Hey frugalistas! Clear your calendars or set your DVRs this week because a new season of “Extreme Couponing” premieres in just three days.
According to TLC’s website, the second season of the uber-popular savings spree show gets underway on September 28th. The network is planning to broadcast 12 new episodes featuring 24 super savvy couponers who can turn trash into cash like no one else on Earth.
In true reality TV fashion, TLC is hyping the big premiere by announcing that the new shows will show amateur copouners like me how to ring up bigger savings, not only at the supermarket, but at clothing stores as well.
Wednesday’s premiere episode turns the spotlight on April, a mega-couponer, who is able to feed all seven of her teenage kids, plus 200 parishioners from her church, on less money than it takes most clan’s to fill-up the family car.
Following that episode, TLC is airing another new show, which features a woman named Erin, who is couponing for her little sister’s upcoming wedding, including bridesmaids’ dresses and decorations. According to TLC, Erin ends up with just $150 to buy enough food to feed all 280 wedding guests, and… well, I assume she must be able to pull a rabbit or two out of her hat or she wouldn’t have made it on the show.
I will be interested to view the later shows to see if Kroger’s crackdown on couponing makes it into an episode. In a previous post I detailed the supermarket chain’s decision to no longer allow customers to double and triple store coupons in its North Texas and Houston stores.
Fortunately, not all stores are putting the kibosh on the practice. According to CouponSherpa.com, the following retailers are still allowing customers to double or triple the face value of their coupons:
A&P: Allows doubling only.
Kmart: Doubles and triples some coupons.
ShopRite: (Includes PriceRite) Double-coupon policies vary by store but, in general, will double up to four identical coupons.
Winn Dixie: Doubles all manufacturer coupons up to 50 cents, except in Florida, New Orleans metro area and some parts of Alabama.