When extreme is too extreme

I've been watching Extreme Couponing lately, and have come to the conclusion that some of these people are too extreme. If you haven't seen the show, it's about people who can spend upwards of 60 hours a week getting ready for a shopping trip by researching prices and clipping coupons to pay as little as possible at the grocery checkout. After watching about 10 of the shows, here's what I have noticed that would NEVER work for me or my family.

1. They get a lot of items the we would NEVER eat - By this I mean that they get a lot of pre-packaged foods, soft drinks, candy, and other things that rarely if ever enter my house. We've made a commitment to healthy eating. We are big into reading the nutrition information on the labels of any packaged food we eat, and we get a lot of fresh produce. If we ate, for example, lots of ramen or soda (I wish I'd thought of couponing in college), we could eat for free a lot. We are WAY too picky for that, and I am not buying something we don't like or isn't healthy just because I can get it for free.

2. They are not overly particular about brands - Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it makes things difficult in my house. We try to buy items made from recycled materials, organic, and natural products, so there aren't always the best coupon opportunities available. We won't compromise on these items at all, so it makes it a bit trickier.

3. They are buying items that they have no current use for - There was a woman who had a year's worth of diapers, and SHE ISN'T PREGNANT AND HAS NO KIDS!!!!! She was keeping them in her stockpile, just sitting in her basement!!! Now, if I could score some freebie deals on diapers, I would get as many as I could and take them straight to my local women's shelter. I do not have the storage space in my house for stuff like that. I get what I need for my family.

4. They have stores that have more lenient rules for coupons - In our area, we rarely if ever have days where the stores will round all coupons up to $1.00. One chain of stores will only double one coupon for an item, even if you have multiple coupons with different denominations. This means that we just can't get the level of savings you see in some of these shows. Plus, we are in a small market, so there isn't as much push from the chains to give the best deals. My sister-in-law lives in the Phoenix area, and she can regularly get at least 50% off her grocery bill because her market is so competitive.

Now, not all of the extreme couponers are super extreme. The ones that I admire are the ones who fill their stockpile room for free, then give 90% away to charities and the troops. That has made me rethink how I shop and I am going to set aside some room to gather freebies to give to the local food bank and women's shelters. I think this is a great way to give to others, and all it requires is some of your time.

Yeah, it's great that these people can get out of a store with a $400 order for under $4, but it requires more of my time and way more compromises than I am willing to make. More power to them, but I think you can still get significant savings without being this extreme.