ALEX CHECK_OUT_ASSISTANT ERIN KT NARRATOR SOPHIE TERRY SOPHIE Go coupons. NARRATOR In the world of savings. NARRATOR A shoppers greatest weapon is the coupon. KT Coupon. ERIN If i lost all my coupons i would be very, very upset. That would be horrible. NARRATOR Meet a college basketball player. KT Sheshu. KT Oh. NARRATOR Who lives for her kids and her stock pile. KT I would say i’m married to my stock but if it came down to somebody and my stock i would probably choose it over them. NARRATOR And a working mum who gets her thrills from bargain hunting. ERIN I love coupons and a lot of people’s hobbies actually cost them money and mine actually saves me money. NARRATOR In the supermarket or department store every check out is a battle. ERIN Me versus the register. Every penny counts. NARRATOR And for the first time ever a couponer takes on a haul so epic there’s not enough hours in the day to check it all out. KT The feeling that the register’s uncontrollable like if i could break down and cry probably. But. NARRATOR This is extreme couponing. ERIN Woo. KT You ready to dive? ALEX Yeah. KT Let’s do it. KT I feel like i’m swimming in money. Coupons. ALEX What if that goes on sale? KT Free. NARRATOR Of the 332 billion coupons distributed in the united states, 99 per cent typically go unused. But in wichita, kansas, 21 year old kt knows that one man’s trash is an extreme couponer’s Treasure. KT I’m kt and i think couponing is just the slam dunk. KT Sheshu. Oh. Nothing but net. KT I like free. I like free everything. Oh gosh, oh gosh. KT Sorry. KT I get a rush talking about it; i just want to go shop now. NARRATOR For kt getting that rush comes from consistently getting the most savings possible, and she’s willing to do anything to find the deal she’s after. ALEX I think the most extreme thing that kt’s done for couponing is getting in the recycling bins. KT I of course dumpster dive, i would prefer to say recycle dive through recycling bins. KT Oh thank you. NARRATOR Kt dumpster dives close to 10 times a week so that she has at least 300 inserts on hand at all times. Scavenging for so many coupons has resulted in a stock pile worth $50,000 for which Kt only paid 200. KT I love my stock pile. KT I wouldn’t say i’m married to my stock but if it came down to somebody and my stock i would probably choose it over them. KT I got all my toilet paper for free, deodorant all for free. I got all my razors for free, my toothbrushes for free. I think it would just be a lot easier if i told you what i actually paid for. NARRATOR In just six months kt has filled her parents garage with five years worth of dish soap, enough detergent to do one load of laundry a day for 12 years, and a lifetime supply of Toothpaste. KT My parents don’t have to buy anything ever; i can’t pay them rent so with my coupons i buy their groceries. NARRATOR Maintaining a massive stock pile became a priority in kt’s life with the birth of her second child. NARRATOR Having two children under the age of two, and no steady income, meant relying on coupons to make ends meet. KT I thought my world had ended when i had them. KT Being a mum and not having any income and no child support, it takes a lot to decide to keep your kids and you know go to the extreme to find what you need to get for them. KT So couponing was my saviour. NARRATOR Concerned about making sure her kids have everything they need; kt dedicates all her spare time to collecting coupons and organising her deals. KT I spend about 25 hours a week now on couponing. At least. Sometimes it’s just too much time, but i guess when it’s addicting i guess there never is enough time in the day for coupons. KT I keep all of my inserts in a box labelled on the outside of the date and what kind of insert it is. I keep one insert completely non cut so i know exactly what’s been in it and then the rest underneath of course have been clipped. KT Don’t throw away any of your coupons, it’s good to keep them past four months of when you’ve gotten them, because there are still coupons in there that aren’t expired. KT When i get ready for a chopping trip the first thing that i do is i get online and i look for the latest deals and then i go through my inserts and i pull out the coupons. And multiple coupons i keep together so it’s easier to cut out. ALEX Here this one here has the deodorant in it. KT Awesome, awesome. ALEX Right there. KT Alright give me about 40. KT This binder right here is worth $4,000. That’s how much product is in here right now and this is the haul that i’m going to be doing. I have each transaction number and all the coupons that are going to be in that transaction in that pocket. NARRATOR Today kt is sorting through all her inserts with the help of her friend alex. KT Here are the kmart coupons. NARRATOR She’s preparing for final shopping spree at her local kmart before starting college on a basketball scholarship. KT I get the same rush with basketball and couponing because this store is who i’m playing against just like in a basketball game; i’ve got to beat them, clearly. I don’t lose at couponing. Ever. NARRATOR To get the massive savings and the rush she’s