Some of our previous neighbors were doing something called the grocery game. The two households shared one membership to the game’s website. The gal who ran the website would post the sales and bargains for the grocery stores in our area. She would list the coupons in the Sunday paper and then tell members what to buy at what stores using what coupons. The point was to get all groceries for nearly free.
I was completely on board with that until my girlfriend told me that for a while you could not buy the things you wanted to buy. Instead you had to buy what was listed on the site’s shopping list using the sales and coupons. She was doing things like buying multiple boxes of boxed flavored rice and other similar non-perishables. I probably would have been better served by checking out the website for myself, but I took my friend’s word for it. I didn’t want things I didn’t want; it was that simple.
Fast forward about six years and TLC is airing Extreme Couponing. The show focuses on people throughout the country who are buying hundreds of dollars of groceries and paying a small fraction of the total. I watched a few episodes fascinated. The stockpiles these shoppers have amassed are amazing. They’ll never be able to use everything.
I am right back where I started. I don’t want a stockpile. I don’t want to buy a hundred mustards because they’re free. I do, however, want to save money and I think the game would be fun. When I learned that the couponers featured were told to stop donating food and build the stockpiles, it made more sense. I don’t have to keep everything. That’s part of the game. I love donating. Now I just need to figure out how to start.