One recent Monday, my husband left the Wall Street Journal with me instead of taking it to work as he usually does.coupon-clipping He thought I'd be interested in a front-page article about "extreme couponers."

For the record, I don't fit into that category.

How do you know you're an extreme couponer?  I'll use some examples taken straight from the WSJ article:

  • You've accumulated enough free boxes of Jell-o to build an enormous tower--6 feet tall.
  • Your bookcase holds garlic salt and meat marinades instead of books.
  • Your apartment looks like you've stocked up in case of a hurricane.
  • You "need" 500 coupons for flavored water.
  • You get a 6-month supply of dog food for free--but your dog doesn't like it.

I just don't think most people fit into the "extreme couponer" category.  I also think that's a good thing.  Yes, I have a basement pantry that's fully stocked.  My neighbor calls it "the bomb shelter."  But I won't buy more than I can use before the item goes bad, and plenty of what I get free or very cheap with coupons gets donated to the local food pantry through collections at Cub Scouts or my kids' schools.

That article made it sound like people who use coupons are greedy, only out to get free stuff, and willing to hoard it or, worse, clear store shelves so no one else can get that stuff.  Practices like shelf-clearing gives couponers a bad name--even run-of-the-mill couponers like me.  I buy one newspaper each weekend--two if it has really good coupons in it.  Then I share the coupons I don't use with my neighbor; she gives me the ones she doesn't use.  Of course, I try to combine a coupon with a store sale to get the best discount.  Doing this, I saved $53.36 on my grocery bill last week, paying $79.50 out of pocket.  "Extreme" couponers would think this is hardly worth the trip!

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