Extreme Couponing tonight on TLC. My take on the Show

Well, tonight is the long awaited premier of Extreme Couponing, the series. I really don't know how I feel about that......
It would be great if it truly portrayed families using coupons and saving much need budget dollars in this crazy economy. It would be fine if showed people stockpiling to help feed their families and tide them over till the next sale/deal. But what fun would that be too watch. TV these days is all about Shock Value- I mean really Reality TV is far from reality. It is all about ratings and making that almighty dollar in advertising monies.
So I guess they feel they MUST show the extreme.
I just want to put a bit of TRUE reality in perspective here. Some people might call me extreme, but compared to these guys, my stockpile is a drop in the bucket! lol In actuality the average Joe, or even the seasoned couponer wouldn't be able to pull off shopping trips such as these. Especially my area. Yes, I am lucky to have a few stores near me that will double coupons- most will double .50 coupons up to a dollar, but I can only double 4 of the same coupon in one transaction. One store will double coupons up to .99- so I could get $1.98 (if there were ever any .99 coupons out there)- but I can only double 1 like coupon. SO, if I wanted to buy 1000 boxes of cereal-could you imagine- I would have to check out 250-1000 times!!! No thank you!
What these shows don't tell you is they worked closely with the stores to make all this happen! What stores do you know of that keep that much stock on hand?? It wasn't a spur of the moment trip either- all the cameras, producers, extra staff on hand, managers and higher ups galore, etc. They also had to obtain all those coupons- papers aren't free, and even if they used coupon clipping services, there are still added money going out before you even hit the stores. They also don;t point out that these shoppers don;t shop like this every week. These trips were very much planned out well in advance with lots of help from the stores to get advance notice of sales, etc.
While I love a good deal as much as the next person, I am here to help show you how to save money in a realistic manner, in everyday purchases, to larger ones as well. There are so many ways to stretch your budget, you don't always have to go to the extreme. You don't learn to coupon overnight, just as you couldn't learn calculus overnight. It takes time, and lots of experience! There is so much information out there, baby steps! Take it slow and learn to do it right!

Will I watch the show- of course, will I laugh at some of them, yes. Will I be a bit envious of some, yes. Will I also know this isn't "reality" in the true sense of the word, but in TV's version of reality, yes.

After the show airs, I will post my take on these new episodes.