BREE CASHIER CHAUNCEY DARLEEN HEATHER KEITH MANAGER NARRATOR REBECCA

NARRATOR
When it comes to deals, there’s one thing that all extreme couponers are searching for ...

BREE
Free.

BREE
Free. 

BREE
Free. 

BREE
Free.  

HEATHER
If it’s free it’s to me.  

NARRATOR
And for the first time ever, they’re not just shopping at grocery stores.  

HEATHER
I just wanna go check their clothing section because right now they’re having an extra 40% off.  

NARRATOR
Meet an expectant mom who’s on a mission to fill her stock pile before her bundle arrives.  

HEATHER
My goal is to add to my stockpile so i will be prepared when this baby comes.  

NARRATOR
And a mississippi medical assistant who knows when you have a ton of stuff, you have to find more than one way to use it.  

BREE
Most items in my stockpile have two uses like toothpaste to get rid of stains and salad dressing for hair conditioner.  

KEITH
Let’s go.  Come on!  

NARRATOR
Others may not understand them.  

BREE
I don’t mind being called crazy.  We’re saving money.  

NARRATOR
But they’re just providing for their growing families.  

HEATHER
Drew, do you think the baby would like this?  

NARRATOR
This is extreme couponing.  

BREE
Oh, and the couple [unsure of word].  Is that okay?  


HEATHER
We have to share the garage with our upstairs neighbour and i’m running out of space so i’m actually hoping that my neighbour is going to let me put up a shelf on her side of the garage.  

HEATHER
If i were to get you 120 cat foods would it be possible for me to add maybe another shelf over here?

REBECCA
Yeah we can do that.  

NARRATOR
On average, a baby will go through over 5,000 diapers in its first year so expectant mother and extreme couponer heather needs to make sure she has enough space to store them along with Everything else she needs for her newborn.  


HEATHER
I’m heather and i’m the coupon queen of clearwater, florida.  

HEATHER
If it’s free, it’s for me!  

HEATHER
If i win the lottery today i would buy a bigger house so i could have a bigger stockpile room.  

NARRATOR
Packed into her 5 year old son’s closet and filling the entire half of her shared garage, heather’s 4,000 item stockpile includes 45 bottles of bottle wash, 50 deodorants, enough Diapers to last her for half a year and a deep freezer that holds 150 lbs of frozen food.  

HEATHER
My stockpile has gotten so huge that it covers the whole closet space in my son’s room.  

HEATHER
Being pregnant, one of the things that i love is cereal and i’m eating a lot of cereal.  These can run up to like $5 a box and i was able to get many of these cereals for around 50 cents a box.  

HEATHER
Down here on the bottom shelf i have peanut butters.  I was able to get 2 jars for 95 cents so, i had enough coupons, i stocked up and with school right around the corner i know that i’m gonna be making tons of peanut butter sandwiches.  

HEATHER
And in here i have all of my snack mixes, my cookies and my popcorn and my crackers.  These are normally very expensive.  I was able to get these for a quarter a bag.  

HEATHER
Over here we have our deep freezer and it’s filled with things like pizza and all kinds of meats that i’ve been able to get at great prices.  I recommend a freezer to every couponer out there.  

NARRATOR
With her ever expanding stockpile filling every nook and cranny of her 800 square foot florida condo, heather desperately needs more room in the garage she and her husband share with Their neighbour rebecca.  

REBECCA
I’m rebecca.  I am the very patient neighbour and this is our garage.  It’s getting a little crowded in there but they bribe me with cat food so i let go.  

REBECCA
I think the one more shelf is gonna be about as much as we can handle otherwise i’m gonna start parking on the ceiling.  
  
NARRATOR
For heather, having this enormous collection of food and household items isn’t just a handy convenience.  Her stockpile has literally kept her family from going hungry.  

HEATHER
It’s kind of like a life insurance policy in a way.  Last year my husband unexpectedly lost his job but we were able to live off of the stockpile.  

KEITH
Luckily now i’m fortunate – i have a full time job but we’re still recovering a little bit from that.  

NARRATOR
Not only is heather’s family back on their feet but they are also able to help others who are in need.  

HEATHER
It makes me so happy to know that i can get items for free and donate them to single moms at my church.  

HEATHER
I am 23 weeks along.  There is gonna come a time in my pregnancy that, you know what, i’m just not gonna be able to go out to the store any more.  Right now my goal is to add to my stockpile so i will be prepared when this baby comes.  