after while still abiding by the store’s coupon policy means kt will have to do at least 50 transactions. KT You can only use four like coupon in a transaction. So that’s why it makes it so difficult because i’m going to have to do a different transaction. NARRATOR Kt plans to get $4000 worth of products for less than $100, so the smallest mistake with any of her transactions can jeopardise her entire haul. KT Okay. Are you ready? ALEX Yeah. KT Well let’s beat it. KT So here’s our soap. Last week the store had a sale where they were 10 for 10, so i got a rain check and in the store’s ad they actually have a dollar off coupon. So i’m going to get 200 soaps for nothing. KT So excited. KT So i’m really going to need some deodorant for you know basketball and stuff so let’s, let’s go head up the [unsure of word] aisle. ALEX Yeah let’s get done. ALEX I mean how many are we getting? KT We’re getting 363 in deodorant. ALEX Wow, that’s a lot. KT These deodorants retail for $1.19 and i actually have a 75 cent coupon which the store is doubling this week, so it’s going to make the, all free actually, so i’m getting 363 free deodorants. KT Well they don’t have enough to keep on the shelf right now but they’ve got a bunch in the back that i’ve already pre-ordered. So we’re going to have boxes. KT Okay so here’s the cleaners. NARRATOR The cleaning supplies retail for $2.99 each but are on sale two for $5. Kt has coupons for 50 cents off that the store will double, making each bottle $1.50. KT These will be really great for college because you know i don’t want my place to be dirty and i have two kids that are going to probably stain everything. KT Just going to clean just about everything. ALEX Okay what are we getting down here? KT We are going to get the cookies. ALEX Okay how many do we have to get? KT 500. ALEX Wow, that is a lot. NARRATOR The cookies are on sale two for $2. Kt has a coupon for 75 cents off every two cans. The store will double her coupon, making kt’s out of pocket expense just 50 cents for every two Canisters of cookies. KT We’ve got one missing, can’t leave it behind. Score. KT I’m exhausted. ALEX Me too and my feet hurt. NARRATOR But they’re still not done. Kt still has to pick up over 2000 pre-ordered items. KT And there’s the rest of it. ALEX Oh my gosh. And you are shaking. KT I am shaking. ALEX I am shaking really now. NARRATOR Kt has organised her entire haul into 50 separate transactions, so that she can work within the stores coupon policy and still pay less than $100. NARRATOR With over $4000 worth of groceries at stake kt and alex nervously head to check out. KT Hi. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Did you find everything alright? KT Yes we did. ALEX Yes. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Do you have your shop your way rewards card? KT Yes i do, there you go. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total is 42.37 and do you have any coupons? KT Yes here’s our first stack. NARRATOR After only a handful of coupons are scanned kt’s first transaction unexpectedly comes to a halt. KT I don’t even know what went wrong so i’m feeling really nervous now. NARRATOR The store manager quickly explains that the register can only accept 95 scans per transaction. Not having taken line limits into accounts when strategising her haul means kt Will now have to re-think her entire game plan. KT So we’re having to get everything in order so we are under the 95 limit but using the coupons with the right items. Well actually this is too much right now. The stress. NARRATOR After three and a half hours of re-calculations kt is finally ready to head back to check out. Having been at the store for over 12 hours, she and alex decide to take on separate registers to speed up the process. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT 9.32. KT Okay. This is round one. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT 30.83. Do you have any coupons? KT Yes i do. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Oh you do, thank you. Alright that brings your total to 45.99. Do you have any coupons? ALEX Yes. There you go. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Now your total is at 83 cents. KT Alright. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Good girl. KT Thank you. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total after coupons is 29 cents. ALEX Ah golden. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total is 33.77 on this order. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total is 23.62. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total now is 29 cents. KT Alright that’s some time out. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT After coupons your grand total is 11 cents. ALEX Yay. KT 15th transaction, so far retail value of everything is $513.58 and out of pocket i’ve only spent $5.21, so so far huge savings. NARRATOR Two hours into check out kt and alex have only gone through a quarter of their total haul. It’s well past closing time but kmart gives the women two more hours at the registers to Complete as many transactions as possible. