Mar 09 2010

Extreme Couponing and KCL in the Wall Street Journal

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The Monday, March 8th Wall Street Journal ran an article called “Hard Times Turn Coupon Clipping into the Newest Extreme Sport” yeah! It’s an interesting article and we were honored to be one of the sites featured. Thanks WSJ! We would have liked to have added some of our own tips about how to special order and not abuse the system by overbuying, as the article and video portrayed some pretty expansive stockpiles. You might be a over-buying if. . . you can create a 6 foot tower/castle out of jello boxes.

The gentleman donated his jello, so good for him! I’m all for creating a year supply, but 1000 boxes of jello? Seriously? . . . just sayin’.

Coupon Use spiked 27% from 2008 to 2009, which is the largest year over year percentage growth reported by this particular coupon tracking agency. We always say couponing isn’t just for those of us who are broke! The average houshold income of coupon users is reported at over 70,000 per year. Find more interesting facts by reading the story or watching the video here.

If you’re New: A little about our site:

Who we are: A couple of stay-at-home moms who love sharing our deals with you every day. Learn more about us here.

What our site does: We help you find coupons and tell you the best place to spend them! We match store sales with coupons so that you can buy items for at least half of the retail price. We report on national stores including: Target, Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Kmart. We also report on many Grocery stores in the western US and work with many other National Bloggers to bring you the Nationwide Grocery Guide to many local stores around the country! We don’t stockpile items unless they are at least 75% off!

Our Passion: Helping you save money and getting stuff for free! Shopping like a Krazy Coupon Lady will empower you to take control of so many aspects of your life. We want to teach you about how coupons work and about individual store coupon policies so you can shop with confidence! You can browse our site to learn all about the basics, or you can purchase our NEW book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey!

To begin learning, check out our Coupon Lingo, FAQs and
Ten Days to Become a KCL Series.

Printable Coupons: Find hundreds from Coupons.com Redplum.com Smartsource.com & more ordered alphabetically on our Printable Coupon Database.

eCoupons: create an account and load coupons directly to your store loyalty card at Cellfire.com or Shortcuts.com.

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http://maybefrugal.blogspot.com maygan
wow, a little judgemental on the guy who bought jello, aren’t you? He actually explains in the comment section that he bought them from multiple stores and as a donation item. I’m sure the charity who received them was thrilled to have so many boxes available to pass out.

Joanie Demer
We are Pro-stockpile! And we’re the last ones who will judge anyone for building a stockpile. That’s great that he donated all that Jello; thanks for sharing that. We just wanted our readers, especially our new readers not to be turned off immediately by the excessive images and to understand there is a right way to stockpile.

Kandice
Trust the media to portray us couponers as nutjobs! They didn’t bother to interview those of us who stock up slowly and usually get only a year’s supply of any one product at a time! I’d also like to be one of those “average” couponers with a college degree and a salary over $70,000/yr! I still have a year to go on my degree, but I don’t think I’ll come out of it making 70k!
Thanks for sharing the links…it was highly amusing!
Jennifer
My husband makes $130K a year, but I am still an extreme couponer. We are in the process of redirecting our financial ship toward saving more, especially since my MIL is partially dependent on us and we are planning on having more than one child. I make less than $10K a year at my job so I look at couponing as another way for me to ‘make’ money and help out our household!

MS
And that’s what I call and over-share.

Amber
This is kind of off-topic, but I made a quick trip to rite-aid last night to pick up some Halls. I noticed that select John Frieda shampoos were on clearance for 3.24 – I had one 3.00 coupon left after using one at Walgreens today. .24 for John Frieda shampoo! My total for 4 bags of halls and the shampoo was 2.81. When the total went from 7.81 to 2.81 the cashier said “Wow, maybe I should start using coupons!” Not a super great trip by some standards, but pretty good for just dropping in to get some badly needed cough drops.
Tiffany
Okay, I watched that video and have to say that that guy was obnoxious. Calling “extreme couponing” “insane”? He used that word over and over again. I think its more sane to build a stockpile and free up money to live better than pay almost $5 for a box of cereal!! I’m sorry, I think we couponers are smarter than the non-couponers. I mean hey, they are paying $150+ for groceries and I pay less than $8. Its ingenious financial management. I guess that guy can stay in his “sane” world paying an astronomical amount of money for his needs, I mean obviously he can afford it right? As for me, I will stay insane, and pay very little for my needs, even when I do earn lots of money. I can think of a million things to do with the money saved from couponing….stay insane everyone:D

Joanie
Preach on! We talk about this in our book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey. It’s like we live in bizarro world. I agree with you and think the ones paying over $1.00 for a box of cereal, when you clearly don’t have to- they are “krazy”!

