I don't suffer from heartburn, but at these prices the deal was too good to pass up!

We were at my parent's yesterday, hanging out, spending time together, and of course mindlessly watching TV. Sometimes I miss not having cable TV, at least until I realize there's nothing on cable either, there's just more "nothingness" to choose from.

Case in point: we ended up watching a couple episodes of Extreme Couponing. TLC will tout this program as an example of savvy customers saving themselves hundreds of dollars on their shopping bills by simply clipping and using coupons. I'd call it buying tons of crap you don't need.

For example, on one of the episodes yesterday, two twins from Chicago went shopping on their birthday. They went to a "Gordman's-like" store to get their free birthday jewelry (guess the quality, stylishness, etc. of this free jewelry), went to Red Robin for a free burger meal (got water, so the entire meal was free), and then to Baskin-Robbins for their free birthday cone. Then they went to some grocery store to spend the remaining $54 of their $60 budget (you still gotta tip).

I don't recall everything they bought, but I do remember they cleared out the dental floss or some other practically useless item, bought ten porkchops each because they were "buy one - get one free" at $1 each (although one sister wanted to get 20!!!) and also got like 30 bottles of antacids. Neither one has heartburn trouble, nor a child for that matter, but at these prices the deals were too good to pass up, so each also has a nice stockpile of diapers and wipes to last 18 months. Hopefully they don't have a child with a bum sensitive to dyes, fragrances, etc. that are a part of most modern diapers.

Speaking of stockpiles, how'd you like to be 14 and have this part of your mom's stockpile in your closet? Explain that to your friends! (It's all diapers, pull-ups and wipes if you can't tell.)

And here's the problem with the whole program and these people in general: they're essentially hoarders, except their "hoard" is useful consumer products at "Armageddon-style disaster" sizes. In one guy's stockpile is an entire room with over a thousand tubes of toothpaste. He's also brought home a trailer-full load of cereal - all of one kind. One woman went with her husband and bought 64 (SIXTY-FOUR!!!) bottles of mustard because she had dollar off coupons the store would double. She had fifty coupons, but the store ran out of mustard, so she could only use 32. Shame. Need I mention her husband doesn't like mustard?

These people aren't buying things they need, they're spending money to "save" money. They ring up hundreds or thousands of dollars in purchases and then drop the price down by using multiple, multiple coupons and in-store credits.

These are the kind of people who go to outlet malls and buy clothing from Banana Republic or Polo Ralph Lauren at 70% off. These clothes are not "damages" or leftover stock from last season, they were specially made for the outlet mall. At the end of each season, Abercrombie and Fitch (yeah I once worked there) would get whole boxes of crappy, ugly clothing to stick in the back "sale" room. This stuff was the ONLY stuff in the store on sale too, but people would eat it up.

You know great way to save money? Don't buy stuff you don't need, even if it's "a great deal".