Coupon Frustration
The longer that you coupon (and at the beginning stages of couponing), the more likely you are to experience what I like to call coupon frustration. I'm sure that my husband does not enjoy the phone calls he receives from me after a bad couponing experience, but bless his heart, he tolerates them anyways. I experienced some coupon frustration tonight at one of my favorite stores, and had to make a phone call to their corporate office to find out why my coupon scenario worked at one of their stores yesterday, but did not work out today at another, even after consulting with a manager. The customer service representative at the corporate office informed me that they have had numerous phone calls surrounding this issue and said that their supervisors are addressing the issue due to the recent problems that have arisen with extreme couponers wanting to be like the couponers profiled on the Extreme Couponing show.
Some of you may be familiar with the show Extreme Couponing on TLC. The show focuses on couponers who put a lot of hours into hunting for and buying mass quantities of coupons to get as many products as they can for a mere fraction of the retail price. Unfortunately, the original intent of this show was not to show how couponers can hoard products for themselves. It was originally slated as a show to teach the art of couponing and how to save money on products your family would normally use, especially during a time when money is tight for so many. Once the producers learned that there were individuals who could take this to the extreme, the show's original intent was lost.
I have been frustrated with this show as it does not showcase a "normal" couponer. So many of us were using coupons before this show hit the airwaves (if you read the about me in this blog, you will learn that my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother have all used coupons and rebates for decades). Those of us who use coupons now face added scrutiny from cashiers and are sometimes made to feel like criminals (especially when a coupon is used to get a product for FREE) thanks to the bad rap this show is giving couponers.
Now there are some positives to the Extreme Couponing show. It has motivated a good number of people to try to use coupons to help with their family's budget. It has also raised an awareness among merchants that people still do use coupons and have made some stores more welcoming to coupon users. I still feel that the show could portray more real life scenarios. A lot of the show is filmed just to get your attention and is played up. There is also some skepticism as to whether or not fraud is being committed by some on the show. You can find a post written by Nathan Engles (he has appeared on Extreme Couponing twice) on that topic HERE.
Will I stop using coupons due to this coupon frustration? Heck no! It's still worth it to me to save that extra money for my family and allow me to continue on our debt snowball. Does this coupon frustration happen every time I use coupons? Definitely not. Most of my transactions are smooth as can be.
I want to be honest and ethical with my use of coupons. Individuals are finding more and more ways to "work the system" and this blog is not what that is about. I will not knowingly misuse a coupon. When you're new to using coupons, you have lots of questions and will learn by trial and error. If you ever have any questions, please let me know and I will try to answer them from my own experiences. Please know that the links you find in this site are not fraudulent and that I am committed to ethical coupon use. I welcome your questions and comments!
May your coupon frustrations be few and far between. Blessings to you and your family!
