Comments by brokenwing1026 / LJWorld.com

brokenwing1026

Last login: Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Comment history

Eudora family uses coupon-clipping prowess to help schools, community

Fantastic, this family is sending razors to help hurricane Sandy victims. Really? Am I supposed to be really excited about that? Is that supposed to make it a feel good story? Do you think that is the most needed item right now? Everyone is running around lost without disposable BIC razors? I doubt it. However, in the show, this family did actually "make" money ($1.50 each I think it was) on each of the 200 razors purchased. Donate the razors to a local homeless shelter or other nonprofit organization & send that money that was made to the red cross to help the hurricane victims. That is what is helpful. Not the razors.

In reality, this show is isn't but. It's staged. It's planned. Yes, the purchases happened. Yes, the totals were real. But like Broderick said in his previous post, he spent WEEKS planning for this trip. That is because it takes weeks to obtain those coupons and for a sale and the coupons to align in the universe just right. The point of my post is to let people realize that coupons can be used on a regular basis by normal people to help save money for their families without being extreme, without taking WEEKS to prepare, and without taking advantage of something that will inevitably change the way that coupons are made available for everyone.

November 21, 2012 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Eudora family uses coupon-clipping prowess to help schools, community

Personally, I think that it would have been great if a local store had been at least featured, but no, Piggly Wiggly was where the show was taped. The closest Piggly Wiggly that I know of is more than 1 1/2 hours away. My guess would be that no local store would allow the show to tape here. I didn't see any receipts on the wall of fame from Piggly Wiggly. And conveniently Missouri charges tax on the value after coupons have been deducted rather than before like Kansas, so that was worth about 9% of the pre-coupon total. It's all for a show. Sure Wal-Mart will give overage on coupons when the amount of the coupon is more than the sales price of the item, but they aren't going to allow taping. Dillons (here in Lawrence anyway) has a limit on the number of like coupons that they will accept & they do not give overage. Hy-vee does not double and will not give overage, same for Price Chopper and Target. Henhouse has doubling up to $.50. Other local stores may double up to $.49 or even $.50, but they don't allow customers to profit from using coupons.

Also, ordering bulk coupons online is expensive. It isn't just the cost of shipping. There is a "clipping fee" assessed per coupon. Add the cost of the coupons, the fuel to get to the store, the weekly newspaper subscriptions, and all of the time involved, are you really saving all that much? To coupon on an extreme level is not all that beneficial. Airing these shows creates greed. And it makes the manufacturers decrease the values of coupons and stores to limit policies, stop doubling, etc. In the long run, it's not a win for anyone. Sure getting 6 papers per week is reasonable, but "extreme" shopping is not. And if you are ordering coupons online, keep in mind that while you may not have obtained those coupons illegally, it is very likely that the source did. I'm willing to bet that the majority of the time these coupons come from a newspaper carrier who risks his/her job every week by stealing the inserts from unsold papers and selling them to the coupon clipping site or selling them directly. It's greed. It's theft.

I use coupons. I often get 5 copies of the paper. However, because of this show, many stores, cashiers, and customers either are moody when I use the coupons or super nosy because they think I'm "extreme". How did you get those coupons, what do you do with your stuff, are you an extreme couponer, etc are often normal questions asked. Um, I got them from the paper, I'm going to eat the popcorn, and no I'm not extreme. I'm normal. I'm trying to save a few bucks here and there buying products that I can use.

November 21, 2012 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )