I realize that no one probably cares, but I’d just like to go on the record that I object to the term ‘extreme couponing.” I’ve already discussed how I think the time investment largely ends up exceeding the savings, and how other than in more isolated situations how extreme couponing results in the appearance of savings as opposed to actual savings due to waste and/or shelf life, but this goes even further. I object to the term itself.
After all, what is ‘extreme couponing?’ Really, this is tracking sales and coupons to the point that large amounts of crap can be bought for very small amounts of money. I’ve seen the show. I know that some people have walked away with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise for a couple bucks (whether or not that was worth the time they put in or whether or not anyone needs twenty years worth of body wash all at one time is another story).
But…what the heck is extreme about this?
I can understand extreme sports. Bicycling down the vertical cliff face of a fifteen thousand foot granite mountain is extreme. Jumping out of a plane without a chute is extreme. Throwing jacks without an eye guard is extreme.
But…what is extreme about couponing? Do people coupon while free-falling from a height of ten thousand feet? Do people coupon in forty degree below Fahrenheit temperatures? Do people coupon while being chased by rabid sharks?
No. No they do not. At most, most coupon aficionados risk paper cuts, wasting time, or spending more money than they intended. This is not extreme.
As such, I must strenuously object to the term. I think ‘obsessive couponing’ would be more accurate, or even ‘compulsive couponing.’ In any event, couponing is not extreme. Not in the slightest.
When I wrote about this show last year, I called it “extreme hoarding.” http://rumored.com/2011/05/22/extreme-hoarding/
It’s definitely hoarding. Extreme hoarding should still involve physical challenges, such as climbing unstable piles or such.