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My guess is that you found me because you want to learn how to extreme coupon. Maybe it was because you were watching Extreme Couponing on TLC or a friend loves to coupon.
Extreme Couponing means different things to different people, but many of you may wonder “How to Extreme Coupon?”. By one’s definition, I may be an extreme couponer; I do get great deals and spend very little out of pocket every week, but I do not get hundreds of boxes of pasta for FREE at one time.
Learn How to extreme coupon
I am a huge fan of ALDI and there are many times when I would rather go to Aldi to pick up some things to make one of my freezer cooking meal plans.
In case you want to try one of my meal plans for free, submit your email below and I will send it right over!
When watching the Extreme Couponing show, I am amazed at these men and women and all the work that they put into coupons. Honestly, if I had the time and the coupons I would do it too! It takes years to build up a huge stockpile like the ones they have, I wish I could feed my family off of my stockpile for a year. I could feed my family for about a month off of our freezer, which is a great accomplishment for me.
I have coupon for 8 years and still love couponing. I actually wrote an entire book about it, it is called How to Coupon Effectively.
If you are here visiting my blog for the first time and are interested in learning how to use coupons, I have some great resources for you. The most important piece of advice I have is this: don’t expect to go out tomorrow and get $1,000 worth of groceries for $60, it takes time and practice.
I heard from many people that came here after the first airing of TLC Extreme Couponing back in December 2011, and many of them quit using coupons already because they felt defeated. They were discouraged that they couldn’t do it like the people on the show, so that being said….give yourself some time. Couponing is a learned skill, it does take time to learn the tricks, but I hope to help you understand the basics and get started off on the right foot!
What I can help you do is turn 2 hours per week into $5,200 per year! When couponing and planning out your meals strategically, you can realistically save thousands!!
Here are some other beginner resources to help you get started:
- Coupons 101 Video Series (This is a 6 part video series that you can watch at your own pace. It starts at where to get coupons and goes all the way to learning how to use those coupons to menu plan and actually SAVE your family money.)
- How to get Free Coupons in the Mail
- Learn the basics of shopping at Rite Aid
- Ways to earn some extra money at home
- Aldi vs. Walmart comparison
- How to save money on Meat and Produce
What are your favorite ways to save using coupons?
COMMENTS
>> I heard from many people that came to ‘I am THAT lady’ after the first airing of TLC Extreme Couponing back in December, and many of them quit using coupons already because they felt defeated.
I think people get frustrated over failure and not understanding how it all works. Also these people on the TV show are extreme even by us coupon moguls. For me personally, I’ve only been doing it for 2 months and I’ve only gotten better and better, taking advantage of really good deals and having a sharp memory. My biggest catch yet was yesterday where I pushed the rules of a coupon and got $70 worth of stuff for $12. Mostly items that will take a year to use it all, but stuff I will use (ex: tomato sauce) over time long before it’s expiration.
Despite things are rarely that effective, it’s not abnormal for me to buy $100 of groceries and only have $7 in coupons. It’s only over time can you stock pile items to offset your week to week shopping so you can live off your stock pile and not purely from the shopping cart.
Thanks Travis for your input, I totally agree! People expect to do what the
people on the show do, and honestly in the years that I have couponed I may
have done 2 or 3 AMAZING trips (during triples coupons in NC) that could get
me on the show. It takes time to learn the ins and outs, and patience.
I have made my nine year old son a coupon addict as well! He goes through out the store searching for coupons! Be begged me to stay up to watch extreme couponing!
No I don’t need over 200 boxes of pasta. lol Seriously? But I would love to figure out how they get laundry detergent, toilet paper, cleaners for free. I wouldn’t mind going over board when buying products I know we’re going to use in a lifetime. Anybody have any tips on how to get those items for free?
Just keep an eye out, the trick of these people is once there’s a really good coupon, they get dozens of copies of the newspaper and wait for that perfect sale. That’s why they buy 60 bottles of mustard, the items in your stockpile happen over time, and in random parts, but over a period of months or years, the selection becomes massive. Remember, you don’t pick the deals, they happen in a mix of store sales, store coupons and manufacturer coupons. And don’t assume things are outright free, sometimes you have to be willing to pay a little, there’s nothing wrong with buying a dozen of an item that’s $3 and you only have a $1/each coupon, if the item is something you must use and don’t get a deal on otherwise, any savings adds up, it just feels better when it’s something huge, but you always don’t get that lucky.
do you live near a Rite Aid?
I sure do and since I’ve been on your site 2 months ago I’ve learned a lot! Rite Aid has become my new best friend lol. Heck I got my husband his Gillette Razors thats normally $13 for $1 (because I had a $4 off coupon) and I got 4 of them! something he’s always going to use.