NARRATOR
With a list full of items that covers everything from groceries to clothing, heather must carefully plan this trip.  

HEATHER
For today’s trip i actually spent many, many hours searching through the circular to see what items i could get for free or nearly free.  It took a lot of strategising, listing everything. Seeing what coupons i have but i think the outcome is gonna be really Awesome.

HEATHER
I am very nervous about this.  I have spent hours upon hours doing these transactions over and over again on paper just to make sure that everything falls into place.  

HEATHER
You have my coupons?  

KEITH
I got your coupons. 

HEATHER
Okay.  

KEITH
You got everything? 

HEATHER
Let’s go.  Yep. 

KEITH
Alright, let’s do some shopping.  You ready?

HEATHER
You ready?  Oh, we’re gonna get great deals today.  

NARRATOR
One of the most important things on heather’s list is the cat food she must get for her neighbour rebecca to exchange for extra stockpile storage space in the garage.  

HEATHER
We’re actually gonna be getting a lot of cat food.  We’re getting 120 of the little trays.  


NARRATOR
Retailing for 59 cents each, heather has buy one get one free coupons which will double making each tray completely free.  

HEATHER
Let’s see.  The cookies and the crackers. 

KEITH
Oh.  

HEATHER
So why don’t we go ahead and get 20 of the cookies.  

KEITH
Okay.  

HEATHER
Because those are drew’s favourite and it’s gonna be a $1 for every 10.  

KEITH
So, wow.  

HEATHER
So they’re gonna be 10 cents a piece.  Let’s see, let’s go ahead and do some more of the chocolate cookies.  

KEITH
Okay, that’s just the chocolate ...

HEATHER
‘cause those are his favourite.  

HEATHER
They originally sell for $1.49 and i have coupons that are 75 cents off two – that’s gonna double to $1.50 and on top of that you get an automatic $3 off when you purchase $10 worth so i’m getting these for 10 cents a piece.  

NARRATOR
Next on heather’s list are several items she needs to stock up on for her newborn starting with baby bottles.  


HEATHER
These are 3.49.

KEITH
Uh huh.  

HEATHER
And i have a coupon for $3 off so for 49 ...

KEITH
Oh, for 49 cents ...

HEATHER
Cents we’re gonna get ...

KEITH
Wow, that’s a good brand too.  

HEATHER
These bottles.  

HEATHER
I just wanna go check their clothing section because right now they’re having an extra 40% off. 

KEITH
Okay. 

HEATHER
On the clearance price and so i think we could find some ...

KEITH
They have a good variety. 

HEATHER
Stuff for the baby there. 

KEITH
Of stuff. 

HEATHER
Yeah.  

KEITH
Yeah let’s go check it out. 

HEATHER
So why don’t we check that out.  

HEATHER
It is 3.99 and then an additional forty percent off so.

KEITH
Good.  

HEATHER
That’s gonna be a great deal.  Drew – do you think the baby would like this?  

KEITH
You think so?  

HEATHER
Yeah.  Okay why don’t we get that for the baby?   

HEATHER
I think we’re actually done so are you ready for the big ...

KEITH
I’m ready for the checkout!

HEATHER
Checkout.  

KEITH
Moment of truth.  

HEATHER
Oh, this is gonna be exciting.  

HEATHER
The kmart coupon policy, when they’re doubling coupons, states that you cannot have more than 4 like coupons per transaction so today i’m gonna have around 20 transactions.  I’m kind of scared because i just wanna make sure that everything goes Smoothly and that all my numbers are right.  

HEATHER
Hello, how are you?  

CASHIER
Good, how are you?  

HEATHER
Good.  


CASHIER
Your total is $31.14.  Do you have any coupons? 

HEATHER
I sure do – here we go.  See how we can do.  

HEATHER
Oh, what’s going on!  Is there a problem?  

NARRATOR
Just as the coupons are being scanned, heather notices one of the most important items is not getting discounted like she planned.  

HEATHER
I don’t think the cat food coupons are doubling the way that they should.  

CASHIER
Like a typical bar code, like what the rest of them have, so i don’t know why it’s not scanning.  

HEATHER
Okay.  

HEATHER
I had told my neighbour, rebecca, that i was gonna share this cat food with her so i could have another shelf in the garage.  We desperately need another shelf especially after today’s trip.  

NARRATOR
If heather can’t secure the additional shelf space in her garage, she will be unable to store all the items she is going to need for her family for the next 6 months. 