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total today is 34.81. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT With your coupons your total is 84.98. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT May i have [unsure of word] please, that’s what you ordered? KT Yes you can. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT After coupons your grand total is 11 cents. KT We’ve been at the check out for at least four hours, i am exhausted. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT That gets you $100.54. That brings your new total to 79 cents. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT I’m sorry but we’ve had so many transactions and we’ve run out of time, the store will be shutting down like in three minutes. KT It felt pretty embarrassing to know that i’m this extreme couponing there, got everything down and we pretty much had to just stop here we were at. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Thanks for picking k mart, we like you. NARRATOR Since kmart left the registers open until midnight kt and alex were able to complete 27 transactions. But kt’s haul is so massive she has no choice but to leave behind over 1700 items. KT Alright, you ready to go home? ALEX I’m ready. KT Alright let’s take this stuff outside. NARRATOR After eight hours of shopping, three and a half hours reconfiguring her transactions and four hours at two separate registers, kt still walks away with a massive final haul that includes 150 bags of chips, 250 containers of cookies and 32 razors. NARRATOR Her total retail value was $1077.63, but after coupons kt only spend $13.85 for a 99 per cent savings. KT I was kind of upset just because i would have liked to do all the transactions i had planned on doing. But i think it was a successful trip for everything i would need for college, majority. There is no failure. KT With coupons whether you’re saving 25 cents or 50 cents or $100 i think you’re a winner if you use coupons. Period. TERRY Give that one to mama and that one too. ERIN Thank you carl, oh don’t crinkle my coupons. NARRATOR Meet an extreme saver who loves her coupons almost as much as her family. ERIN If i lost all my coupons i would be very, very upset. That would be horrible. ERIN These are my husband’s fishing poles. They used to take up the garage until i created a stock pile, so now this is my husband’s hobby and this is my hobby. I take up a little bit more of the garage than he does. NARRATOR The average american household spends almost $300,000 on leisure and entertainment each year. But for connecticut couponer erin no past time is more entertaining than saving money. ERIN My name is erin and saving money is my hobby. ERIN A lot of people’s hobbies actually cost them money and mine actually saves me money. ERIN I love free stuff. It doesn’t matter what it is, what the flavour is, what the kind is, if it’s free i’m going to get it. NARRATOR In less than a year erin’s zeal for scoring free products has allowed her to amass a $7000 stockpile that has taken over her family’s entire garage. ERIN I love my stock pile; this is my favourite place in the house. TERRY Erin’s stock pile is a little bit of a sensitive subject. Before it was there that my garage. Now she’s got a stock pile my stuffs in the corner. NARRATOR For only $200 erin has built a mini mart that includes 200 razors, 350 oral care products and her own personal pharmacy. ERIN I got all these different types of medicine, headache medicine, things for sore throats, colds, fevers, cough drops for usually less than a $1. NARRATOR As a mother of three young boys saving money has always been important to erin. TERRY Give that one to mama and that one too. ERIN Thank you carl, oh don’t crinkle my coupons. NARRATOR Bargain hunting became even more of a priority a year ago when erin took in her 12 year old niece sophie. ERIN A tough situation. I lost my sister to liver cancer and my niece was basically left without a mother. So immediately she was at my house. It was life changing obviously to take her in, but it makes me proud to be able to say that i could take care of her Just like my sister would. NARRATOR With a new family member to care for erin turned to couponing to make ends meet. Her drive to constantly finds the best deals quickly became a shared activity with her niece. SOPHIE I learn a ton from erin about saving money because when i look at other people buying like shampoo or toothpaste, it’s like what i get that for free. NARRATOR By clipping coupons on a regular basis erin lowered her grocery budget from $150 a week to $20. These extra savings are critical for the $60,000 home addition she and terry are planning. ERIN Basically we need to turn our three bedroom house into six bedrooms so that everybody can have their own room. I am very much looking forward to having the same. Because it’s been a very long time. NARRATOR Erin must save every cent she can to be able to start construction as soon as possible. Today she is planning to buy over $400 worth of groceries for no more than $10. ERIN I need to sort my coupons into four of each like coupon into different transactions because the sore we’re