For about the sixth time since the show has started, I have been questioned about my binder while grocery shopping. Not by other curious customers or store associates but by store managment The first time was at Reddners, the manager there was great though, he had heard a few customers telling some associates that "one of those crazy coupon people" were in the store so he walked around until he found me and asked if I was "one of those crazy people who was going to empty his shelves" Once I told him I never have and never will he just laughed and told me that if I ever needed more than 10 of an item to please let him know and he would be more than happy to order what I needed. He also asked to look through my binder, and said he wished his wife would try couponing. Then I have had managment come up to me at Weis, Shop-Rite (not the one I normally shop at) and Pathmark and ask the same question and proceed to tell me the coupon policy. At Weis, the front end manager was also told to stand by the register and check my coupons. Which I had no problem with. Then today I went to Wegmans to get free bandaids, smart water and a few other things I needed and once again I was stopped by a store manager who asked if I was "one of those people his wife watches on tv" so I said "it depends what show does she watch" Once he knew I wasn't going to empty his shelves or take all of his shopping carts for my trip he apologized and said that the free smart water was the best deal he has ever seen, so I gave him a few coupons so he could get some for himself.
Besides managment questioning me, I have had other customers tell me I should be ashamed of myself for "stealing" from the store, a few asked how to do it and why don't I try and do what they do on the show. I also had two women look through my binder and try taking coupons from it because they thought I had a binder for the purpose of sharing with other customers Has anyone else experienced any problems since this show started?

__________________
~~~~**Maryann**~~~~

I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

No one has stopped to ask me anything and I hope no one gives me a hassle.
Judy

Just 30 minutes ago on the local evening news, it was reported that Publix has changed their cpn policy due to extreme couponing. I didn't catch the changes so I will be visiting the Publix website tonight to check it out. I am saddened because Publix has always been so cpn friendly and I hope these changes aren't drastic.

__________________
Thanks. ~Susan

Please email me at.... snschapin@yahoo.com

Do not value the things you have in your life,
but value who you have in your life!

No, but I don't carry a binder.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

So far I have not had any problems, at this point I have lived in this area for almost 18 years and they all know me by first name and they do know I use alot of coupons. However with that being said I no way do what these extreme couponers do. If I want to say purchase 10-12 of the same items I simply go on the self check-out. Again we are talking about reality television here, and there is no way any store I know of let a person purchase those huge amounts of one item in one transaction. As far as Publix is concerned I wish they had them up here I love love that store and each and everytime I go to Florida I love shopping in there. Peace and Sunshine to all...Catherine

Acually, last Sunday I had a question. The Giant Store in the area had a deal that if you purchased $100 in Proctor and Gamble products (which includes Kelloggs and Keebler) you would get a free $25 gift card of your choice. You had two weeks to complete it. Most of the products were on sale and I had coupons. We were out of cereal so I bought about 8 boxes. The cashier who was a young man asked me if I was an extreme couponer. I said that I had been couponing for 37 years and it was a way of life. I did not quite have $100 so I came back later to get the rest.

I try to not bring my binder into the store so people leave me alone.

__________________
I've never lied to you. I've always told you some version the of truth.

No but my friend is a cashier at WalMart and a lady came in with a sales ad from Walgreen's and a set of coupons for body wash. Once was the Walgreen's ad that said 'Buy 1 for $5.99 Get 1 Free" the other were manufacturer's coupons for B1G1F. She insisted that she should them all FREE. The clerk explained she could either pay the WalMart price and use the manuf. coupons for free ones or she could do what the Walgreen's ad said and B1@$5.99G1F. She insisted and argued her way up the food chain to the store manager who gave in (as always in these situations) and she got them all FREE. Talk about giving couponers a bad name!
I wish stores wouldn't give in to this. It doesn't even make sense!

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Wal-mart price matching clearly states that buy one get one free promotions are excluded! Walgreen's can offer BOGO frees because their regular prices are so outrageously HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!! (usually) I cannot believe they caved! That's stupid!

Not exactly. Your friend the cashier needs some guidance.

In this case, the price was listed in the BOGO deal - $5.99. So, Walmart should match Walgreens and also accept the BOGO mq.

It is a bit complicated because Walmart is less than $5.99, so the cashier would need to do something like ring one at $4.99 and the other at 1.00. The $4.99 one is then free. So, the buyer pays .50 for each. The Walgreens deal is better because you actually do get both for free. One rings at $5.99 and the other at 0.00. The BOGO MQ then takes the $5.99 off.

I collect MQs for hygiene items and donate everything. It is a hobby I picked up a few years ago. I have 10 bodywashes ready to go that I only paid tax for, so I know this deal. Below is this month's Fisher House donation. All free except for maybe $10 in taxes.

Walmartstores.com: Our Ad Match Guarantee

OK so apparently the rules have changed and they will honor that IF the ad states the actually price, most ads do not though. Like for instance if they have Maybelline BOGO free there are many different prices and Walgreens is WAAAY more expensive than Walmart on Maybelline.

nightowlrn-that's awesome!

I completely agree! Very cool!!!!

__________________
Kim

I just noticed today on the Colgate toothpaste coupon that came in the paper that it says no more than 4 coupons can be used in a transaction.

