So I of course tuned in to see what this show was going to be all about.  I have mixed reviews but I am not a huge fan.  I do not believe that they are doing anything but putting a negative spin on this hobby.  Yes of course people are going to watch it and realize they shouldn’t pay full price which is fantastic!  BUT you shouldn’t be neglecting your marriage to go shopping.

I was reading another blogger’s site and she was actually contacted to be on this show but it turns out she wasn’t ‘extreme enough’ because she is logical with her shopping trips.  She explained how the original pitch was for a show that was going to educate people on the use of coupons and lowering your grocery bill.  She is overjoyed that she didn’t get selected for the show because it goes against her couponing ethics.

We are not all crazy even though I told you about how easy it is to get caught up in it in my post from yesterday.  I think the first woman who spends 70 hours a week couponing was the most extreme case because of the neglect you could clearly see going on in her marriage.

BUT they are getting the point across just in the wrong way.  Here are just some of the problems that I saw:

PROBLEM 1:  The first woman takes 9 shopping carts and very close to 1000 coupons and gets mad when the computer crashes.

Any professional coupon user knows that the computer has a limit as to how many items it can scan in one transaction.  This example just drives me bonkers because she is getting all pissed off when she should have thought about this prior to filling up 9 shopping carts!  The bigger your order the easier it is too mess up all aspects of the transaction: planning, shopping and checking out.  What a pain in the butt she was with having to have 3 cashiers do her order AFTER she crashed the computer.

PROBLEM 2: The third man buys 1100 boxes of Total cereal and 300 toothbrushes.

This is either staged or completely selfish!  Yes you can ask your store to pre order large quantities for you if you plan on making a big purchase.  No shopper likes to to into a store and find zero of the items they are looking for.  BUT I find 1100 boxes of Total cereal to be unrealistic.

PROBLEM 3: The third guy’s total was $241.

Most of the money is just sales tax.  I don’t remember what state he was from but the tax alone for the toothbrushes in Michigan would have been $18.  If you are trying to save money because you are on a budget PLEASE do not buy items in bulk that are charged a sales tax!  $18 is a huge chunk of the budget for some people to be spending on toothbrushes!

PROBLEM 4: The 27 year old took her pregnant friend and child dumpster diving.

This one is probably going to be debatable depending on who you speak with but I do not think a pregnant woman or a child should be participating in this activity.  If you watched one clip shows the Mom with her gloves on which is great… BUT she is high fiving her son who doesn’t have gloves on.  hmm….  Don’t get me wrong- dumpster diving IS rewarding for more things than just coupons.  I personally felt they shouldn’t have been there and you wouldn’t catch me pregnant dumpster diving.

PROBLEM 5: The behind the scenes details weren’t explained properly.

How many coupons were doubling for these shoppers because a lot of stores anymore are limiting the number that they will double.  I am afraid that some new couponers are going to go to the store and pick up 10 of one thing and hand their coupons over and expect it to work.  PLEASE do not get discouraged because you saw a lady on TV buy 125 boxes of pasta and she got it for free!  You have to know the coupon rules for each store and follow them accordingly.

They also didn’t factor in the cost for PURCHASING 300 coupons for 300 toothbrushes.  I do believe that clipping services charge about .10 a coupon and that would/should be factored into the bottom line of the final total.  So not only did you spend $18 in sales tax but you also spent $30 for the coupons that purchased those toothbrushes which is really $48.

Now the whole show wasn’t a total bust at all!  They did make some very valid points that I want to highlight.

POSITIVE 1: Cashier profiling

Yes-yes-yes!  She was correct in her statement that the younger male cashiers are friendlier and less likely to get crabby.  The women are CRANKY and the older cashiers are terribly slow and verify every word in the fine print.

POSITIVE 2: 3 month sale rotations

If you want to stockpile where you are fully maximizing your savings you will purchase 3 months of a staple like spaghetti sauce.  Maybe 3 months is a little high for a new stockpiler but you should at least purchase enough for 1 month so you won’t have to buy it full price.