HEATHER
If we don’t get the cat food i’m worried that we’re gonna have to move.  

KEITH
Can we call the manager or ask the manager for help?  

CASHIER
Sure.  

NARRATOR
With the manager’s help, heather’s coupons are properly entered into the system and the cat food crisis is averted.  

CASHIER
We were able to take off the 59 cents so you get it for free.  

HEATHER
Oh, okay, great.  

KEITH
Okay.  

HEATHER
And is it doubling?  

CASHIER
Yes.  

HEATHER
I got it down to just tax was 83 cents so one transaction down and 19 more to go.  

CASHIER
Your total before coupons is $25.75.  


CASHIER
Your total after coupons is $1.34.  

KEITH
Wow.  


CASHIER
Your total before coupons is gonna be $28.44 cents.  


CASHIER
Your total after coupons is 59 cents. 

KEITH
59 cents.  

HEATHER
Just the tax.  Yeah!  

KEITH
Alright.  

HEATHER
After 5 transactions my retail comes to $110.19 cents and i have actually paid $3.89 for that.  

HEATHER
This is transaction 10, we’re halfway there. 

KEITH
Alright.  


CASHIER
Total for this transaction is gonna be 59 cents. 

KEITH
Wow.  That’s pretty good. 


CASHIER
It’s gonna be $1.74. 


CASHIER
It’s gonna be $1.38.

HEATHER
After 15 transactions, we have a retail value of $380.66 and we have paid only $15.50.  

NARRATOR
After over 4 hours of checking out, a replacement arrives to relieve heather’s cashier just in time for her last and largest transaction.  

CASHIER
Yeah?

MANAGER
Tag, you’re it and you’re out.  

CASHIER
Okay.  

MANAGER
Thank you so much for all your hard work.  

CASHIER
No problem.  

KEITH
Let’s go.  

HEATHER
Okay, number 20.  Here we go.  

HEATHER
I have to say i am a little worried that, you know, there may be a few hiccups because this is such a large order.  

CASHIER
Alright.  

HEATHER
Okay.  

CASHIER
You ready for the total?

HEATHER
The moment of truth.  

KEITH
Hit it.  


CASHIER
Grand total was $335.83.  

HEATHER
Oh my goodness.  Okay.  

KEITH
Alright.  Let’s hope the coupons work.  

NARRATOR
Having already spent just under $16 on the other transactions, heather cannot pay more than $34 on this final checkout if she wants to reach her goal of a $50 total for this entire trip.  

KEITH
Oh, only a couple of coupons left.  

HEATHER
I know. 

KEITH
My heart is pounding.  Come on!

HEATHER
Oh.  

HEATHER
I’m very nervous.  Oh my goodness, i’ve haven’t been this nervous in a while. 
 
CASHIER
Last coupon.  

HEATHER
Okay.  

KEITH
Alright.  Do it!  

CASHIER
Grand total $63.93. 

KEITH
Not bad.  

HEATHER
I was hoping to go under the $50 mark but i cannot complain so i’m very happy.  

KEITH
I’m proud of you. 

HEATHER
Thank you.  

KEITH
I’m very proud.  

NARRATOR
Even though she’s exceeded her $50 limit, heather pulled off a haul that includes 21 boxes of cereal, 30 first aid kits, 40 juice boxes and 80 deodorants.  


NARRATOR
A retail total of £848.37 and she only paid £85.50 – a 90% saving.  

HEATHER
Overall today i am just very pleased.  I mean this was my biggest couponing trip that i have ever done and so it makes me feel really, really good to see that i can do this.  It makes me wanna jump up and down with excitement.  


NARRATOR
Meet an extreme couponer who’s savings don’t stop at the supermarket.  

BREE
In this 5 galleon bucket, we just made 500 loads of laundry detergent.  That should last us 2 years.  

BREE
We are making homemade laundry detergent.  

NARRATOR
The average american household does 400 loads of laundry every year adding hundreds of dollars to a family’s budget.  

NARRATOR
This isn’t a problem for extreme couponer bree who combines atoms like soap, bleach and baking soda that she gets using coupons to make her own laundry detergent for less than 
$20 a year. 


BREE
I’m bree and i’m mississippi’s smartest shopper.  

BREE
I don’t mind being called crazy.  Just saving money. 

BREE
I would never pay full price, ever.  Ever.  Never, ever again!

BREE
Free.  Free.  

Bree’s mother 
One more free.  

BREE
Alright.  One more free. 
 
