The Couponing Community

This post comes off the heels of the Harris Teeter super doubles shop.  When I arrived at Harris Teeter yesterday morning I was amongst my people.  By "my people" I mean most of the people there had the giant coupon binder on top of the grocery cart just like me!  Above is a picture of my personal coupon binder.  It has all the bells and whistles - zippered sides, pockets, dividers, and dual three ring binders. 

I got there a little before 9 am, which is late by couponing standards, but I had to run to Food Lion for my ten laundry detergents (see post about that trip here), get my 12 week old over to the in-laws house, and then drive out of town to the nearest Harris Teeter.  I did miss the Hungry Jack pancake mix for $0.07 but I got everything else I set out to get.  My husband was a little sad I forgot to bring the Wholly Guacamole coupon which would have made for free guacamole, but we may go back later this week for more dog food so there is still hope for the pancake mix and guacamole.

Not only did I get some great deals at Harris Teeter but I made coupon friends too!  The coupon binder gives you and the others a common ground.  If you are nice they might even tell you about a deal you missed or share a coupon.  A fellow couponing friend told us about the 8-packs of Gatorade having $1 coupons attached (which would double to $2 off) making them $2.88 or $0.36 each.  When we were on the cleaning aisle we picked up a few Lysol toilet bowl cleaners and another couponer realized her Lysol coupon had expired.  I have at least 4 of every coupon so my husband gave her one so she could get some too.  Our good deed must have given me some good coupon karma because later another couponer gave me some coupons for Totino's Pizza Rolls, which I will use at a later date.

Nobody was buying up 175 bottles of mustard or anything ridiculous like you see on the TLC show "Extreme Couponing".  That is just excessive and I really question if it could even be done in real couponing life.  Most stores have limits to how many like coupons you can use and some coupons even state "only 4 like coupons per transaction".  Even if the store didn't have a limit, they probably would not let you buy 175 bottles of mustard with a coupon for each one.  Stores managers have the right to not allow you to use a coupon based on supply of the item and other factors. 

Please understand that this is TV and the stores are probably breaking their own couponing policy for the entertainment of it all.  Notice that the entire staff of the store is at the end of the check out line applauding the "extreme" couponer.  The people they show are real couponers but in everyday life sans cameras I am sure they have multiple store cards and do multiple trips and transactions to get those 175 bottles of mustard rather than buying it all at once.

That show is entertaining and there are small glimpses of real couponing involved, but for the most part it is hurting the couponing community.  Stores have started changing their coupon policies (my favorite drugstore, Rite Aid, just changed their policy) and the cashiers at Target have started reading my coupons as if each one were a novel.  It is just a mainstream fad right now that will eventually die out.  I plan to continue couponing and blogging about it long after the TLC show is gone.