POSITIVE 3: Collecting coupons from friends and neighbors

Of course do this!!  Unless you have educated them on the wonderful world of coupons they probably don’t understand the money they are throwing away each week.  I know people who have paths that they walk for their exercise and collect coupons along the way.  Don’t be shy to get out and get in shape and save some money too because those are 100% FREE coupons that you are getting!

POSITIVE 4: Helping others in the store

If you have a coupon you aren’t going to use and you leave it on the product then you have the chance for someone who is going to buy that item to get to use it.  I have been the receiver of these RAOK coupons and love every minute of it!  There are also times where I have a coupon in my pile and I give it to a random person because they have that item in their cart.  Coupons give you the ability to help others because you personally are in a better position as a result of using them.  You aren’t giving them money to buy their item technically but you are showing them that the coupon you just gave them saved them just that much more.

POSITIVE 5: Contact the manufacturer

Once again the retired nurse brings up a good point!  CONTACT those companies and they will send you coupons!  Coupons aren’t just for junk food!  More and more organic companies are jumping on board and it just takes a little effort on your part to score those coupons!

The retired nurse was my favorite profile because she tells the audience she gets in and gets out only buying what she needs.  I will tuned in next week to see what new over the top coupon thing they blow out of proportion.  I am off of my rant/tangent for this week.  What are your thoughts on the show?

You can read the full press release from TLC through this link.

This video is a great example of how hard it can be to balance a massive pantry and your life!  I still swear by my stockpile but I don’t have that overwhelming feeling telling me that I MUST go shopping for this or that deal.

“Hi, My name is Mallery and I have coupon OCD.”

I used to be JUST like the three of the people featured in the 6 minute clip!  I spent hours clipping, sorting, matching up and preparing for my shopping trips.  Then I spent 1-2 (or more) hours at each store depending on the size of the shopping trip.  But I must say I had a pantry fit for a King plus their kingdom!

I love how the one guy says it’s like playing chess because that is how I feel about it too!  To me it is a game of logic that I usually always win.  (I love Suduko games too!)  Over the holidays I was talking with my family and mentioned how I hated shopping but I loved the game.

I just recently started balancing out my life a little bit better but it is hard to shop around my family now without a coupon.  You feel guilty at times!  Yeah, it’s probably all in my head but it’s hard to run a ‘deals’ blog and not practice what you preach.

You can sort of tell where I am in my balancing cycle by what I am blogging about.  If I recently had a large amount of review items come in and they start to pile up then I post some reviews.  If I am running out of toilet paper I will post about my shopping scenario to stock it back up.  If I am not posting anything then I am spending time with my Husband so he doesn’t feel neglected!  Lately though, I am just nausea, uncomfortable and exhausted.  I blame that prune size parasite in my belly

I am VERY interested in seeing the episode of Extreme Couponing that is going to be on TLC tomorrow at 8pm!

What are some of your tips to balance your life and couponing?

SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards.

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I was recently given the opportunity to tell everyone about one of the best gifts I have given.  I really try to put a lot of thought into gifts I give and there are two gifts that really stick out in my mind as perfect gifts I have given.  One of the gifts was for my Husband and one was for my Mother and they both were for Christmas.

My Mother makes the best potatoes in the world!  They are creamy and perfectly balanced tasting.  She makes sure there aren’t any lumps in them because everyone hates lumps!  To make her famous potatoes you have to peel pounds of potatoes, wash them, boil them and then start the mashing process.  The way she blends them is a little cumbersome.  She puts the bowl of potatoes in the sink and holds the gallon of in one hand while holding the beaters in the other hand.  She has gotten potatoes on the wall one Thanksgiving too!

So my very first Black Friday outing was to get her a mixer from Macy’s!  I couldn’t budget in a Kitchenaid so the Sunbeam would have to work for now.  The Sunbeam mixer was on sale for $60 and it was a great addition to her kitchen!  She was pretty happy and so was my Step Father.  Brad loves baking sweets and using a mixer is so much quicker!