HEATHER
Free!  

NARRATOR
Mother of two, bree doesn’t stop with savings at the supermarket.  Every product in her stockpile does double duty.  

BREE
Most items in my stockpile have two uses like glass cleaner to kill a wasp, toothpaste to get rid of stains off the wall and salad dressing for hair conditioner.  

NARRATOR
These products and more have taken over bree’s guest bedroom.  Her stockpile of 2,000 items includes 40 cleaning products, 140 tubes of toothpaste and 160 bars of soap.  

BREE
We have enough chips for a summer’s worth of barbecue, enough napkins to clean everybody’s faces with and enough garbage bags to throw it all away in.  

BREE
My stockpile is about over $4,000 retail and i paid probably $500 or a little under using my coupons.  

NARRATOR
Despite her current passion for couponing, bree wasn’t always convinced that the savings were worth the effort.  

BREE
Before i started using coupons, when i used to go to the store and see people use ‘em, i was like it is not that serious.  Just pay for it and let’s get out of here.  

NARRATOR
But when bree found herself without full time employment, she had to turn to couponing to make ends meet.  

BREE
At the time i was only working one day a week so i said you have time.  Bree, you have time to do this.  

BREE
Alright.  

BREE
I had my “aha” moment when i brought home 50 bars of soap for, like, 30 cents and i was like, okay, this is gonna work.  I was hooked. 

CHAUNCEY
I told her, i said baby, could you please buy some food.  I can’t eat soap!

CHAUNCEY
So we now have a stockpile that can last for the rest of this year.  

NARRATOR
Thanks to couponing, bree has been able to drastically cut her family’s food budget.  

BREE
We were spending $150 a week on week on grocery – now we’re down to like $35.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it lower and lower.  

NARRATOR
In her attempt to spend less than her current $140 dollar monthly budget, bree is now preparing to take on her most challenging shopping trip ever!  

BREE
This is where i get started with my shopping trip.  I just get my inserts and look at my ad and match some prices then we go through, we look at the coupons, and we only took what we need for that day.  My mom’s coming in from atlanta and this will be her first time shopping with me so she’s excited to see how this is gonna go.  

NARRATOR
Bree wants to impress her mother by using over 250 coupons to get a month’s worth of groceries for less than her usual $140 budget.  

BREE’S MOTHER
Are we ready?  We ready.  

BREE
Let’s shop! 

BREE’S MOTHER
I wanna get some bargains.  

BREE’S MOTHER
This is my first time doing a big shopping trip with my daughter bree and so i’m very excited to see what she can do.  

BREE
We’re gonna get some eggs, some juice, some hotdogs, some bread, some pasta.  A lot of great free things for the kids today.  

NARRATOR
Bree’s first stop in the store is a deal on juice - an important item in any couponing mom’s stockpile. 

BREE
They love this juice, great price, so we’re gonna stock up and get 20 of ‘em. 

BREE’S MOTHER
Okay.  So what are you actually saving?  


BREE
This juice retails for $1.50.  Today they have it on clearance for $1.29.  We’re gonna use $1 off 2 coupon and get ‘em for 80 cents a piece.  

NARRATOR
Today bree isn’t just shopping for her husband and kids; she’s also picking up items for her uncle kirk who owns a restaurant in georgia.  

BREE
That’s it.  Now uncle kirk is gonna love these for his restaurant so we’re gonna stock him up for a good little while.  These worcestershire sauce are regularly $1.59.  Today they’re on sale for $1.  We have coupons for 75 cents off so we’re only gonna pay 25 cents today so we’re gonna stock uncle kirk up today.  

NARRATOR
Next bree moves on to a favourite breakfast item for her and her family.  

BREE
Here’s the cinnamon roll.  The kids love these.  These regularly retail for $2.09.  They’re on sale for $1 today.  We have a 50 cents off of 2 coupon – it’s gonna double and we’re only gonna pay 50 cents a piece for them today.  We’re gonna stock up And get 18 of these.  

BREE’S MOTHER
Alright.  That’s it.  What’s next?  

BREE
Alright.  That’s it mom, we’re not paying for anything else.  

NARRATOR
Like all extreme couponers, bree never plans a trip without carefully scanning her store’s circular and today it’s paid off.  For every $10 worth of groceries she buys, she will get to 
Choose one free product.  

BREE
We’re gonna get six dozen free eggs today.  We’re gonna get 6 hotdogs, totally free.  

