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I think it's crazy to buy 51 boxes of cereal just for yourself. I think it is wonderful she was able to get such a good deal, but I don't see the value in buying things you don't need. It would be wonderful if she could donate to a local shelter or food pantry though!

@Mrs. Jump Rope: I have tons of diapers right now, but you can't have too many of those, right?

that's awesome that you guys are able to swap coupons and all benefit from it! getting the coupons is usually the hard part!

51 boxes of cereal is a lot, but if she ordered them & didn't clear the shelf for everyone else, meh. maybe her family eats cereal every morning & go through a few boxes a wk. if they eat four boxes a wk, that's 12wks worth. it doesn't go bad quickly, she must have storage space. maybe she trades it, like if one person got a ton of cereal and traded half with someone who got a ton of pasta. i don't know, i wouldn't really concern myself with why she thought it was best for her to buy that many

That sounds extreme! I did a lot of it for a while but only stocked up on what we would use usually in a 6-8-12 week time frame. Occasionally I stocked up on stuff that I donated to a group that cooked meals for a charity.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: lol I'm already stocking up on diapers!! never too early.

I extreme couponed when we first got married bc DH was unemployed and I was studying for the Bar. It takes a lot of time and energy to coupon and we donated a LOT of stuff, but once you're in the zone it's sorta hard to turn down something that's free or a moneymaker or a few cents. But shelf clearing is rude, you can preorder with the store! I don't know what you do with 51 boxes of cereal unless you eat one a week for a year. I did notice in June our cereal hoard got big bc there were so many coupons. Since certain items follow seasons, it may have been her annual cereal pile.

I think when couponing is your job, it's like sales numbers if you're a salesperson. You want to show off those results. I'm super happy we don't have to coupon anymore but I've definitely started doing it again looking ahead to unpaid leave. Right now I don't spend more than 1-2 hours a week couponing, I'm only using online coupons, and I'm not stocking up on more than 5-6 of one item - and only if we will use it! Those rules have kept me sane and we have still saved a ton of money.

I think shelf clearing is rude and makes couponers look crazy. I love a good deal and took advantage of the Target diaper deal this week (got 8 boxes) but that's because I know I will use them with little one coming! My husband doesn't like coming with me when I do any coupon deals because he thinks it's a hassle for the cashier/other people. But he doesn't get upset at the savings. Either way, I only do it if I know I can use the items and even then I have to really want them. The whole showing off thing is weird to me, too.

I just wanted to say that I have no problem with coupons or couponers as long as they aren't doing it just to have the bragging rights.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: when I worked at a nonprofit with a food pantry, we had a couple uber couponers who would bring tons of cereal and other stuff when they found these sorts of deals.

I don't get the stockpiling of items that you'll never go through, but I totally buy products from couponers for way cheap, so I love re-selling. I don't have that kind of time, so getting cases of pampers from a couponer for $15 works for me.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: Your post made me laugh! I think the same thing whenever I watch those extreme couponing shows on TLC! They walk out of the store like they just found gold...when really it's 150 bottles of ketchup or something

But, on a side note, I think it's great that some people are donating to food banks! I'm sure the food bank appreciates it.