BRYCE ERIN FEMALE_CHECKOUT_OPERATOR GIRL_WITH_FLOWER_HEADBAND JAIME MALE_CHECKOUT_OPERATOR MANDY NARRATOR SHAVON

NARRATOR
For extreme couponers bargains can last a lifetime…

ERIN
I have about 80 pounds of candy here that’s gonna last me about 80 Halloweens. 

NARRATOR
…And sometimes even their coupons are as good as gold.

SHAVON
These coupons are at least 20 years old and they don’t go bad. They don’t have no expiration date. 

NARRATOR
In the next half hour meet the woman who’s couponing for the most important day in her sister’s life…

ERIN
They have to go in a gift bag. They were 12 cents. 

NARRATOR
…Her wedding. 

NARRATOR
And a third generation couponer who’s on a mission to set her wayward sister straight. 

SHAVON
Granny’s gonna be a little disappointed, we’re gonna have to fix you up. She’s up there just like, get in there.  

MANDY
I know. 

NARRATOR
They have one goal to save their sisters tons of money. 

SHAVON
You gotta look at the price of the buy one get one free, honey. 

ERIN
When you’re extreme couponing you’re gonna make mistakes. 

JAIME
Just a little stressed. (laughs) Just a little bit. 

NARRATOR
But sibling rivalry puts it all in jeopardy…

SHAVON
She’s overlooking them probably 

NARRATOR
…And tears will be shed.

ERIN
Oh, I’m gonna cry.

NARRATOR
This is extreme couponing.

SHAVON
Granny’s watching over us. It’s gonna be good. 

MANDY
Yes. 


ERIN
I will not pay full retail for anything, not even a bridesmaid’s dress.

JAIME
It’s true. It’s perfect. 

NARRATOR
Vendors raise the price of items for weddings anywhere from 10 to 200 percent, but extreme couponer erin will do whatever it takes to avoid these unnecessary mark-ups. And she’s making sure all the supplies for her little sister’s upcoming wedding are purchased at unbelievable discounts.


ERIN
My name is Erin. I’m not good at guitar. I’m not good at sports, but I’m great at couponing. 

ERIN
These I got half off, I saved my coupons. 

ERIN
I don’t consider myself really a shopaholic, I think a couponaholic describes me best. I coupon for my own personal stockpile. I would say I’ve spent about $2,500 and I’ve gotten almost $17,000 worth of items. And we are couponing for my sister’s wedding. 

NARRATOR
With a total budget of $15,000 for her 30 year old sister’s wedding, this extreme couponer had to use all her skills to make sure the decorations, the favours, the food and even the bridesmaid’s dress was affordable as possible. 

JAIME
I cannot believe you paid $19 for this dress. 

NARRATOR
Although she’s using her moneysaving abilities for a happy occasion, it was a personal tragedy that first inspired erin to begin couponing. 

ERIN
In 2008 my daughter, Ella, was born and we got to spend about 20 minutes with her before she passed away. And that made me realise how important family was. And from then on I’ve been searching for a way to be able to spend more time with my kids. And couponing is the answer for that. Sorry. 

ERIN
I used to work about 25 hours a week, I’m down to about 18 right now. And extreme couponing helps me save so much money that I’m able to spend a lot more time with my family. We’re shopping for my sister’s wedding and my sister has been such a blessing to me. She’s helped me just through every stage of my life and I love her dearly. 

NARRATOR
Struck with the realisation of just how expensive a wedding with 280 guests can be, erin’s sister jaime asked her to use her couponing skills to help keep the budget under control.

JAIME
We didn’t realise that when you buy things for a wedding, usually it’s marked up because it’s for a wedding.

ERIN
She had a guest list that she thought would be a little bit dwindled down by the time she got her RSVPs, but she was realising that more people are coming, and so I offered to help her coupon. 

NARRATOR
Thanks to her stockpile of ten thousand products, many of the items jaime needs for her wedding reception are available in erin’s basement. 

ERIN
And here is my wonderful stockpile. 