My second gift that I was so proud of was for Michael.  This gift was a surprise the whole time and I was so proud of myself for keep the secret until we arrived to the location!  (I am terrible at keeping secrets)  The actual gift was tickets to see the Avenged Sevenfold concert and the actual CD.  I was able to get him in the car and drive all the way down to the venue without knowing where I was taking him.  Earlier that week I had left him clues like ‘we are going to a place where bats roam’ since one of their songs is called Bat Country.  He was so excited when he saw the band’s name on the board!!

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Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.

The holidays can be very stressful or very enjoyable for us.  Both sets of our parent’s got divorced and our Mothers remarried so we have four parental Christmas parties to go to alone.  I think one year we went to seven Christmas parties so we were busy busy!

1. Limit 1 Party a Day: Nothing is worse than arriving to a holiday party just to eat and run.  We had to learn this one the hard way so that it why it is at the top of my list.  You can’t really enjoy yourself fully when you are watching the clock the whole time you are at someone’s house.
2. Start a Tradition: Since Michael and I started dating I have always stayed the night at my Mother’s house on Christmas Eve.  Even though all of the kids are grown up we still open up one gift each on Christmas Eve.
3. Bring a Dish:  When you go to a holiday party it’s a great gesture to bring a dish to pass.  If you have ever been a host to a gathering of people you know what a chore it really can be.  You want to make sure your house is nice and clean.  You are making sure you grocery shop and make time to create those yummy dishes.  When someone brings a dish to a party it could turn into a huge hit but it really does help the hostess!
4. Create Tasty Gifts: I like to find out what everyone’s favorite holiday treat is so I can bring it to their home when I come over.  I have put desserts under the tree on Christmas before!  My Mother just loves sugar cookies and she knows not to worry because she is going to get them from me.  If you have ever made a Pumpkin Roll you know they aren’t the easiest to make and quite a mess to clean up.  So each year, only once a year, my Step Father gets a Pumpkin Roll from me!
5. Make a Big Deal about Decorations: Don’t become too busy to put up any sort of decoration.   If you only put up a little tree on the coffee table or put up a couple stockings it can help create the holiday spirit in your home.
6. Don’t Break The Bank: We have all watch the number of gifts under the tree dwindle as we have gotten older and the gifts more expensive.  It is very practical to do a Secret Santa or just drawing names without the secret aspect of it.  It isn’t about spending a ton of money when that isn’t really what the person wanted to get.
7. Take Advantage of Card Deals Early: I love getting holiday cards but I hate paying for them.  This year I took advantage of a postcard deal earlier and we decided that by sending out a postcard versus a card we will even save on postage!  I love personalizing the cards with pictures of us and our pets too.
8. Play Games: In my family we have a card game that you can guarantee we are going to play every time we get together, Group and Run.  I remember telling Michael that I couldn’t marry him unless he learned how to play this game!  We are big board game people too so we even have monthly game nights.  Check out some great games at Hasbro Ultimate Gifts!
9. Turn Off Electronics: Being married to an IT guy means that clients call our home as late as 11pm and as early as 5am.  So when the holidays come and I can almost bet that we are going to get a day or two without computer problems or telephone consultations.  Try to ‘be there now’ when you are spending time with your family over the holidays.  A lot of time this will be one of the few times a year you will see some of them.
10. Help Others Out: I loved adopting a family!  I have never seen so many presents in my house at once outside of the time I adopted a family of 3 kids and a single Mother.  It is so enjoyable to wrap up the presents and see the stack grow and grow because it makes you feel good about what you are doing.  I wish you could meet the family to witness their joy while opening up the gifts but that isn’t always how it works.  You just have to imagine it!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Hasbro Ultimate Gifts blogging sweepstakes, making me eligible to get a $50 Gift card to use at www.HasbroToyShop.com! For more information on how you can participate, click here.”