On TLC's "Extreme Couponing" show

Last night, TLC aired a show called "Extreme Couponing."  It followed four couponers as they shopped like maniacs, using coupons and sales to bring their checkout totals from four figures down to a few bucks.  As the name of the show suggests, they went to extreme measures to save money - dumpster diving, 300 toothbrushes, 1000 boxes of cereal and all.

But how realistic was it?  Is that how couponing really works?

To a degree it's real, but to a bigger degree things just don't work that way.

1.  Dumpster diving: I don't dive in recycling bins for coupons.  Most couponers don't for the simple reason that it's illegal in many areas.  If you're inspired to try your hand at couponing after watching the show, go for it!  If you're inspired to root through trash and recycling bins to find your coupons, though, check with your city, county, or other local agency to make sure you won't get arrested for it.  The goal is to save money, not to find yourself needing to pony up bail.  Beyond the legality, it's a personal decision if one wants to risk digging through a public bin that may or may not have more than just paper in it.  I choose not to take the risk, but I don't fault those who do and who can do so legally.
2.  300 toothbrushes: You will not find 300 toothbrushes in a bin in one store.  Let me repeat that: you will not find 300 toothbrushes (or 1000 boxes of cereal, or 500 boxes of pasta, or 250 cans of tuna) sitting neatly on the shelf ready to be swept into your cart at your local grocery or drug store.  Real coupon shopping is not Supermarket Sweep.  This show was "set up" in that the products were ordered with the store ahead of time to make for good TV.  In reality, stores do not keep a thousand boxes of cereal on the shelf (or stored in the back).  Some managers at some stores will place a special order for a customer if possible, but the last thing you should do is buy 1000 cereal coupons from Ebay and waltz into your grocery store expecting that you'll be able to use them all in one shot.  You won't.  What you'll have to do is what the vast majority of couponers do: buy 10 at store A, buy 15 at store B, buy 10 more at store C, then come back the next day after a new shipment is in to buy another 15 at store A, 10 at store B, 25 at store C, and so on.  If you're lucky, you'll develop a good relationship with the manager at your store and he or she will be willing to order in 100 cans of tuna just for you, but that isn't going to happen your first trip.  If you ask for a special order and don't show up to buy the items, the store is stuck with them and may not be able to sell them in time - or they may not have the space to store them while they wait to sell them.  Stores won't place large orders for just anyone.  If you want to go to the lengths shown in this show, gas up your car cuz you'll be doing a LOT of driving from store to store to store to store.
3. Hidden costs: Speaking of 300 toothbrushes,  how do you think one gets enough coupons to get 300 free toothbrushes?  As much as I wish it were so, the Coupon Fairy doesn't magically rain them down while we sleep.  You either buy 300 newspapers (at $1-2 each) or you buy the individual coupons from Ebay or a clipping service (at $.02-$.50 or more per coupon).  The free toothbrushes aren't really free at that point.  In addition, there's the tax.  Some states, Ohio included, don't charge sales tax on food.  They do, however, charge sales tax on everything else, and it's charged based on pre-coupon price.  If I were to get 300 "free" toothbrushes that cost $2 each before coupon, I'd be looking at about $15 to buy the coupons and another $42 in tax - $57 for my "free" toothbrushes.  In other states, groceries are taxed.  1000 boxes of free cereal at $2 each before coupon can run you, say, $140 in tax (at 7%) and another $50 to buy the coupons.  Factor all that in before you get too excited about "extreme" couponing.  Buying 10 boxes of this "free" cereal for your family at a cost of about $1.40 in tax and another $.50 in coupon costs is absolutely fantastic; buying 1000 because they seem free is ridiculous.
4. Cheering cashiers: Yes, sometimes cashiers are extremely pleasant.  Sometimes they cheer and applaud you when your total drops from $100 to $3.23.  Sometimes they even open a checkout line just for you if you've got a big cartload of stuff.  In the real world, though, these experiences are very much an exception.  I'm lucky beyond words that my favorite Rite Aid does this sort of stuff for me.  What you'll face most often, however, are skeptical cashiers, cashiers in a rush to get you the hell out of their line, scrutiny, eternal waiting for a manager to approve a coupon, dirty looks, cranky customers in line behind you, and, at another extreme, accusations of fraud, theft, or other crimes.  Look, half the time I don't quite believe I just walked out of a store with $300 worth of product for just the cost of tax; it's not beyond the pale that a cashier could be skeptical too.  Grow a thick skin.  You'll need it.  You'll also need a backbone and a willingness to stand up for yourself all the way up to corporate if it comes to that.  In the interest of being fair, since I'm still discussing the situation with a corporate office, I'll not disclose all the details yet but - recently I had what should have been a simple shopping trip with 4 items with two legitimate coupons turn into a cashier shouting at me and a manager accusing me of coupon fraud.  You will face this if you try to go the "extreme" route.  Store employees will not line up and cheer you out of the store when you visit.  Fortunately the truly bad situations are few and far between, but they do happen and they really suck.