shopping at has a four like coupon limit per transaction. They also only double up to 50 per cent of your order. ERIN So once you’ve already saved 50 per cent on your total the coupons will no longer double. NARRATOR To comply with her supermarket’s coupon policy erin must split her haul into six transactions. Armed with her coupon binder erin heads to the store with terry and sophie. ERIN Alright guys you guys ready to go shopping? SOPHIE Yeah. ERIN Off to get 10 packs of hot dogs. NARRATOR The hot dogs retail for $1.29 each but are on sale for $1. Erin has two coupons worth $5 that will give her $10 in savings, making all 10 packages free. ERIN The kids love hot dogs and we can actually freeze them and they’re going to last even longer. ERIN Alright sophie off to get the soda. ERIN Right here. We’re going to get eight cases of the soda. These 12 packs of soda are usually $5.99 and they’re on sale for $4, plus i have a high value free item coupon for up to $5.69 which is going to make eight of them all totally free. ERIN Alright let’s go down to the nuts. ERIN They’re right here, we’re going to get 13, what do you think with the peanut butter on? SOPHIE Just get the smors flavour. ERIN The nuts retail for $3.49 each and they’re on sale for two for five to make them $2.50 each and there’s a store coupon that makes them a dollar. Plus i have a manufacturers coupon for a dollar off, which makes them totally free. ERIN Alright that’s 13. NARRATOR After three hours of shopping erin, terry and sophie have filled up multiple carts with groceries and household products. NARRATOR With everything on her shopping list in hand erin is ready to take on the registers. ERIN Alright sophie was that everything on the list? SOPHIE Yep. ERIN Alright let’s head to check out. How are you? CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Good how are you? ERIN Good. ERIN The possibility of things going wrong with multiple transactions is likely, it’s me versus the register and i think it will turn out right. SOPHIE Go coupons. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total today is $174.75. ERIN I do not have $174 to spend on these groceries today. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Do you have your store card or any coupons you’d like to use today? ERIN I sure do. ERIN It’s down to $80.59 right now but it’s going to go lower. ERIN And that took off 10? CHECK OUT ASSISTANT It only took off a $1. ERIN They’re for $5 each; it’s worth $5 on each certificate. NARRATOR Erin realises the register is scanning her hot dogs at $1 instead of their full $5 value, and erin would exhaust her entire shopping trip budget on her very first transaction. ERIN It’s supposed to take off a total of 10. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT So how would i do that? ERIN I definitely started to sweat because that was $10 i wasn’t planning on spending. NARRATOR After speaking with a manager erin’s cashier is able to validate the coupon and enter its value manually, putting erin’s total back on track. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total after coupons is $2.65. ERIN $2.65 is great, we got one down and about five more to go. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total is $51.15. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total for this order is $19.10. Would you like to use your coupons? ERIN Yes i would. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total after coupons and in store savings is 59 cents. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Total after coupons is 35 cents. ERIN Whoa. TERRY Nice. TERRY Good job baby. SOPHIE I have that much money. NARRATOR After five transactions erin has bought over $250 worth of products for less than $4. Still hoping to spend less than $10 she starts her final transaction. ERIN Alright guys you guys ready for the last transaction? TERRY You bet. SOPHIE Yeah. ERIN Alright let’s do it. ERIN How are we looking soph? SOPHIE We’re at 40. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total for transaction number six is $154 even. ERIN It’s me versus the register. Every penny counts. ERIN It’s a little bit nerve-wracking having to watch the screen and having watch all the coupons go through and making sure that it all rings up right. But having a great cashier has helped. CHECK OUT ASSISTANT Your total after coupons is $2.41. ERIN [unsure of word] TERRY Woo. ERIN Saving this amount of money to build the addition is just really exciting to know that we’re going to have that much more room soon. TERRY A few more like this and we’ll have us a porch. NARRATOR Erin’s haul includes 20 deodorants, 20 first aid products and 240 beverages. The total retail value of her shopping trip is $420.19. But with her coupons erin paid just $6.06. NARRATOR A 99 per cent savings. ERIN I definitely feel like i accomplished something big today and i pulled off my biggest trip yet, it was me versus the register with my coupons and i definitely won. Today’s shopping trip also means that terry may have to move his fishing poles. ERIN I don’t know how happy terry will be, but my hobby is free and his isn’t.