What's Wrong with TLC's Extreme Couponing?

Four days after Christmas, 2.1 million viewers pushed aside their holiday plunder to watch a TLC one-hour special. They eagerly awaited catching a glimpse of one of the most unusual segments of American society: extreme couponers.

The preview was so successful that TLC spawned a total of 12 half-hour Extreme Couponing episodes that started airing April 6, 2011. Fans can catch back-to-back episodes on Wednesdays at 9:00 and then at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Everybody's talking about the show. And everybody who's watched for a couple of weeks has seen the 27-year-old husband and father who pushed more than $800 of stuff across the scanners at his favorite supermarket and paid a whopping $0.00 for it. He said he donated all of it plus additional stash to local charities for a total that sailed past $1,000.

What's wrong with looking at coupons like pieces of money? Nothing. What's the problem with getting stuff for free? Not a thing.

The Real Problem

Then exactly what's wrong with Extreme Couponing? The expectations it creates among viewers.

Ask around. Viewers who follow this series are thrilled at the coups the featured shoppers pull off in each episode. The problem is that after watching the show a couple of times, these same viewers feel a pressure not just to save money at the supermarket, pet store, bowling alley, and a favorite restaurant. They also start to expect that they should be getting everything short of prescription medication free or close to it. As a matter of fact, certain pharmacies will give a gift card when presented with a brand new prescription to fill.

In many ways, I'm typical of the viewer who has watched at least a few episodes of this series, though I didn't see the December special. I seldom pay full price for anything. I am what I dub a quasi-cheapskate, which means I try to save money 365 days a year without being obsessed about not spending. I used to publish a newsletter on how to effectively use product refunds and coupons.

Last week, my single grocery trip included food items, over-the-counter medications, personal grooming products like shampoo, and cat supplies. The cash register showed a total of just over $186 before I handed over my coupons and the software started subtracting free items from the buy-one-get-one-free stuff I had purchased. The final tab was around $142, of which $115 was food. Not bad.

Or was it? Shouldn't I have been able to get all this for nothing or close to it?

Local Practices

The chances are that the super-shoppers we see on Extreme Couponing can't pull this off every week and perhaps not even on a regular basis. The show issues a plea for those who consider themselves extreme couponers to contact the producers as potential featured shoppers. Of the half dozen or so I've seen profiled thus far, none has actually claimed pulling off these deals on a weekly basis.

The series also underplays the importance of local supermarket customs and rivalry. My family lives in Virginia, an hour from Washington, DC. The three local supermarket chains are Giant, Harris Teeter and Safeway. A few Shoppers Food Warehouse sites are also local but not dominant.

Of the "big three," only one apparently gives a discount one day a week to seniors. The ceiling amount for doubled coupons varies from 50 to 99 cents, though one chain doubles those with a face value of up to $1.99 every few months.

Now here's where the extreme couponing starts to skate on thin ice. All the major chains have limits on the number of the same item a shopper can purchase with a coupon or as a free item. Typically, it's three. This hardly equates to 100 two-liter bottles of soda.

In addition, one chain limits the number of doubled coupons to 20 per transaction. Try to split the stuff in your overflowing grocery cart into multiple orders, and you'll probably be politely escorted in the direction of your car.

While Extreme Couponing creates some expectations that are nearly impossible for most frugal shoppers to meet, it does get a pat on the back for encouraging thrift and attention to where a family allocates its financial resources. And those who are pulling off the super shopping trips featured, especially those who share their bounty with those less fortunate, should get a round of applause for their creativity.

Sources:

http://press.discovery.com/us/tlc/programs/extreme-couponing/

Personal experience