Extreme Couponing in Canada

[Litesandsirens911]

too bad this woman is stealing and taking credit for Anne Dougherty's hard work by copy and pasting Anne's HOT DEALS wiki thread and pasting it to her own site as her own work to promote her own couponing page, without even crediting SC or Anne...disgusting

[Psychojo213]

Hmmm not sure copying the Hot Deals thread is a good idea unless you are wiling to give credit where credit is due. Just saying, there are proper ways to share info.

If she asked I could have given her the reference citation for the Hot Deals thread in any format....APA, MLA, Chicago, but really a link and credit would suffice too.

[caroman]

too bad this lady is stealing AnneDougherty's hard work by copy and pasting Anne's work from the wiki to promote her own facebook couponing page...what clout...I reported it to Boo and Facebook..

oh, that's nasty and wrong,wrong,wrong

[julies1949]

Well now we know where all the tearpad coupons go. This woman should be ashamed of herself. How would she like it if the person who visited the store just before her took all the coupons? Would she think that was ok if someone else was doing it?

[Psychojo213]

Lots of discussion about this over here
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/220593-...nadian-canada/

[ColleenMGorecki]

it is no longer available on the site

[annedougherty]

If she asked I could have given her the reference citation for the Hot Deals thread in any format....APA, MLA, Chicago, but really a link and credit would suffice too.

...I'm still laughing about the fact that someone has inquired where they can obtain Beneful coupons on her Facebook page. Her answer is that she is unsure and has contacted the manufacturer blah blah blah, but it might be in the brandsaver, she is unsure.

Yes, clearly an expert. Her product and coupon knowledge is astounding. How can you claim to have made up that list when you don't know there's a $3 Beneful coupon on save.ca, and that P&G makes IAM's and that's what's in the brandsaver. lol

FACEPALM. Sorry, I just had to have a mini rant. BAHAHAHA

Good night

[Midnightly]

an extreme couponer is someone who uses more then 188 coupons per year.. i think that makes just about everyone on this site an extreme couponer!

[anawhatsme]

what about the man that says couponers are crazy like a fox and hurting retailers?
aren't retailers reimbursed by the companies for our coupons?

i thought the whole clip was a negative piece on couponers.

[Sanrio]

I only watched half the video...i was a bit irritated at the very beginnng when you see her going through a box of coupons...seems like there were a few pads there!
No wonder some of us have problems finding coupons when there are people running off with the lot!!

Interesting. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't see entire tear pads (many) in her coupon boxes. There is never a need to take that many coupons, even if you are donating to charity.
Other than that it was a good story.

She lives in the Vancouver area...she clears shelves constantly (remember Ziploc-gate??) and is rude and defensive if you call her out on hoarding coupons and shelf clearing (she has a Facebook page). Nobody should have that many (entire!!) pads of coupons.

As for her "going into business"... I would not pay a dime to have her "teach" me how to use a coupon when she clearly has zero coupon etiquette.

Just my two cents.

i felt the same when i say the full tear pads. This ruins it for alot of use. Do you really need the full tear pad.

Wow I wish shows/news would stop promoting bad couponing-taking entire pads, misusing coupons, not fair to the rest that use them fairly

Even she said she said she donates 80% of her purchase ()... That's not a couponer should do - taking that much of tear pad.

[Poirot]

what about the man that says couponers are crazy like a fox and hurting retailers?
aren't retailers reimbursed by the companies for our coupons?

i thought the whole clip was a negative piece on couponers.

Stores are reimbursed by manufacturers for the coupons we use.

[neelkamalll1979]

I went through some of her pics on FB and saw her deals...She copied ever one from SC not one is her original. A few are my own that I posted!(Deli meat,Sally Hansen,Gillette) Makes me mad that she is taking credit from Smart Canucks. Apparently she was also in the NOW newspaper May 31. The headline was funny.....`Master Couponer shares tips,deals` NOT!!!

[manzervite]

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/Shopp...543/story.html

Shopping today? Our 'master couponer' shares her tips on how to save in Surrey

SURREY - The first time Amanda Ryland found a killer deal using coupons, she said she felt like the woman in the Ikea commercial who yells, "Honey, start the car. Woooo!"

She said she felt like she was stealing.

"It's truthfully like a high in the beginning. It was the thrill of the hunt. Your adrenaline and your endorphins are so high.

"I've lost that high now, because I'm used to doing it, it's almost a game for me now at the register."

That first time, Ryland had found a deal where she received more than 100 boxes of cereal for 67 cents a piece.

She finds deals like that all the time now, and shares them with others through her Sweet Coupons business. Her Facebook group has surpassed 700 members in just five months. Her website, backed by a private investor, will be launching in June. It will be a social network for people to share couponing tips and extreme deal finds.

She is considered the Master Couponer of the group.

Ryland, a chef, and her husband Dan, a Telus employee, have two 10-year-old children. They first got into extreme couponing late last year after seeing TLC's Extreme Couponing TV show.

She said they were frugal people to begin with, so the idea intrigued them.

She began researching and soon found out that the couponing is different in Canada than in the United States, where Extreme Couponing is filmed.