Cashiers generally don't pay attention to the limit of 4, which is too bad. And, really, it just means someone would have to keep getting back in line to buy 4 more of whatever. I don't get the people with 100 tubes of toothpaste or 2 years worth of pasta sauce. Sales cycle about every 3-4 months. I generally get 4 things free and keep one of them and donate the rest. Or, just donate it all if it is something we won't use. We haven't paid for razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash or soap in years. We aren't brand loyal and there is always some new free product. We keep about 3 - 6 months of hygiene products - sales always roll around before we are out. My kids think of my bathroom closet as their free drug store and just take what they need when they visit.

We generally eat fresh meat and vegetables, which don't have a lot of coupons. But, I rarely pay much for pasta and rice, and I have never paid more than $1 for cereal. The cereal can be a challenge because of all the surgary stuff, but Special K was BOGO at Rite Aid and I had BOGO MQs a few months ago, so that has kept us with quick breakfasts for some time.

For Safeway shoppers - there is a bifold at CS that has $1 off $5 produce. Expires in August. 20% off produce is pretty good. There is one on my way home from work, so I regulary stop and get 5.50 of whatever veggie is on sale for dinner.

I have not been asked yet if I am one of those, "crazy coupon people", although I can tell you that it has been less than welcoming. It is sad that some out there have labeled us couponers this way. Over the years it certainly have changed the way I use coupons and where I go redeem it. I have to say that my big shopping binder have now been reduced to the a wallet size after all the negatives media. It has caused some on lookers to view us as the bad people, scammers, freeloaders, etc when all we are doing is trying to save on our grocery bills. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.

__________________
Loida Chan
A Bargain Shopper who believes that Life's Luxuries can come at small prices.

She shouldn't have received them all free. She should have paid the difference in price as you stated. She didn't come to my friend's line but the whole store was talking about it. The next day someone came in and wanted the same deal but the store wouldn't allow it so the person took their coupons and left.
Why didn't she go to Walgreen's? Then there would have been no problem.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

The cashier at Walgreens called his manager the other night when I gave him my coupons. She looked at me like I was a criminal and studied evry single coupon I had looking for something wrong with it. She seemed aggravated at the end and walked off saying "The only thing she paid for was the toilet paper"! Like I was stealing everything else!! crazy

__________________
*** Find A Need , Fill A Need ***

You know why she didn't go to Walgreen's, because Walgreen's regular prices are way higher than Walmart prices. Or possibly she'd already pissed off all the local Walgreen's and isn't allowed to do it at Walgreen's anymore! Misuse(abuse) of coupons is going to mess it up for everyone! For the longest time already, I've found that most local stores around here don't want to accept Internet printed coupons because of local people abusing them! It angers me to have a couple legitimate coupons that I printed direct from the manufacturer's website and Walmart won't take them. They had begun to accept them but I'm sure now with that show they will become more cautious again.

The grocery store I used to go to before we moved across town wouldn't take any home-printed internet coupons at all. We have another store here that doubles coupons up to 50 cents, but not on sale items.

Those of us who properly use coupons to save a few bucks are definately going to get hosed with all these extreme coupon hoarders.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I have a feeling this program will not be on for long, and yes I agree they are making bad for us to do the right thing when using our coupons. I also agree as stated before anyone who needs to have 1,000 tubes of toothpaste is a waste and so is anyone who needs more then 15 boxes of pasta, there is no way a family could consume that much..Peace and blessings to all... Catherine

I have not had any more problems redeeming coupons than what I had before the show became so "hot". That being said, I never really was "extreme" IMO. I think the show has gotten cashiers and managers to pay closer attention to coupons, which is a good thing.

The "problem" I am running into is that I can't find the deals like I used to. The Extreme Couponers are clearing out the shelves, and the retailers are allowing it. It is, afterall, putting money in their pockets as well. I was in Walgreens last week and one of the asst. mgrs. told me that a woman came in with $1,000 in coupons. Took her 1.5 hours to ring up. Another guy came in and bought a TON of stuff that he sells at the Flea Market. I told her "they should not be doing that".....the asst. said there wasn't anything she could do about it, really. I begged to differ...but, I know it fell on deaf ears.

Anyway....that is my only "problem". I am sure (hoping) that all the hoopla will die down and people who did not coupon before will drop back to that, and we can get the deals again. We have to be a bit more diligent but, I think we will still find some deals.

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Maybe the stores will start putting limits on how many you can buy of one item. I don't know of anyone who really "needs" 100 tubes of toothpaste. One of our local chains had a limit of how many coupons could be doubled, (if I remember right it was 20 coupons), and set the limit at 40 cents, for years. Not sure if they still do or not because I seldom have that many coupons. Walgreens rules surely come from headquarters, but small chains and individual stores should be able to set their own policy. If I want to run in and pick up a certain item and they are out because someone got there ahead of me and bought several hundred, I'm going to be mad at the store, not the couponer. It's up to them and the issuers to set policy to keep all of us happy.

I figure the stores that are allowing the extreme coupon people to clear the shelves will continue to do it as it is free publiclity for the store!

__________________
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it