Couponing to the Extreme...

I am ALL for saving money. I, as do many others, consider myself to to be a very thrifty shopper. I am by no means a full price girl, and like anyone I can appreciate a great deal. I watched that show Extreme Couponing last night for the first time and it was fascinating to say the least. However, I was also rubbed the wrong way by how these people stockpile stuff that some of them admit they will never use. Just because it's free doesn't mean you have to grab it. I have done enough deal grabbing to know that some items you have to buy a certain amount to get the deal, but 1,000's of boxes of toothpaste that you couldn't use in one lifetime let alone before they expire is just ridiculous, as is enough diapers to last a baby until they are potty trained when you don't even have a child. It's silly not to mention a waste of space. I do believe that the man with the toothpaste was putting some of them into care packages for the military which is great, but the woman with the diapers, she said she was holding onto them for when she does have a baby. How about stopping by a women's shelter and donating them to people who know they will use them. It's not like it's a loss in money for her, she didn't pay for them.  If you do grab the freebie and don't plan on using it, at least give it away to someone who can. Maybe it's the little voice in my head that loves to tell me to chuck all things that aren't being used and creating clutter in my life, it's the sense in me.
I do think it's amazing that these people have the patience and time to save their families so much money, I admire it. I've tried the couponing thing, I had big dreams of getting up to the cash register and the checker giving ME money back because I was so amazing at couponing, but alas that was not my calling in life, not yet. I don't have the time or the patience to become "extreme" and I'm okay with that. Who knows, maybe one day I will get the itch to try it out again. We'll see!