One really big difference is that it's harder to find coupons in Canada.

"They're just not as readily available," said Ryland .

She said you need a stash of coupons before you can really begin couponing. She used smartcanucks.ca as a tool to start her collection. People would post where to find coupons in different grocery stores. And of course, she got coupons from searching newspapers and magazines.

She said there are also websites to go to where you can print coupons, such as rightathome.ca. There are other websites where you can order to have them mailed to you, such as websaver.ca and save.ca.
Ryland said once you have your coupons, it's important to be aware of store policies.

London Drugs and Save-On Foods accept coupon stacking. What is coupon stacking? Well, she explained it as using different coupons for the same item.

For example, if you have BOGO coupons and $2 coupons for diapers, these stores would allow you to use both toward the value of the one item.

Most stores in Canada don't accept coupon stacking, she said.

One of her favourite stores to coupon at is Walmart. This is because they allow customers to receive overage, which is when your coupons exceed the value of the item you are buying. For example, imagine they have body lotion on sale for $2 and you have "Buy two and get $5 off" coupons. You would be making $1 each time you used the coupon.

"At Walmart, they allow you to use that overage to your cart. You can literally make money while you shop."

A short while ago she had an overage opportunity with Glade air fresheners.

"I didn't even need the Glade, but I was making money purchasing it. Then I used the overage towards things like my vegetables and meat, the things I don't have coupons for."

So once you understand store policies, she said be sure you understand your rights as a couponer. Often, coupons will say "one per purchase" on them.

"This doesn't mean you can't use multiple coupons," she explained.
If it said "one per customer" then you could only use one. But "one per purchase" means one per item purchased, not one per transaction or customer.

"You need to know what you are allowed to do and what you aren't allowed to do.

"Once you understand that as a couponer, you have to stand your ground, because a lot of cashiers don't know the rules."

But in saying that, she emphasized to be a nice couponer.

"There's lingo you can use in these situations. Don't be the person being a jerk at the till and ruin it for the couponers behind you."

So once armed with coupons and knowledge, she said people need to know where to use their coupons.

Her biggest tip of all? Never use a coupon when an item is not on sale.
"People often think that you only save 50 cents here or $1 there when you're couponing, and if you use coupons when things aren't on sale, then that is true."

Wait for the sale, she stressed.

"Items tend to go on sale every three months, based on my research. On the TV shows, these extreme couponers go a bit overboard. I do think that's excessive.

"But if you find a killer deal on toilet paper and you don't want to load up for a year, load yourself up for three months, because it won't go on sale again during that time and you need to use it anyways."

Ryland said her family of four's budget for groceries, personal items and household items was about $450 a month before she began couponing. She estimated they now spend $75 a month on average, for the same items.

Because of the way it's changed her life, she wants to pay it forward.
With her Facebook group and website, Ryland has done all the work for you. She posts information for beginners on where to get coupons, provides information on couponing policies and tells you where to use your coupons, based on weekly sales at different stores.

"All you have to do is have your artillery of coupons. I've taken the hassle and headache and research away for you."

As more people are becoming more interested in couponing, she is seeing it spread like wildfire.

"A lot of people have seen the TV show, or they're seeing people in line using coupons. People see what you're doing and think, 'I need to do that!'"

She said there's this idea in society that only poor people or housewives use coupons.

"It's everybody: Young and old, rich and poor. I have a very famous singer who lives near me who coupons. It's a good tool for anyone to use. With things like rising gas prices and food prices, everything is so expensive. If you can save $1, why wouldn't you?"

To learn how to get started, visit www.sweetcoupons.com. Until this site it up and running, you will be directed to the Facebook group.

[Murren]

Ok...I am going to vent on this because it really picks my butt...

Watching the segment on Global last night made me cringe...even my DH who is not a couponer could not believe his eyes...entire tear pads????...even my DH knows that is a very inconsiderate thing for a couponer to do...After the segment aired my DH asked me why I got into couponing...I explained to him that extreme couponing is next to impossible to do in Canada because the market share is so much smaller etc...etc...but my goal is to try and reduce MY family grocery bill by 30% to 50% a week...something that I am finding harder and harder to do because of people who ABUSE coupons...I can't find coupons because people are clearing entire tear pads, or shelf clearing, using the wrong coupons for items, stealing flyers right out of paid subscription news papers, or retailers are so fed up with this whole Extreme Coupon thing that their coupon policies change every day...come on...in this economy saving every penny helps, but I REFUSE to coupon to the detriment of other couponers around me...There is etiquette that needs to be followed...Normally I am a quiet reserved person...I mind my P's & Q's...I love to help those around me...I checked out her FB page...from what I read she should not be the poster child for couponing...

Sorry...I am frustrated to the point of exploding...I am not perfect but I try and treat those around me the same way I wish to be treated...but I don't appreciate it when selfish people ruin it...

There I am done...

[buymorepayless]

im not happy too u!
she got the whole tearpad and wondrin if manufacturer see it they might limit on givng coupons since extreme couponing is here too

This is exactly why P&G have changed the wording on their coupons