"Extreme" couponing is something I've always heard of people doing, occasionally read about, but never actually knew that anyone close to me did. My mom does it somewhat, but all she really passed on to me was "check the price per item; bigger boxes usually give you more" and "BOGOs (Buy One, Get One) are amazing." So that's what I've done up until now. I've had a couple shopping trips where my savings almost equaled my money spent, and I always felt pretty good about it.
Today I found out a coworker of mine is an extreme couponer. Apparently she refuses to ever pay for several items (deodorant, razors, toothbrushes/toothpaste, soap) and has had crazy deals on food (like apparently buying 30 cereal boxes for $.75 recently). As soon as I learned, I asked her for some tips, and she told me some basic things that I should have known, like manufacturers' coupons combining with store deals which also combine with local deals, etc. I'm not one to promote sites, but she directed me to Southern Savers, which covers a bunch of stores here in the south and showed the store deals and coupons (including links to printable ones). For example, Planters Peanuts are available in Publix for $4.39 normally. They're BOGO this week, so that price is half. Then there are two coupons; one from the manufacturer ($1.50 off if you buy 2) and one from the store ($1 off if you buy two of certain varieties). Thus, you can get them for $.59 each if you buy two.
Anyway, it made me kind of interested; seems like a fun spare time project. It's recommendable to set up a new e-mail and/or facebook to deal with the spam as you sign up to a bunch of companies' offers, but I guess the savings pay off. Does anyone else practice couponing to the degree that this woman does? Have any advice on your own habits?