ERIN
Here we have the Italian dressing we’re using for Jaime’s wedding. We have about 20 bottles of it that we got for under a dollar. We also have some peanut butter here that we got for 50 cents a jar. My sister’s having peanut butter icing for some of her cupcakes that she’s having at her wedding. 

NARRATOR
There are only two weeks left until the wedding, and erin has to buy $900 worth of products, including large quantities of iced tea mix, barbeque sauce and mustard for the caterer, but jaime only has $150 left to spend. Today erin has enlisted the whole family to clip and sort all the coupons she’ll need to keep this trip under budget.

GIRL WITH FLOWER HEADBAND
I love couponing. 

NARRATOR
Erin and jaime head to the store with almost 350 coupons separated into 16 separate transactions, along with erin’s binder of our 600 additional coupons. 

ERIN
Ready to roll.

JAIME
Let’s go. 

ERIN
Here we go. 

NARRATOR
First up on erin and jaime’s list are snack bars for the out of town guests’ gift bags. Normally $1.75, the bars are on sale for $1.

ERIN
I have a 50 cent coupon that’s gonna double for you, making them all free. They’re free. 

JAIME
Free is definitely within our budget. 

ERIN
Let’s take away 40, let’s go. 

JAIME
Forty.

ERIN
Good snag. Woo! 

NARRATOR
To serve as decoration and refreshments for the guests, jaime plans on having votives filled with mints at each table. 

JAIME
So I assumed we were gonna get these over when we check out.

ERIN
You never get checkout candy. The candy at the registers are for impulse buyers. Extreme couponers always have coupon for candy and they always buy it in the aisle where the bigger value is. 

NARRATOR
Next up is 54 boxes of pasta that will be used in several dishes at jaime’s reception. 

ERIN
These pastas retail for $1.99 and they’re on sale this week for $1, and they have $1 off coupon, making all of the pasta free.

NARRATOR
The sisters are finally ready to checkout. But jaime is concerned that the five carts loaded full of all the items she needs to have the wedding of her dreams will bust her budget. 

JAIME
I see five shopping carts here.

ERIN
You’re worried, right? But I know we’re gonna make it. 

NARRATOR
She has five carts filled and is dividing the haul into 16 separate transactions, so she can double as many coupons as her store will allow in a single order. If the calculations are correct, each of the first nine totals should be exactly $7. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK. After the coupons your total is now $7.

ERIN
Woo! Bingo! All right, one down, 15 to go. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK, for that total after your card is $40.98.

ERIN
That’s exactly what it should be. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
After the coupons for that order, it is $13. 48

JAIME
You’re killing me. (laughs)

ERIN
I just don’t get it. OK. This total is almost double what it should be.

NARRATOR
Just three orders in and already there’s a problem at the register. Despite her extensive knowledge of the store’s coupon policy, erin was unaware that the double value coupons must be scanned first.

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
I’m rescanning the coupons, but I’m scanning the doublers first. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK. Your total is now $7.00.

ERIN
Oh my! OK.

JAIME
My goodness. 

ERIN
Here is my $7.

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
The total after your coupons is $7.

ERIN
Woo, woo! We got it. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK, the total after your coupons is $7. 

ERIN
This is the ninth transaction. It finally went perfectly. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
The total before your store card is $59.61.

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
And now your total is 99 cents after your coupons. 

ERIN
Perfect. 

JAIME
We like that. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
After your coupons your total is now 99 cents. 

ERIN
So after 15 transactions, I’ve spent about $69 for $590 worth of groceries. And now we’re getting ready to do the biggest transaction of them all. So here we go. 

NARRATOR
For her sixteenth and final transaction, erin will be buying almost $400 worth of groceries, but she must spend less than $80 to stay within jaime’s tight budget. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK. Your total after your card is $364.72.

ERIN
Oh no!  All right. Thank you. 

JAIME
That’s double budget. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
You’re welcome.

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Are we ready for your coupons then?

ERIN
I’m ready, sir. 

