morguefiles
A$ I help my daughter fill out college application$ and navigate through her $enior year, all I $ee are $$$$$$$$ $ign$!
My $on will be a Junior in college next year and my daughter a fre$hman. GULP. Thi$ college thing co$t$, mucho dinero!
It’$ time to tighten my belt and $ave wherever I can.
I decided to check out couponing – of the extreme variety that i$ – becau$e well, I love extreme$.
OMG. Have you people watched the Extreme Couponing $how?
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Thi$ i$ how it work$:
Fir$t, you clip (make other$ do the clipping) thou$and$ of coupon$ including one$ for $tuff you don’t u$e or need.
Then, you go to the $tore feeling extremely excited and nervou$ a$ you go ai$le by ai$le filling at lea$t 2 huge cart$.
If the coupon $ays, “$ave 75 cent$ on 20 can$ of $pam”, you get tho$e 20 can$ of $pam – damn it.
You al$o want to make $ure you go on “double coupon” day $o you can get more money off.
Once you are fini$hed filling the cart$ with hundred$ of item$ you will never u$e , you go to the check out.
$oon enough, the un$u$pecting & innocent ca$hier will wi$h $he had choked on her corn dog at lunch, $o $he wouldn’t be alive to have to $can the 500 item$ in your two cart$, to then $can coupon by coupon.
The excitement from the beeping of the price $canner, will be too much for you to handle and you will feel like you are going to pa$$ out. What if you made a mi$take calculating? What if, God forbid, you have to $pend $10 on your $700 total?
If you are a $ea$oned extreme couponer, mo$t likely you will not make any error$ calculating and after that very la$t coupon get$ $canned, you will owe 93 cent$!
If you are a real pro, you may even end up with a negative total, in which ca$e the $tore will owe you money!
At thi$ very moment, you will feel the be$t high and euphoria you have ever felt in your life (well, $ince your la$t vi$it to the $tore – ye$terday), reinforcing once again, your extreme addiction and leaving you hungry for more.
The next $tep i$ even more confu$ing to me. You get home and you put away the mad amount$ of product$ (you will never u$e) in your new $tock room (formerly known a$ your living room) for di$play.
When company come$ over, you cannot wait for them to $ee what a bad-a$$ $aver you are!
Hmmm. I will have to give extreme couponing, clo$er con$ideration.
Not to worry my friend$, TLC channel’$, Extreme Cheap$kate$ provide$ u$ with more idea$ for $aving $$$.
Perhap$ I $hould implement $ome of the$e in my hou$ehold.
I could in$i$t that my hu$band and I $hower together to con$erve H20 – that $ound$ kinda fun!
I could al$0 implement the, no flu$hing if it i$ ju$t #ONE, rule! Heck,I could $tart feeding them le$$ food $o that #TWO, is not even an i$$ue! I think I’m getting the hang of thi$.
Hanging our u$ed paper towel$ to dry in our dining room is another po$$ibility. A$ i$ $eparating our 2-ply toilet paper to make two different roll$.
How about refilling my condiment bottle$ at home with free packet$ from fa$t food re$taurant$?
Many of the$e idea$ are intriguing. But I am $orry. I will ab$olutely without a doubt,
NOT re-u$e dental flo$$!!!!
I could ju$t not $end my daughter to college…
What extreme $aving$ tip$ do you have?
Yuck and gross! Re-use dental floss….no way!
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They re-use Q tips too.
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I caught the Extreme Cheapskates show last week and that was almost as extreme as the couponing show. It’s crazy!
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It is definitely worse than the couponing show! They share Q-tips as well as floss! AY! Thanks for visiting. 🙂
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“Heck,I could $tart feeding them le$$ food $o that #TWO, is not even an i$$ue!”—Hilarious!
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Hee,hee. Just think how much you can start saving now on baby items! Clip every coupon for diapers, baby food and clothing now and save them! Just don’t limit the baby’s food intake to save a buck! 🙂
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This is hilarious. Love the use of the dollar sign.
I cannot save money, so couponing has never worked for me. However, MTM do shower together, and I highly recommend it.
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HA! Thank you and MTM for doing your part in conserving this precious natural resource. 🙂 🙂
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I ALWAYS forget mine at home… dang…Love your $’s!
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I know, I always forget pretty much everything. Especially my re-usable grocery bags. I’m going to make a conscious effort to be more savvy and save where I can. It seems like I haven’t been doing that for the past couple of years because I just go by convenience and whatever is easier is on my body. You gotta have energy and be organized to save! 🙂
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And it takes time!
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Ha ha!!! I pick up condiment packets and napkins at fast food restaurants. I haven’t bought a packet of napkins in years.
I always forget I have coupons. I even bought an item with a coupon attached and forgot to remove it at the checkout counter!
Reusing dental floss? Ugh.