BREE’S MOTHER
Super.  What’s next? 

BREE
We’re gonna get you some free hotdog buns to put those hotdogs in.  

BREE
We’re gonna get some free pasta.  Free!  Let’s go get some.  

BREE’S MOTHER
Free, free. 

BREE
Free pizzas.  

BREE
Alright.  Guess i’m done.  Let’s go checkout.  

BREE’S MOTHER
Alright.  

BREE
Let’s checkout. Time to rock and roll.  

NARRATOR
After 3 hours of shopping, mississippi couponer bree and her mother and ready to check out.  On a mission to buy a month’s worth of groceries for less than her usual $140 budget, bree is Taking advantage of her store’s annual sale that offers one free item for every $10 worth of products she buys.  With a limit of 10 free items per transaction, bree will have to break up this Haul.  

BREE
Yes.  7 different transactions so there may be 7 different chances of something going wrong.  With my mom here, i’m really hoping nothing goes wrong.  

BREE
Hello.  

DARLEEN
Hello, how you doing?  

BREE
How are you?

DARLEEN
The total will be $50.46.  

BREE
Okay.  Well we have some coupons for you today.  

DARLEEN
Alright.  Let’s do it!  

DARLEEN
And your total comes to $8.72. 

BREE
Alright.  

BREE
First save’s a get.  6 more to go.  

DARLEEN
The total after coupons will be $5.54. 


BREE
Okay.  Good deal.  

DARLEEN
Your total is $13.73.  Any coupons?

BREE
Yes i do.  

DARLEEN
And your total after coupons will be $7.08.  

BREE
Yeah.  

BREE
We’re doing good.  Totals were like i expected so ...

NARRATOR
After four transactions, bree has only spent $26.88 and is on her way to succeeding at an overall checkout of less than her usual $140 monthly budget.   

NARRATOR
Next up is one of her biggest and most complicated transactions.  

BREE
I only have 3 transactions left.  These are gonna be some big ones – you ready?  

DARLEEN
Alright.  Let’s do it. 

BREE
Alright.  

NARRATOR
Just as the items for the fifth transaction are scanned, bree notices a problem with their total.  

BREE
Something’s not right.  I think i’m missing something.  My totals are way off.  

BREE
One of my numbers were off.  I was a little nervous.  

BREE
Oh, god, i can’t.  I’m sorry ... 

BREE
I have to show mom that i can do this and i have to impress her so i was really, really nervous.  

BREE
Something’s not right.  

NARRATOR
Bree’s retail total for this transaction must exceed $100 for her to get the 10 free items.  

NARRATOR
After cross-checking her list with what’s been scanned, she realises that several items are missing from this transaction. 

BREE
Oh, i know what’s missing, i know what’s missing.  

BREE
10 of these.  9, 10. 

DARLEEN
And your total for this transaction is $117.24.  

BREE
Alright.  More coupons.  

DARLEEN
Alright.  

DARLEEN
Your total after coupons is $36.00. 

BREE
Alright.  

BREE
Alright, darleen, that’s it!  I’m ready.  This is the last transaction.  Are you ready?  

DARLEEN
Ready.  

BREE
Okay.  

NARRATOR
This final transaction is bree’s largest and most complicated of the day.  If any of her calculations are incorrect, she will fail in her attempt to spend less than her usual $140 Monthly budget. 

DARLEEN
All done and your total comes to $131.37.  

BREE
A little nervous ‘cause this is my last set of coupons so we gotta make this work.  

BREE
99!  

DARLEEN
We're getting close.  

BREE
Darleen.  

DARLEEN
We’ve got like 5.  

BREE
Ah, this not good, darleen, keep going.  

BREE
Ah.  

DARLEEN
And your total comes to $19.22.  

BREE
Yeah.  I’m high!  

BREE’S MOTHER
Great savings. 

BREE
Great savings.  

DARLEEN
And your grand total for today was £468.27 and you only paid $124.  What a deal!  

BREE
Yeah.  Alright mom.  Did good.  

BREE’S MOTHER
That was good.  

BREE
High five.  

NARRATOR
Bree succeeded at getting a month’s worth of groceries for less than her usual budget and as part of her haul she got free products that includes 36 juices, 48 hot dogs and 72 eggs.  A 

NARRATOR
Retail total of $468.27 and she only paid $124.00. A savings of 75%.  

BREE
I get a lot of satisfaction from couponing.  It makes me feel good to know that i can save so much money for my family.  I really, really love couponing.