Extreme Couponing Part 3: Joyce

The 3rd Coupon Master highlighted in TLC's Extreme Couponing Special was a woman named Joyce.

I felt that Joyce's shopping habits made the most sense to me. She didn't seem to buy, just to buy, or stockpile on unnecessary items. I thought she was "down to earth" and practical!

Here is what I learned from Joyce:

* Reach out to your community! Joyce utilized her community to save and gather coupons for her! If they weren't already her friend, she found a way to make them a friend and was able to collect hundreds of dollars per day in coupons, just by making her "rounds" and collecting them.

* Only buy what you truly need! What a concept!

* Call the companies of your favorite products and ask them to send you coupons! You can also find great coupons online to complement the manufacturer coupons.

* A lot of people feel that coupons are only for "junk food" and that there are few healthy bargains out there. Joyce doesn't believe this and neither do I! Recently, I shopped a local sale and spent $2.99 - I left with 6 large green bell peppers (which I cut up and froze), 6 large cucumbers (which hubby LOVES) and a 1 pound bag of high quality fiber cereal. That would normally cost me about $11 or so!
The key, is looking at the circulars each week and hitting the sales, freezing what you can, and meal planning around what's on sale!

* Be Patient and Pay Attention! I couldn't have said it better myself!

Finally, one of my favorite lines from the entire show came from Joyce: "If it's Free, It's for me!" I LOVE IT! Although, in California it's a little tougher to find those Freebie items because most stores (at least in my area) do not double coupons- so at best I get things for .99 or less (which I'll take any day!).


Stay tuned for part 4 and my Extreme Couponing Wrap Up Thoughts!