I’m already happy with my progress of couponing. I only have a stock pile of cereal thanks to PC’s free coupon this week lol.
how do you use same 4 coupons on a single product or are those different ?
you can use 1 coupon per item. She got 4 razors and used 4 coupons.
Wouldn’t that make each razor $9.00?
thats what im not getting either… i need someone to break all this down as simple as possible…
Hali-whittemore & Mrs. S.,
Kleavens had 4 coupons for $3.00 off each razor. Each razor is $3.25 a piece. All 4 razors usually cost $13.00 together but Kleavens had $12.00 deducted from the price before taxes. 4(coupons) that are $3 off = $12 of savings. 4×3=12
Mrs. S.,
Kleavens had 4 coupons for $3.00 off each razor. Each razor is $3.25 a piece. All 4 razors usually cost $13.00 together but Kleavens had $12.00 deducted from the price before taxes. 4(coupons) that are $3 off = $12 of savings. 4×3=12
I really want to start using coupons in order to save us some money. My husband is out of work and I’m the only one bringing in an income. I don’t want to be the extreme person with stock piles…just weekly shopping trips or stocking up on toilet paper, cleaner, etc.
I desperately need to learn how to do this I have 3 girls in or hitting puberty!!I am goingto start watching these videos and hope I get it because so far I DO NOT… like the comment below about the rite aid and the gilette razors, if they are regularly $13 and you have a $4 off coupon that’s $9 isn’t it what am I missing??and then they said they bought 4 so 4×9=36 so how is that $1?? Do you see why people like me don’t get it,,ok everyone who is laughing be nice, i obviously have no clue:(
Honestly, I don’t get it either. Like last week when I watched extreme coupon she bout 36 of an item. Why 36? Why not 10 or 5? Or 30? I don’t get why it’s cheaper when you buy more. So if you find out please let me know 🙂
After coupons, she was prolly getting “paid” to buy that many. If she makes $.51 per every one she buys, then $.51×36 will go toward the balance on the transaction.
I have been wondering the same thing… Until tonight. I set out to find out how and found this website. Lauren’s videos explain how. The key is to hold on to the coupons (mind the expiration dates) until the item goes on sale. So if the razors are usually$13 wait for them to go on sale for $11, then use a manufacturer coupon AND astore coupon (if your store will allow) at the same time. That’s how you get it down really low. I didn’t know that until I watched the videos. I highly recommend them!
Oh, and have the coupons doubled, according to your store policy, too.
they probably tripled the coupon which would make $12.
My family and I are thinking about doing this for the Jesus Center for homeless people, we just need to know WHERE to get the coupons. And plus we live in a small town and dont get the newspaper. Should we ask my daughters school to give any extra coupons they have around the house to us? Or is there an easier way to do that?
Hi, I am in the same boat as you … I have a real desire to do this for the homeless or for our troops overseas, however I am new at couponing also and am wondering the same questions … So you are not alone!
The people on this show as just extreme. I use coupons when I go grocery. The largest amount of coupons I had was maybe $60 in coupons. If you stick with a grocery store they would give you these special coupons like $15 off $200 purchase. Always look for those deals where its buy these certain items for $5, $10 or $20 off next trip promotions. My store just recently had a buy a certain item get a $1 for next trip. I was able to use coupons on these items and at the same time get $30 worth of coupons for the next shopping trip. So I am already -$30 before going to the store. I may never be like those extremists. Our grocery average is about $300 without coupons every two weeks, but with the promotions from the previous week, I can usually bring it down to $220-250 after all coupons (depending on what I buy). Go try those coupon clipper services. They may have coupons that you use all the time. For example, I buy those egglands best eggs all the time so the coupon clipper service had a $0.35 off coupon for those eggs. So I purchased a bunch of them. For $2 I got $7 worth of those coupons that will last me til the end of September. Its not free, but at least I will not pay full retail on those eggs.
Every coupon I see states “one per customer”- how do you get more that one item?
After watching the show I realized that this is exactly what my family needs. My husband has taken a MAJOR pay cut, but he still needs to provide for a family of five. I am now a full time student who is struggling to quickly make it through school so I can relieve some of the weight off of my husbands shoulders. Money is so tight right now that we are dipping into our overdraft at least twice a month. We have consolidated bills, cut out many luxuries from our lives, car pool with friends, collect cans, and I have taken on cleaning houses. The only thing that I cannot seem to cut down is my grocery bill! We eat simply and cheap; however, my grocery bill still ends up being around $500 a month! So, in your honest opinion, do you think that couponing would help me to build a savings?