ERIN
So it’s really important for me to have this come out the way that my sister needs it to, because she’s done so much for me. (laughs) And I love her so much. And I guess I just wanna repay her for everything she’s ever done for me. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
OK, we are at $175.65. OK. I’m going on to the last 15 coupons. 

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
So the final total, after all your coupons…

ERIN
Oh wow!

MALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
…is $26.97.

ERIN
Yay! Gladly. 

ERIN
Oh that’s even better. 

ERIN
I got almost $900 worth of groceries and spent under $100, which is pretty good, I was thinking. I’m very relieved we didn't go over budget. 

NARRATOR
Erin not only met her goal of bringing this haul in under jaime’s budget, but she got all the items needed for the wedding feast, including 18 bags of salad, 36 bottles of mustard and 82 boxes of pasta. A retail value of $886.12 and she only paid $95.91 - an 89 percent savings.

JAIME
Food is absolutely amazing. 

ERIN
It took a lot to prepare once we got the menu done and, yeah, it was totally worth it. I would do it again. 

ERIN
My sister is almost like my angel to me. After my daughter’s death, I just realised how important family was to me. She just does everything for me and I couldn’t ask for a better person in my life. 

NARRATOR
Meet a third generation supersaver who inherited a coupon goldmine from her granny. 

SHAVON
These coupons are at least 20 years old and they don’t go bad. They don’t have no expiration date. 

SHAVON
For this cereal we’re actually gonna use our no expiration date coupons for this. They are 20 years old.

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Yes, they are older than me. 

NARRATOR
To encourage consumers to purchase products quickly, most modern coupons expire in six weeks or less, but this isn’t a problem for north carolina mother of four, shavon. She inherited a stack of coupons from her grandmother that are good forever. 

SHAVON
My name is Shavon and I am a third generation couponer, taught by the best, my granny. And my family knows that when we buy stuff, if we don’t have a coupon they’ll just have to wait to get it.

SHAVON
You have the coupon? 

BRYCE
No.

SHAVON
Well if you don’t have a coupon, you can’t get it. 

SHAVON
Me and my granny had a motto: 50 cents or less, but free is the best. 

NARRATOR
The matriarch of a family of farmers who were always on a tight budget, shavon’s grandmother, flossie, couponed for over 30 years, and made sure all the kids learned to save.

SHAVON
Well my granny’s the best person in the world. Sorry. 

SHAVON
She passed away in February and she would sit down and show us how to save and how to make more for our money. 

SHAVON
She was notorious for handing ‘em a quarter for about $300 or $400 in groceries. 

SHAVON
The no expiration date coupons, she left ‘em to me and my aunt. She had tons of them.

NARRATOR
It wasn’t just coupons that granny flossie left behind; she instilled in shavon the importance of having a massive stockpile.

SHAVON
My granny’s motto was always to have at least a year to two years of stock. If you didn't, then you didn’t have enough. 

NARRATOR
Shavon took granny’s words to heart, so she keeps 100,000 product supply of household and grocery items at all times. This collection includes 100 boxes of snacks, 200 bottles of laundry detergent, 300 bottles of body wash and j460 canned goods. 

SHAVON
These are my toothbrushes and there is probably about 300 plus. The can rotation system actually rotates the goods, so they won’t go bad. The oldest comes to the front and the newest in the back.

NARRATOR
Shavon’s enormous collection of food is too large to keep in her basement, so she had a specially built pantry constructed. 

SHAVON
This is our master food pantry, which is 15 feet long and eight feet wide by three foot in depth. 

SHAVON
I would say we have $60,000 in goods. And we might have maybe spent $800 on all of it. 

NARRATOR
While shavon is staying true to granny’s teachings, her sister mandy, an experienced couponer in her own right, doesn’t live up to the same rigid standards. 

SHAVON
Me and my sister we do butt heads in the store. She’ll get mixed up in her math. She won’t keep up with her coupons.

MANDY
Once in a while I have to pay full price, but don’t tell my sister 'cause she would have a canary. 

NARRATOR
But as far as shavon is concerned, mandy’s worst offence is allowing her stockpile to diminish to almost nothing.