Katie
It seems like they focused more on couponers that are more extreme so they could have a good story. From the video and the write up, they make it sound like couponers are “insane” people that are taking advantage of the system and being greedy. A little frusterating.
The thing is, yeah I am starting a stockpile, but I’m looking at it as food storage, for incredibly cheap! I’ve been wanting to build up my food storage for awhile, and couponing has let me do that, while still spending less each month on food than I was before couponing! It’s amazing!
I’m not ever going to be one of those people that get hundreds of something just because it’s free, though. And I feel like if the more extreme couponers don’t draw a line somewhere, companies are going to do it for them, and really start tightening up on their policies and make it difficult for everyone to coupon shop.
And in regards to Tiffany’s comment, I couldn’t agree more! I only started couponing a little over a month ago, but I will never go back to paying full price if I don’t have to I just couldn’t stomach it knowing I could be getting 80% off or more.
Tiffany
Oh, so funny to read the comments. The people that just don’t get it – and I love the “high and mighty” attitudes about not eating fresh food! If people actually took the time to learn stock up prices and to figure out how much they could actually save – who’d be calling who insane? I had no idea I could regularly buy toothpaste and deodorant for .50 cents or less, that a good price for ground beef was $1.80 or less, that I could earn a “catalina” and use it on future groceries, that I dont ever have to pay more than .75 cents a box on cereal, that I should look for the produce that is $1 or less per pound – things I just didnt know till I found the KCL site and started my extreme couponing/stockpiling obsession! I know for a fact I’m save $250 or more each month and I’m stocked up on so many things that grocery shopping each week is optional (besides milk, eggs, and fresh produce). But, I’m preaching to the choir here, huh?
Jennifer
I, too, was really amused at the elitist attitude of some of the commeters. Do NONE of them eat cereal? If they could save $2.50 on 5 boxes of healthy cereal, they could put that savings toward their beloved “fresh organic produce”. I mean, come ON.
I think my favorite was the guy who said he’d rather be reading Tolstoy or some such than cutting coupons. What an ignorant snob!
‘Course the article was kind of degrading towards us. I was personally insulted that they were categorizing us as crazy – and saying that grocery stores hate us? What?
I eat very healthily (a Weight Watchers lifetimer and ex-personal trainer) and do it VERY cheaply now that I’m a couponer. Thank you KCL. You’ve changed our lives for the better.

Michell
Grocery stores hate us? Ha! I’ve been couponing for three weeks and have had THREE seperate checkers ask me how I “figured out how to do this”. Of course I refer them here! I’ve made three new friends (it’s a very small town, you see people you know constantly) and as a bonus guess who always gets a new checkstand opened up for her when there’s a line!
Amber
I agree. There is nothing wrong with wanting to feed your family pesticide free produce – but there is no reason to degrade those who don’t (or label those who choose to do so). Plus, don’t they realize there are coupons for Kashi, Organic Valley, Pacific Foods, Earthbound Organic produce (and so many more)!

tanisha
seriously. i loaded up on free whole wheat pasta and i got ground turkey for free. i loved the comment on if you have more of it you will eat more. LOL. ya ok. i’ve lost 25 lbs. i am teaching my kids just cuz we have extra doesn’t mean we have to eat it all at once. have a little bit and then there is left over for another day.