5. Shelf clearing: On the show, we saw one shopper load his cart with every toothbrush on display.  Don't do this.  Don't ever do this.  It's called shelf clearing, or "smash & grabbing", and it starts a chain reaction that leads to a pissed off store and an unhappy you.  For the thrill of television those toothbrushes were pre-ordered and set out for Nathan to scoop up.  In the real world, those toothbrushes are probably all the store has in stock until their next delivery comes in, which, in the case of a drug store, is probably a week or two away.  If you go in with your 300 coupons and take all the toothbrushes, there are none left for other shoppers.  This leads to those other shoppers, who probably wanted just one or two brushes, to complain to the manager.  If ten other customers complain, then another ten the next day, and ten more, and so on until that next truck arrives with more brushes, you've got a manager who's been bitched at for a week because you (the general "you") smashed & grabbed.  Good luck being allowed to buy more than one or two of any item in that store after that, and don't expect to be able to build a good relationship with that store to the degree that they'll do a special order for you in the future.  Yes, stores can limit quantities (except in Iowa, I think? whoops, it's Idaho, the only state where limits are prohibited by law) so they don't have to deal with hordes of pissed off customers who needed a toothbrush but couldn't get it because you got 300 of them.  And, let's face it, put yourself in that "other customer's" shoes.  How pissed would you be if you went to a store with your coupons to get a few bottles of shampoo for $.50 each and found that they were all gone at every store in a 20 mile radius because someone got there before you did and cleared all the shelves?  Be reasonable when you coupon.  If you want 50 of something, spread it out over a few different stores, leave plenty behind, and/or ask for a special order.  Get rainchecks.  The one caveat is if you want to buy, say, two body washes and the store only has three on the shelf - buy your two body washes.  That's not smash & grabbing.  That's normal shopping. 
6. Life outside of couponing:  You do not need to spend 6 hours each week scouting stores pre-sale.  You do not need to spend 70 hours a week planning trips and sorting coupons.  You should never neglect family life, work, or other obligations in your quest to save money.  I spend a couple hours in total planning my trips and sticking the coupons in my "shopping file."  I spend maybe an hour or two each week on the shopping itself, including drive time.  Sure, here and there I'll spend more time on either or both if it's an amazing sale week (Black Friday sales, for example), but even at its most time consuming my hobby consumes like 10 hours a week.  If you're putting 60 hours per week in for $200 in savings, it makes more sense to just get a part time job instead.  That's a little over $3 per hour - like being a waitress without any tips.  Time is money, and couponing should be an enjoyable means to turn your valuable time into extra money in your pocket.
7.  Stockpiling: A big part of effective couponing is the stockpile - the loot stack, as I call it.  If I get paid $.50 each to take home some toothpaste, I'll take it home and put it in our linen closet so we don't have to pay real money for toothpaste later.  10 boxes of cereal for $.75 each means we don't have to pay $4 for a box if we run out.  Stockpiling comes with a lot of responsibility, though.  It's just the two of us; there's no way we could eat 100 boxes of cereal before it expires.  In fact, right now we have so much cereal that the only way I'd get more at this point is if I were paid to take it, and in that case I'd donate the excess to the food pantry.  We simply couldn't eat enough before it expires and we don't have room to store more.  If your stockpile is taking over your living space, you're doing it wrong.  If you're eating cereal frantically three meals a day before it expires, you're doing it wrong.  If you get to that point, the point where your loot stack is taking over your life, you're not an effective couponer; you're a hoarder.  Before you start getting into serious couponing, locate a food pantry, church, or shelter in your area that takes both nonperishable food and non-food items like toothpaste and shampoo.  Know where you can donate your excess before you get excess.
8. Coupon restrictions: One very important aspect wasn't covered in Extreme Couponing - stores and manufacturers have coupon limits and restrictions.  It varies by store and by manufacturer.  Learn what you can and cannot do before you clip a single coupon.  Some stores don't take any printable coupons.  Some stores only allow 10 "like" coupons per day (a "like" coupon is an identical coupon, say for $1 off toothpaste - you may only be able to use 10 of those same coupons per day).  Proctor & Gamble recently added text to their coupons allowing 4 "like" coupons per transaction.  Some stores double.  Some stores don't double.  Some coupons don't double even if your store doubles.  You don't want to get 100 coupons for $.50 off tuna and take them to your store for the $1 tuna sale only to discover that your store will only allow you to use 10 of them and that they're coded to only take $.50 off per can even though your stores doubles coupons.  Some stores allow buy one, get one free coupons to be used on a buy one, get one free sale; some don't.  Some stores will not accept coupons over a certain dollar amount.  Know your stores' coupon policies front and back, and know the restrictions manufacturers put in place on their coupons. 

Extreme couponing is possible.  Trips like those shown on TLC's show, however, are an exception.  You won't be able to shop like that every week and, frankly, you shouldn't shop like that every week unless you have 18 kids or a really empty local food bank and a whole lot of time on your hands.

What you should take away from shows like this is that with some knowledge and some planning, it is possible to save a ton of money by using coupons effectively and correctly.  You can see that every week on my blog, and on tons of other blogs and websites as well.  But moderation is key here, and you have to keep one foot firmly in reality come shopping time.  The time and the periodic hassle is worth it to me - you have to decide if it will be worth it to you.