I posted my opinion on Extreme Couponing in the following thread.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=35002

Below is another example of the negative impact of the show and the way coupons are abused. Although I do shop at the main store in the article, the change really won't have an impact on how I use coupons. Still another example of how the stores are reacting to coupon abuse.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11280/1180255-28.stm

Sometimes people and organizations overreact to things like this, or even react to things that don't really exist. For instance if 99% of people use coupons "as intended" (by which I mean, buy something they wouldn't have otherwise, and preferably decide they like it and buy it sans coupon in the future) it doesn't matter if 1% abuse the system. The Extreme show may get a lot of attention, but everyone agrees it's a small, small minority of people.

It's kinda like how a very liberal return policy can make people more likely to buy and/or buy more than they would have otherwise, such that even if you know some people are abusing the program (returning used underwear after 5 years - true story) your store comes out ahead.

It seems like 99% of coupons are for "brand name" stuff. I rarely buy brand name stuff. The store brand or generic version of packaged goods is almost always made in the same factories as the expensive brand. Why pay for the marketing? People should be buying mostly fresh food without brand names.

I suspect most of couponers, except maybe the extreme ones, end up spending more overall than those of us who buy mostly the fresh, generic stuff.

Don't forget that the Extreme Couponing show is a reality TV show that is designed for a shock & awe effect like all other reality shows.

If the abuse of the 1% didn't matter, the manufacturer's and stores wouldn't be changing their policies. P&G for example has changed the wording on their coupons to limit how many of the same coupon can be used in one transaction.

You are correct that the majority of coupons are for brand names. I also agree it is silly to pay for marketing when generic options are most often just as good. That being said, it is highly unlikely that an experienced (not extreme) couponer spends more overall. In fact, an experienced couponer can still buy fresh food and brand names and still pay less. An experienced couponer is usually going to wait until that brand name item goes on sale to use the coupon, and the combined savings most often brings the price lower than the generic version.

Your comment about fresh implies that you are referring to food. Not sure if you are excluding health & beauty, paper products, etc. from your analogy, or if you didn't know that manufacturers put out coupons for those items as well. When it comes to those categories, it is not far fetched to actually make money going with the brand names. I will not bring home a bottle of shampoo or a tube of toothpaste unless I get paid to do so. These type of items are often FREE when using the store reward program. Use a $1 coupon on that free tube of toothpaste and you just made money. The money I make on those items reduces the cost of the fresh non-coupon items that I buy.

I get what you are saying. And I have nothing against using coupons. If I see a great deal or stumble on a coupon that I can use for something I would buy anyway, I will.

But I figure my time is worth around $25 per hour (which is only $50k/yr). If I spend an hour finding and organizing coupons then driving from store to store to optimally redeem them, I need to save at least $25. In my experience that is difficult, though probably not impossible.

No doubt the time factor should be taken into consideration. I personally do not do the binder system that is used by a lot of experienced (and most extreme) couponers. I suspect that they cut thousands of coupons that just end up in the trash because a good deal did not present itself.

I only cut a coupon when I have a specific deal to use it. There are several sites on the internet to find the deals several weeks in advance. The best sites will tell you what the sales price is, the reward received and if any coupons are available for that item. If there is a coupon, the information usually includes where it originated. If the coupon is from this Sunday's (10/23/11) Redplum insert, then it would be listed as 10/23 RP.

What I do that is not the norm is I just write the date on the top of my coupon inserts, and put them in a folder in date order. If there is a deal that requires a coupon from a June insert, I pull out that insert and clip that coupon. The binder system just seems to be more work than it is worth.

The first year I learned how to truly benefit from coupons was in 2008. That year I brought home over $10,000 worth of merchandise from the drugstores and made over $1,100 in profit from coupon use. I also made some extra money selling some of the stuff on eBay, but that was not a main focus. I still have both my parents around and 3 siblings. All of which have benefited from my couponing. The daily regimen of low dose aspirin for 3 family members has not cost a single penny since 2008.

If you put the thought into it you can come up with a process that takes very little time. I definitely lose out on deals because of my more laid back approach, but it is a trade off that works for me.

Well, I agree that while couponing does take up quite a bit of time, it is pretty much worth it in the end.

Of course, at first, you will be spending a lot more time than is necessary with planning and such, but in the long run, couponing will be almost instinctive.

Therefore, I think that the advantages of couponing actually outweighs the disadvantages which you will most probably only have to deal with in the beginning anyway. For me, the hundreds of dollars you save by couponing is well worth the hours you spend for planning the most effectiev ways to use them.

But, that's just my take on things.

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Adam Randall

http://www.fifteenyearplan.com - My personal finance blog dedicated to helping people take control of their finances.