Extreme Couponing

I stumbled across this video today.



According to TLC, Extreme Couponing is a show which:

... profiles four shopaholics who use coupons to save thousands of dollars and amass huge stockpiles of goods. These shoppers go to the extremes, dumpster diving for coupons and spending hours a day searching the internet for great deals.

The lady in the video, Joyce, is seen purchasing over $200 worth of groceries. Hundreds of coupons later, the amount is reduced to under $80. Coupled alongside her store rewards card, she only has to pay around $7.

I wasn't sure whether to be infuriated or awestruck while watching the video.

For one, we've got this lady paying next to nothing for for over $200 worth of groceries while everyone else has to be full price. On the other, I realized that she is setting quite a good (if not slightly outrageous) example.

Joyce shows viewers what it means to be a smart shopper. With the economy doing so poorly and with more people losing their jobs, it would really help to save all the money you possibly can. The majority of people probably throw away any coupons they receive in the mail or use them improperly. If we followed Joyce's example, people could save hundreds per month off the cost required to feed their families.

It just takes a lot of hard work, rationalizing, and patience to save a lot of money.