SHAVON
Your stockpile’s very low. Granny’s gonna be a little disappointed. We’re gonna have to fix you up. 

MANDY
Yes, I know. 

SHAVON
She’s up there just like, get in there. 

MANDY
I know. 

SHAVON
Anything that you want to stock on? What are you thinking?

MANDY
[UNSURE OF WORD] laundry detergent. 

SHAVON
OK.

MANDY
And I need cereal. 

NARRATOR
Today the sisters are teaming up to rebuild mandy’s stockpile. Their differing approaches to couponing could result in them not meeting their goal. But despite their contradicting attitudes, they prepare for the trip using granny’s tried and true system. 

SHAVON
What we do is we sort all the coupons altogether at one time. Then once they’re all sorted, we staple them all, and then we cut them out. And then we file all of them into their tabs. 

SHAVON
So orange is medicine, then we have yellow which is paper products. All of the blues are cleaners. 

NARRATOR
Shavon and mandy head to the market armed with their colour coordinated box of over 5,000 coupons.

SHAVON
Can you carry it?

NARRATOR
Because their store will only allow them to double four coupons per item, they have broken he trip down into 21 separate transactions, with corresponding envelopes filled with coupons for each one. If all goes according to plan, they will be buying almost $1,500 worth of groceries and only spend around $20. 

SHAVON
Today on our shopping trip I brought my little man, Bryce. What your coupons called, Bryce?

BRYCE
Funny.

SHAVON
We also brought our cooler today for all the ice creams and all the yoghurts, and we don’t want it to melt 'cause it’s really hot today. 

NARRATOR
Since this will be such a massive and complicated haul, shavon and mandy have devised a unique system for keeping everything organised 

MANDY
When we do a massive order like this, we always get these little baskets. Each one of these baskets will have an order in the basket. 

NARRATOR
First up is toothpaste. Shavon makes sure to buy the smaller and cheaper $1 boxes, so that her $1 value coupons will make each one free.

SHAVON
So we’re gonna do four in every order, so that is gonna make 80 toothpastes today. 

NARRATOR
As mandy separates the coupons for the toothpaste into the individual orders, she suddenly encounters a problem. 

SHAVON
They’re not in every envelope?

MANDY
Mmm er. I don’t know what she’s doing. 

SHAVON
OK. 

SHAVON
She gets a little flustered when we get to the coupons, so we miss ‘em or she’s overlooking them. Come on, sis. Come on, come on, come on. She’s overlooking them probably. 

NARRATOR
They now need to get cereal. Shavon chooses the least expensive, $3.19 boxes. And by combining the buy one get one free sale with coupons; she gets the best deal possible. 

SHAVON
I’m gonna use two 70 cent coupons which are gonna double to $1.40 a piece, that is gonna make them 20 cents a box. 

NARRATOR
While mandy separates the boxes of cereal into each order, shavon realises that her sister has made another mistake. 

SHAVON
Why do you have Mini Wheats?

MANDY
Because they’re on sale. 

SHAVON
But the price is too high.

MANDY
It’s buy one get one free. 

SHAVON
You gotta look at the price of the buy one get one free, honey. It’s $4.39. It’s not gonna make it 20 cents. You don’t want that. Pay attention to the price up here. Yeah. That’s way too much. 

MANDY
You didn’t say all that. 

SHAVON
Yes I did. 

MANDY
No you didn’t.

MANDY
My sister’s serious couponing can be aggravating. 

NARRATOR
Standard items in every extreme couponers stockpile, toothbrushes and razors need to be purchased to replenish mandy’s dwindling supply.

SHAVON
Well the toothbrushes they’re on sale for $1 and we have $1 coupon, so it’s gonna make ‘em perfectly free. But they’re also bringing out a $4 catalina every time we buy four.

NARRATOR
A catalina is a checkout coupon that prints at the register. Shavon plans on using them towards the purchase of the $4.19 packages of razors. 