Definetely! It helped me get out of debt, pay off our van, and build a nice
stockpile. I can’t wait to hear your successes!!
what i dont get, cereal goes stale, noodles goes stale, things expire… why do they need so much they cant possibly use before it expires?
Uh need help!!!! I cut coupons but have.yet to master this, who is willing to take on the task of helping this stay at home mom?????
stick around, make sure you sign up for our Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/iamthatlady. We have a great community there with lots of
help. Have you watched my Coupons 101 videos yet?
i would love to watch your coupons 101 video but out here i only have dialup it takes an an 3 hours to download a three minute viedo and no one has highspeed way out here in the country. is theres anything else you can recomend?
next time your in town go to the library and use the free computer
I am fascinated by how extreme couponers get their totals so low. My question is it seems a lot of stores double their coupons. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, none of my stores do this. Do you know of any???
I am new to this, but eager to learn, I have 5 small children under the age of 6, we have a decent income, but you could buy a really nice house for what we owe in medical bills. We are desperately trying to cut our expenses and after seeing what coupons can do for us I’m quite excited. I would love more than anything to always be able to have food to offer my children when they ask for it, what a wonderful feeling that would be!
How do you know if a store is going to double or triple your coupon? Is there a place it is posted at the store? Can you call to ask them? Is it for EVERY coupon or just up to them?
it depends on your stores coupon policy, I would recommend calling them to
check.
Im a new omeowner and inerested in couponing, to save money. But, how can I get stacks and stacks of coupons? I get the Sunday paper but thats not enough? What do I do?
print them out
A cashier at a Market Basket store told me that they will accept coupons for items not purchased when your total order exceeds about $125. She actually did scan several coupons I had for items I did not purchase. Has anyone ever heard of this? I want to go back with a stack of coupons and just try to save a bundle. The cashier said that the store just sends the coupons to the manufacturer and gets reimbursed. It sounds too good to be true.
Maria, I would advise against that, it is actually coupon fraud.
i am trying to start couponing but when i go on the suites you posted i dont see anything my family will eat, i also do not live where they have double coupon days. what do you advise for poeople like me who dont have that without having to drive over 50 miles or more to do that. cause like most people i am a stay at home mom and only my husbend works, and have to consider gas prices
how come I see them (on TLC) use a lot of the same coupons but on the coupons themselves, it says one per specified item. I”m not sure what i’m asking. This is hard 🙁 lol
One per item which means every one of those items get that amount off as long as you have that many coupons….example you by 12 deo and you have 12 coupons each item get that amount off….but you have to know your store policy as well on how many they will allow you to use. Hope that helps
It seems to me that they buy things and/or brands that they don’t need or use. I only want to save on the brands that I use and the ones that I know that my family will eat/use. Will I fail at couponing if I only stick to that goal?
you will not fail at all. You will start to see that you stock up on the
items that your family uses when they go on sale, that way you won’t have to
pay full price when you run out.
OMG…I love the show and it had me hooked the very 1st time. Everytime I go shopping I get better and better. 1st wk I saved $50, 2nd was $90 and just yesterday $123…I was like a kid in a candy store. Though I am still learning,I am so happy at what Ive done so far. I do cashier profile(lol)Sorry,But where I shop u kind of have too(too many seniors around)I too have a big family(4kids+hubby)and food goes fast, so the best deals are a MUST for us. Just yesterday someone made a comment about my binder…Nothing bad, Just that she is amazed at the show and here is someone that has a binder too. Boy did i knock her off her feet when she saw my savings.LOL. Im going to watch ur videos to make sure I get this down. Tks again for sharing in ur success!!
Well, I have been collecting coupons for 6 weeks and now I am going to try a few small runs at walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. Wish me luck and say a little prayer for me! I will post how I did when I get back.
Okay I extended my trip over a matter of a few days because shopping with the children is so difficult to do. I am SSOOO Proud of myself! Thank you so much to @IamTHATlady for all of your help.. in 3 days I have spent $88, but I saved $402!!!! I’m so pround of my first trips! I know the savings can only get better with the more experiance I get!
