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Coupon clippers are going to extremes

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By D.L. Stewart, Contributing Writer 11:26 AM Saturday, December 31, 2011

It may not supplant football, but clipping coupons is what The Wall Street Journal has termed “the newest extreme sport.”

Since its debut in April, millions of television viewers have become addicted to a “savertainment” show called “Extreme Couponing” on the TLC network.

The show has become such a hit that on Tuesday a spinoff called “Extreme Couponing All-Stars” made its debut. Which is not to be confused with a special that aired the following evening called “Extreme Cheapskates.” Extreme couponers save money by clipping coupons; extreme cheapskates do it by dumpster diving or taking home strangers’ leftovers from restaurants.

I’m not convinced that couponing qualifies as a sport. But then, I’m also not sure “couponing” qualifies as a verb. Either way, this trend has coupon clippers flaunting their bargains the way the nouveau riche used to show off their Rolexes.

A woman in Washington bought $150.54 worth of groceries for $9.43.

According to one blogger, another woman “just got $2,123.56 worth of groceries, like four carts full ... and walked out of the store paying nothing, but with the store giving her a $57.51 gift card.”

The founder of a couponing website says he hasn’t bought toilet paper in this decade because he stockpiled a three-year supply for $30.

I’m sure all these reports are true. If you can’t trust reality shows and the Internet, whom can you trust? But I’ve been clipping coupons for years and I haven’t come close to savings like those.

Just about every Sunday I clip a coupon that entitles me to $1 off on four cans of soup. But we never eat more than two cans of soup a week and a shelf in our pantry is starting to crack from the weight of all that clam chowder.

A brand of French onion chip dip we like has frequent coupons. But when I use them the store gives me more coupons for the same dip. Which would be nice, except then I have to buy more $3.99 bags of chips to dip in it and I’m not sure that’s the road to frugality.

And virtually every week I clip a coupon for my favorite toothpaste, so now I have a toothpaste supply that probably will outlast my teeth.

But maybe I’m too lazy to be cheap.

As all-star couponers concede, extreme savings take effort. Many of them subscribe to multiple newspapers. They spend hours a day clipping coupons or searching for them on their computers. Then they use $3.49.9-a-gallon gas driving from store to store to redeem them. And, when they get home, they have to leave their car in the driveway.

Because their garage is full of toilet paper.

Contact D.L. Stewart at dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.

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