I’m a big one for Groupon coupons at the movies. Saved a bundle at the box office.
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My husband is also a napkin snatcher. He takes them and keeps them in his car – in case he makes a mess while driving. I love Groupon! I’ve used it a couple of times. It is definitely addictive. I used two coupons when I went shopping today and although the person behind me stared at me funny, I got a little excited. HA!
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hahaha-I love this post. My sister is pretty good at couponing, but for me I just don’t have the patience. The other day I was staring at the feminine products aisle, when a lady said to me, “Hey. You look like a couponer. Can you tell me if this coupon works with this item?” I didn’t know whether I should take offense to that comment. I wondered if my work attire needed to be updated, and then I did something terrible. I gave her a friendly smile, looked at the coupon and told her it would most certainly work.
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Shannon, that’s hilarious! I think it was actually nice of you to play along with her and answer her question. “I wondered if my work attire needed to be updated”. LOL!!! I used a couple of coupons today and got a little high on it. 🙂
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Might need to call in Extreme Hoarder fixers. Hear you on college $$$. Our youngest is a senior in college. There is an end to it!
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Ha! I wonder if the Extreme Hoarding fixers go over and help out the Extreme Couponing folks whose houses are overflowing with free merchandise. Glad to hear there is an END to the college thing. Glad your youngest is a Senior. Might you be able to retire sometime in this lifetime? 🙂
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There is a great app for your phone called ‘snippy snap’. It is a web site that scours the web for any and all coupons. Once you find the store or restaurant you are visiting check out there coupons. You then have the coupon in your phone that they scan at the register. We used to save a butt-load of money at Target until they got off the program, like $10 coupons. I think I have the link to it on my Tight-wad Tuesdays page at the top. Few things feel better I think than being smart with your money. ..but i am a tight-wad 🙂
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Go Andy! Not only father of the year(s) but a savvy saver! It does feel good to save. I am a fan of Priceline and book all my hotels through them.
It’s only the extremes that I can’t do. 🙂 Thanks for the tip on snippy snap! 🙂
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I checked into the extreme couponing when I retired. It just plain scared me. Too much work cutting the coupons, too much work figuring out which stores had which products on special which day, too much work putting things away after a shopping trip, not to mention, too hard to find places to put all that food, and too hard to eat it all before it went bad. I rarely see anyone with coupons these days. I refuse to use them. It’s enough I go shopping and cook, you want me to clip coupons too?
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LOL! It’s a lot of work. I don’t mind couponing a bit for specific things but I cannot do the extreme thing.
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You are so funny! I have a neighbour who is right into couponing.
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There is definitely an art to it, it appears. Kudos to them for spending 97 cents on all their groceries even if they don’t use the items. 🙂
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She spends a lot of time coupon hunting like a hobby. I can imagine finding that loads fun 😉
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Ha! Well I would be saving money if all of my friends with their smart phones had stopped perstering me until I got a smart phone…..ahem…..:) Seriously though, I am the Queen of turning lights off. I went around one month turning every light that was not in use “off”. Took 80 bucks off the electric bill. I still turn the lights off….4 in the last minute as I came home to empty, but well lite home. But, insted of yelling, I just don’t feel guilty when I want to eat out! Cause, hey, I am “saving” money by turning off all those lights!
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Anything that will allow me to eat out more is prime! Unfortunately I hate darkness and go around the house turning all the lights on! Ooops. Your ‘good’ friends have pestered you about numerous things, facebook included. Look how happy you are now? The smart phone is just the cherry on the top! You are welcome for keeping you “hip”. LOL.
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If it’s yellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.
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Check out the college fees in Canada.
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Not sure what level a vball player your daughter is, but we do have teams up here! 🙂 Hmmmm…
No new clothing, jewelry etc. for the time being. Just food and wine.
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Cance? Christmas???
I kid.
Good luck.
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I’m with you on flushing it all down, Shelley. Can my daughter go to college near you and live at your house? (I promise she will flush). 🙂 I can do without new clothes and jewelry, good call on the food and wine. Did you mean cancel Christmas? That’s an idea! 🙂
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I often see the extreme coupon shoppers at the grocery store with 3-ring notebooks full of coupons. They sometimes take 15 minutes to cruise one aisle… no thanks! I do clip coupons for items that I purchase and use them at the store that always doubles their coupons. The other day I got four boxes of Triscuits for $1.12….of course, they could go stale by the time we eat them, but it was a great deal! 🙂
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I am sorta kinda jealous of extreme couponers…I feel like I am missing out. I’m with you though, I seek out coupons for the items we actually use. BTW, you can never have too many Triscuits! 🙂
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You are too funny! I refuse to clip coupons. Because if I actually had food in the house, I might be expected to cook! Not an option
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LOL! That’s good, Pam! I like how you think. 🙂
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