SHAVON
So we’re using those $4 catalinas to help pay for razors today. They will be 19 cents. 

SHAVON
We got all the toothbrushes. We do 20 orders, so we’re gonna take all 20 baskets. We’re gonna put four toothbrushes in every basket, so that we make sure that we get a catalina for every order and to maximise our savings. 

NARRATOR
Since it is dairy month, the sisters are taking advantage of a sale on ice cream. Shavon is always on the lookout for coupons.

NARRATOR
Before they check out, mandy and shavon have to get eggs. Normally $1.19 a carton, they are on sale for $1. And with shavon’s $1 coupons, they will be free.

SHAVON
We’re gonna get 30 dozen eggs. We do not need the eggs since we have a farm, so we are gonna donate them to our local soup kitchen. 

NARRATOR
After over six hours of shopping, shavon and mandy are ready to begin the first of their 21 transactions. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
How are you today?

SHAVON
I’m good. How are you?

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
I’m good, thank you. 

SHAVON
Good. 


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
This one is $50.90. Do you have your coupons today?

SHAVON
I sure do. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
All right. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
There your total is 86 cents. 

SHAVON
86 cents. Good deal. 


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
This’ll be $110.95. 

SHAVON
So for this cereal, we’re actually gonna use our no expiration date coupons for this. They went nice and smooth, no complications, doubled right off, [UNSURE OF WORD]. She would be proud. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
And your total is 47 cents. 

SHAVON
All right. Very good. 

NARRATOR
After four transactions, shavon and mandy have purchased $332 worth of groceries, but have only paid $2.40. 


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
And your total is $137.91.

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Your total is $119.37.


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Seventy-seven cents with the coupons. 

SHAVON
We are now on transaction number nine. 


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
You don’t owe anything on this one. 

SHAVON
Fifty cents or less, but free is the best. 

SHAVON
And now we’re on transaction 19. 

MANDY
Nineteen. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
And your total is $50.82.

SHAVON
Right. There’s at least about 400 coupons that we’re gonna scan.

MANDY
We’re gonna fix you to work, baby girl. This is just a warm-up. 

NARRATOR
Containing all of the high value coupons that the store will not double, the final order is bigger than all the rest. Shavon and mandy are calling this transaction the big mama. 

MANDY
Ready for big mama?

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
I’m ready for big mama.

MANDY
Are you sure?

SHAVON
So I think this transaction’s gonna be around $300 before coupons. 

MANDY
We hope to get it down below $5. Keeping our fingers crossed. 

SHAVON
Here we go. 

SHAVON
So we’re over $300. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Before coupons it’s $330.80.


FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Thank you. 

SHAVON
Coupons. 

MANDY
I don't have $300, so keep [UNSURE OF WORD]. 

NARRATOR
Just as the cashier begins scanning the coupons for this final transaction, there is trouble at the register. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
The register is frozen. 

SHAVON
Oh no! Not good. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
I think everyone else’s is too. 

SHAVON
My heard dropped in my stomach there, 'cause it’s not a good thing when it does that, 'cause coupons may not ring right. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Back up and running. 

SHAVON
OK. We’re down to $140. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Your total is 41 cents. 

SHAVON
Granny would be so proud.

MANDY
Yes. She’d be happy. 

FEMALE CHECKOUT OPERATOR
Today your total is $1,461 and you spent $21.23. 

SHAVON
Woo! Pretty good. (laughs)

MANDY
Yes. 

MANDY
We’re very proud. Proud that we’ve learned all this from granny and that we paid [UNSURE OF WORD]. 

SHAVON
Yes. 

NARRATOR
Shavon not only accomplished her mission of replenishing mandy’s stockpile, but she also brought in a haul that includes 32 bottles of soda, 110 cleaning products and 180 containers of cereal. A retail value of $1,461.00 and she paid just $21.23 - a 98 percent savings. 

MANDY
Couponing makes my sister feel proud, especially since we lost granny recently, but she’s keeping her legacy going. 

SHAVON
I can just see her now; she’d just been rooting us on and just clapping and giggling like she did.