tanisha
i think those complaining either have the money to buy all that expensive, super healthy food, or are just jealous we save so much. i don’t feel like i buy a lot of junk. heck i’ve lost 25 lbs so must not be eating too badly right?
i’m sorry, not everyone makes a ton of money and some ppl are struggling and if they can get their toiletries and some food for free why not?
and i pop in a movie and spread out on the floor and the kids and i clip coupons (more like me clipping kids playing with all the paper) while we watch a movie and have some FREE healthy popcorn . LOL.
Nadir
Gah. First of all, I don’t understand posing your haul on the dining table like a family portrait just to brag about what you got. What we do is enough work anyway. I don’t have time to play Annie Liebowitz, I’ve got more deals to score.
Stockpile pics, on the other hand, are great. They appeal to the organizer in me. And they don’t have that “look what *I* got!” feel to them. Hey, I know the “look what *I* got!” feeling. I guess I just commemorate it with receipts instead (which, unlike the pictures, show what you saved. I got into this to save money, not to have lots of pretty packages to look at).
And not only do I not get the mentality of making a tower out of Jell-O boxes, but the idea of scoring a great deal over and over and over and over and over again just so you can donate it to a food pantry seems a little of an empty gesture to me. Giving away your extra stuff is one thing, or picking up a few extras, but a HUNDRED BOXES? I wonder how many people wanted to grab a couple free or cheap Jell-O for their own kids and found nothing but empty shelves. Sometimes I feel like I’d have better luck scoring some of these deals if I went down to the local food pantry or homeless shelter.
But I know, he got to them first, so he won. His prize, I guess, is the “I saved HOW MUCH?!” high and the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you help out the less fortunate. And, depending on whether he’s scrupulous or not, a tax break.
I know they pick out sensational examples to sell the story. Still cheeses me off, though.
Nadir
Oh, I’m sorry, I meant A THOUSAND BOXES??!
Why talk to journalists if you do things like that? Just to rub it in people’s faces? If I lived near this guy, and I’d missed out on some deal, I’d probably hope his freezer broke, ruining all his stored-up meat, cheese, and vegetables. Even if it wasn’t his fault.
Course, I’m sure he has a backup generator. That he got for 73¢. lol
Amy E.
So…does anybody know what they were talking about when mentioning the lady who cracks her eggs, inserts lemon juice, and freezes them? Has anyone tried this…and if so, does it work?
The only thing I’ve ever heard about freezing eggs, is to freeze them in ice cube trays and then move them to ziploc bags…but then they’re only supposed to be good for using in recipes at that point. Any thoughts?

Ginger
I was going to ask the same thing on the eggs. I’m curious, too!

Mary
you can definitely get coupons for organic/natural produce: organic valley’s website has coupons for their milk (which is often on sale at FM), eggs, butter, etc and Kashi always has coupons off their cereal which goes on sale at FM and Rite Aid pretty frequently. Oh and if you email Earthbound Farms and ask them for coupons, they will send them to you! I love couponing!!!!
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com Mercedes
Congrats on the mention! You guys rock!
Lots of passionate discussion here and over on the WSJ site. It’s obvious that everyone sticks to their own beliefs. we stick to what is working for us and defend it fiercely and thos who don’t get it defend their own option.
Personally, I am not sure I can deal with the negativism from naysayers.
Mercedes
Ginger
I clicked on the link about coupon fraud off that article and just had to laugh. I loved the coupon for a free, 108″, Sharp Aquos LCD TV.
http://thekrazycouponlady.com Deborah
The article was great! I used to think that price matching at Walmart and saving $20 on a $250 was great couponing. Now, I realize that those were paltry savings compared to what I do now. With a lot of knowledge from this website and the posters, I have started filling my shelves with food and it is a great feeling! Jennifer, I am one of those who never bought cereal because it was SO EXPENSIVE. My husband loves cereal. Now the pantry is stocked with cereal – couponing has made it affordable if not downright cheap. Katie, I agree with you about the extreme couponers. The grocery stores seem to be keeping up with the inventory to match their sales and couponers’ needs. However, Target (and sometimes even Walgreens) are not. My only concern with these extreme couponers is that everyone will be penalized for their extreme actions.
Lori Lee
I liked the article and especially the comment saying that couponer’s were executing sales with “surgical precision”. Congratulations KCL for your site being mentioned in the article. You ladies are the greatest! I learned about couponing from your site, then taught my daughter who is 28, and then my sister. My sister then taught her 3 girls ages 16-20. That’s five women in one family empowered by the info you provide. Thanks so much.