Thinking of Becoming an Extreme Couponer? Here's What to Know Before Getting Started (2024)

FAQs

Thinking of Becoming an Extreme Couponer? Here's What to Know Before Getting Started? ›

Buying groceries you don't need just because you have a coupon = waste of money and time. Stockpiling toiletries you will never get a chance to use = waste of money, time, and space. Driving to multiple stores every week to get all the deals = waste of time and gas money. But it only costs 12 cents, Elisa.

Buying groceries you don't need just because you have a coupon = waste of money and time. Stockpiling toiletries you will never get a chance to use = waste of money, time, and space. Driving to multiple stores every week to get all the deals = waste of time and gas money. But it only costs 12 cents, Elisa.

So, while you can try out extreme couponing to get certain items at no cost, you can't count on it to be a consistent, effective way to lower your grocery bill in 2024.

Step 1: Find Your Coupons

The very first thing you need to focus on doing is getting the coupons you want to use. There are some key things to remember when doing this. You don't want to go shopping to use your coupons. You want to find coupons that work with the shopping you already do.

Extreme couponers may cut off or obscure an expiration date just to use a coupon. While not illegal, it's a practice that costs everyone in the long run. Manufacturers will not reimburse stores for expired coupons and these losses get passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Do Stores Lose Money by Couponing? In general, stores do not lose money from offering or accepting coupons. In fact, they are more likely to profit.

Lori Ann Talens was sentenced just as a new movie about coupon scams is hitting big screens and a streaming TV service. The Kristen Bell comedy "Queenpins" is a fictionalized comedy inspired by a trio of Phoenix women who produced and passed fake coupons worth millions of dollars.

Many extreme couponers amass stockpiles of stuff by buying items when they are free or near-free. You'll have a lot of items you need to keep track of, rotate so they don't go bad, and either use, sell, or give away. All of this usually means you end up spending hours a week just dealing with your couponing habit.

Combining deals to score items for free or for pennies on the dollar. The key to extreme couponing is not to take advantage of just one deal but to take advantage of multiple deals at the same time. By stacking the deals available to you, you can get great prices on items.

What is illegal couponing? ›

Coupon fraud is the use of fake coupons, or the misuse of actual coupons, to derive more value from a promotion than someone would usually be entitled to. This can include using a coupon multiple times, changing its value or expiration date, or redeeming it for the wrong (or even no) product.

It's self-centered. Extreme couponers, in their quest to get everything for nothing, do not think twice about anyone else's time as we stand in line behind them. Consideration for others disappears when the extreme couponers is focused on the adrenaline rush of beating the system.

The goal of extreme couponing is to combine manufacturer and store coupons with store sales to get items for free or for pennies on the dollar. You'll need to look through store circulars each week and look through your coupon inventory to match up sales.

Coupon Glittering, also known as 'glittering', is a term used in the cybersecurity world to refer to the act of using digital coupons in a manner that is not intended by the issuer. This practice, although seemingly harmless at first glance, can have serious implications for businesses and consumers alike.

You can maximize your savings by handing the cashier your coupons in a specific order. For example, if you have a store coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase, use that coupon first. Otherwise, your other coupons might negate the $5 coupon by discounting the total amount of the sale to less than $20.

Newspaper coupon inserts (or their digital equivalents) from local retailers and major brands make it easy to start collecting coupons. The more copies you get, the better your savings will be. Some extreme couponers invest in multiple newspaper subscriptions to get more coupons.

Extreme couponing isn't for everyone. Most of us feel pretty good if we clip a coupon or two and save a few dollars on a trip to the supermarket, but it's difficult to work up the time and energy for hard-core couponing. Stacking, OYNOs, mail-in rebates, double coupons -- it just seems like too much work.

Extreme couponing is still possible in major grocery stores, but there are several factors to consider: Store Policies: Different stores have varying coupon policies, and these policies may change over time. It's important to be familiar with the coupon policies of the specific stores you plan to visit.