We just shopped at our Publix and we they take 3 coupons per item. We used a MC( Manu. coupon ), a store coupon ( Publix ), the sale that was going on which was a BOGO ( we bought 1 item ), and we used a competitor Target coupon! That was awesome! We started at $82.15 ( before coupons ) and it dropped to $42. I was pleased.
this sounds like a great idea for me since i am on a fixed income… I am extremly excited to get started to save any money I can…
What’s the deal with rite-aid? I prefer CVS. I went there the other day. I had several coupons for some revlon makeup and 1 bogo NYC nail polish. After it was all said and done I spent $35 on $60 of makeup. Then for every $15 of revlon that was rang up I got 2 coupons back for $7 off my next visit and another $3 for buying $10 of covergirl and since I’m enrolled in thier beuty rewards I got anther coupon for $5 for totaling $50 in cosmetics. So that being said I bought $60 worth of makeup, only paid $35 and made $21 from the store.
the stores around here only have double coupon days on wed and have a limit of 5 coupon that they will double. I don’t understand on how to save hundreds of dollars when none of the stores here will doulbe more than 5. Any sugguestions?
i just want free toilet paper lol, how do i get free toilet paper
ok , i like to ask this ..let’s say a cereal brand is on sale and you have a coupon for it so if you buy a mass quanitiy of cereals of the same brand do u need more than one coupon or one coupon is good for many purshace ?
you need 1 coupon per box of cereal.
How do I join this blog ?
you can join on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/iamthatlady. And you can sign
up for my newsletter on the top right of the website.
Ok so when you have a coupon that is for 50 cents and you can double up to a dollar off for an item thats ten for ten, which makes that item a dollar so you get ten of them and then use the two coupons. do you need ten indivdual coupons for that item?
does this question even make sense? lol
im trying my hardest to understand.
Dear Sophia, you will need 10 indivual coupons. For a 50 cent coupon that will double, and the item is on sale 10 for 10 (which is 1 dollar each), you will get 10 items for free. If there isn’t a limit on the item, try to stock up on that deal. I wish stores in my town will double 🙁 Good luck…Happy Shopping!!!!
so, I went to buy a sunday paper and when I got home the coupon section was gone. Is there any way to contact a local news paper person to ask them for there extra coupons from the papers they don’t sale on sunday?
I clipped a coupon the other day that was for the Yoplait Yougurt and it was buy 6 get $.40 off. Now does this mean 40 cents is taken off each yogurt cup or off the total amount of the 6 cups?
the total of all 6 cups…
My first shopping trip…,
I went to Walgreens and I brought
3 bottles of lotion
1 2pk bar of dove soap
3 body bottles of body wash
2 6pk roll of tissue
1 bottle if listerine
1 36ct diapers
Then I went over to CVS and got
2 bottles of visine
All I spent today on 13 items were $26. I used some instore coupons and a couple manu. coupons. Its not extreme but for a virgin I think i did great because that pack of diapers would have cost half of what my bill was. I admit it was confussing but i got it done hopefully i can.get a better hang of it and step into the grocery store.
I am 21 an I take care of my home of 6 ( I run a group home out of my home ) people by myself. Can anyone help me with details on couponing?
I coupon to keep my family of 7 going. I have three cabinets filled. And a large freezer. I think stockpile of month or two is great to keep. I pay a dollar or less for all items. I just got 10 bottles of bbque sauce for 4 dollars. Things like that you going to use for the summer stock up. I even stock up on bath items. I just got 10 bottles of Nivea body wash free. And 6 pks of razors for 3 dollars. The internet websites are great for info. You can learn alot of tricks to the trade. I enjoy it, knowing I’m saving money is even better.
I think that people should start extreme couponing and giving the items/food to shelters and those less fortunate. There is no way you need 100 hand soaps and 800 bottles of gatorade.
Thanks for the great videos. I am just getting started. However, I went to Walmart for the Anchorage newspaper (ADN) today (Sunday) and no inserts, no coupons! Just store ads. Where else can I get the inserts? It seems kind of challenging to coupon when the local paper doesn’t have any inserts! 🙂
This week we didn’t have any coupon inserts due to the holiday weekend.
im in canada im always looking for coupons but have a hard time
whats a good website for printable coupons
Hi Lauren,
I would like to become a coupon clipping wizard, but I have to be realistic. You see, I live on the beautiful Maine coast in a small town. We have a Hannafords grocery and Shaws supermarket. For the life of me, I can never find double or triple coupons.
I get really jazzed after watching “Extreme Couponing” because I desperately need to reduce my food bill, and I want to share my purchases with our local food shelters. This year alone, over 70% of our kids don’t get 3 meals a day, so I would love to give back. We have a rite aide, which is always over priced, and of course walmart, but that’s about it. We had a JC Penny for 40 years, and that closed last year, so we literally have to travel over an hour to purchase clothes, etc. Also, when I go through the weekly coupons, I rarely find items that I want or need. Sorry to blather on. I’m hoping you could provide some pointers for a newbie like myself to save significant money each week/month even with limited opportunities?
I truly appreciate any insight you can provide!
Rich
Rockland, Maine