shopping list. I then attach my coupons to the list for each store I am going to. I also do not buy a lot of frozen, processed foods but I seem to use coupons every week. I am not sure what everyone means when they say processed foods because I do buy pasta, cereal, bread etc... and all of that is processed. I stock up on soap, shampoo, toothpaste, floss, cleaning supplies etc.. So far this year all my toothpaste, floss, and dishwasher detergent has been free and I havenot paid more then a dollar for Pantene and Head and Shoulders shampoo. Target has coupons on their website and you can use manufacturer coupons along with Target coupons. I save average of $20-$30 a week, sometimes more, sometimes less without buying a lot of frozen foods. I consider it a hobby and I enjoy saving the money. I consider the money I save with the coupons my "FUN" money.

All things in moderation...

coupon sense is an organization that has " consultants " to help you. Look it up online and see if you can find someone in your area to come to your home and teach you.

I use coupons but I use them for the things I intend to buy. OR if I have a coupon for something that I've always wanted to try but never wanted to spend the money, I will buy it with the coupon. I wish I had a coupon for every item I purchase but that is very difficult. You can contact companies you buy from often and ask them for money saving coupons. I have done this many times. For you mamas who use formula, DO contact the formula company you use and ask for money saving coupons. I used Enfamil and they sent me monthly coupons for formula.

I am assuming you saw the Extreme Couponing show. I saw it too and I think it's ridiculous. Not the money saving part, but come on, who needs that much deodorant, toilet paper, mustard? Yes, a good sale is hard to pass up but buying these items all the time and in huge amounts like that all the time????
I agree with April C. ~~ EVERYTHING in moderation.

Have you taken Jill Cataldo's class at the local library?